Philadelphia General Manager Chuck Fletcher is wheeling and dealing, y’all!
Fresh off of releasing their 2019-20 preseason schedule, the Philadelphia Flyers have made another trade. The team has acquired defenseman Justin Braun (not Strowman) for their 41st pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and a 2020 third round selection. Braun is 32-years-old and has one year left on his contract with a cap hit of 3.8 million dollars.
So, this move is…interesting. Braun posted 16 points (2 Goals, 14 Assists) in 78 games with the Sharks this past season and a mere one assist in 20 playoff games during their playoff run. He set a career high in points during the 2017-18 season with 33 in 81 games but had never reached 30 before or since then. He obviously doesn’t bring much in terms of offensive production, and while he used to have solid puck possessing numbers at even strength in the early part of his career, they’ve been under 50.0% the past three years with the exception of a 50.5 Fenwick-For percentage last year.
Braun is a quality defender in the defensive zone, though. Looking at San Jose’s unblocked shot rates against chart with Braun on the ice, the team did an excellent job of suppressing shots in the slot but did allow a decent rate of shots in front of the right side of the net, according to Hockey Viz. He’s also tremendous at breaking up zone entries, with his Zone Entry Breakups per 60 Minutes ranking in the 78th percentile of players in the league over the last three years. If he can still be a plus defender for the Flyers next year, then I understand why Fletcher chose to acquire him.
My most significant issues with this trade are the return and who Braun is going to replace. Surrendering a second and third-round pick seems a little lofty to give to a team like the Sharks, who were trying to shed salary after sign Erik Karlsson. Fletcher could’ve likely had him at a lower price if he were willing to wait and even if San Jose chose a different team to deal him to, it’s not like Braun is exceptionally talented. I also loved the second-round options that’d be potentially available in the upcoming draft, so Philadelphia likely not having the ability to nab one of them stings a bit, personally. If the Flyers are able to retain Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim, which they more than likely will, they’ll have eight defensemen on the roster, meaning somebody will have to go. Phil Myers and Sam Morin don’t need or deserve another year in the AHL and should receive full years in the NHL. If the guy to go is Robert Hagg, I’m more than okay with this trade. Braun is better than Hagg on every aspect on the ice and would be an immediate upgrade over him on the second or third pair. If it’s Shayne Gostisbehere? Well, then the Flyers could have some problems moving forward.
Fletcher has to make a move on the blue-line sooner rather than later, so stay tuned Flyers fans. This team is nowhere near done making moves this offseason.