Revisiting the Ryan Ellis Trade One Year Later
By Scott Cole
It was a trade the Flyers had to make. There have been a lot of trades that Chuck Fletcher made that are genuine head-scratchers. This is not one of them. The Flyers unloaded two prospects to the Nashville Predators who didn’t quite pan out, Phillipe Myers and Nolan Patrick, for elite defender Ryan Ellis. In return, the Flyers picked up Ellis’s hefty $6.25 million salary.
The win seemed to be a steal for the Flyers. Myers played in 27 games for the Preds. He was put on waivers, claimed by the Toronto Marlies, and ended up being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning this offseason. Meanwhile, injuries followed Patrick to Vegas; a team that Nashville immediately flipped Patrick to. Patrick played in 25 games and scored a career-low two goals with five assists.
As for the Flyers, there was a concern that Ellis, who had battled injuries the past few seasons in Nashville, may get struck by the injury bug here too. He is a physical player who puts it all out there on the ice. He claimed he was healthy and ready to go.
Ellis looked great last year in training camp. He seemed to form a bond with Ivan Provorov. The two took to each other well. Provorov had a linemate that he truly connected with for the first time since Matt Niskanen. Then….he got hurt. Just four games. Just one goal and four assists. It was all over.
It didn’t seem that bad at first. Just a day-to-day thing. That became a week-to-week thing. Then it was all season. Then it was “Hope he can play next year.” Now, it seems like even that hope is fading fast. Chuck Fletcher said he is done for the year, if not done for good.
He could’ve been the best all-around defender the Flyers had since Chris Pronger. At the very least, he could’ve been the most reliable one since Kimmo Timonen. It didn’t happen. We had four games in which to see him.
It’s not a bad trade. The Flyers desperately needed defensive help. Perhaps if he stayed healthy, maybe the Flyers make the playoffs last year. Granted, they were smacked around with lots of injuries last season, but losing Ellis on defense, and what he could’ve brought to the Flyers was a big blow. And perhaps if he was healthy, maybe the Flyers could’ve made a play for Johnny Gaudreau, Vincent Trocheck, or other top forwards this past offseason.
Instead, they shored up the defense by making a move for Tony DeAngelo. That was a smart move to make but would’ve been unnecessary if Ellis was in top form.
All we can do now is hope for the best for Ellis and hope for the best with the Flyers. Maybe we will be lucky enough to see one of the top defenders of the last decade hit the ice for Philly. Maybe not. It’s just yet another “what if’s” that the fans of this historic franchise have had to endure.