The Philadelphia Flyers pulled off a massive cap dump trade, sending beleaguered blueliner Ryan Ellis to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday.
The moves came on the eve of the NHL roster deadline ahead of Opening Night. Ellis has not played since the 2021-22 season. Ellis signed an eight-year, $50 million contract with the Nashville Predators in 2018. However, he ran into injury issues in Nashville. The Predators moved Ellis in 2021 to the Flyers in another cap dump move.
Ellis played all of four games for the Flyers, notching a goal and four assists. The numbers were not bad. But he just couldn’t stay healthy.
So, the Flyers moved on from Ellis’ contract, sending him to the Sharks for 22-year-old blueliner Artem Guryev, a former fifth-round pick of the Sharks in 2021. The 6’4”, 225-pound blueliner has yet to play an NHL game.
Meanwhile, the Sharks sent 27-year-old Carl Grundstrom as a cap dump of their own. Grundstrom is entering the second year of a two-year deal with a $1.8 million cap hit. The former second-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Draft has failed to lock down a permanent role.
Grundstrom played in parts of six seasons with the Los Angeles Kings. His best season came in 2022-23, when he played in 57 games, scoring 12 goals and 19 points.
As for Ellis, the Sharks will likely keep his contract on the club, most likely as a means of getting to the cap floor this season. The Sharks could move Ellis’ contract to LTIR if they so chose at any point this season.
Flyers turn around and immediately place Grundstrom on waivers
In somewhat of a stunning move, the Flyers immediately placed Grundstrom on waivers following the finalization of the deal. It seems they never intended to keep Grundstrom with the NHL club.
As such, the transaction confirms Grundstrom was a cap dump for the Sharks. San Jose likely had no plans for him moving forward. So, taking on Grundstrom’s contract was part of the price the Flyers paid for moving Ellis’ contract.
If he clears, Grundstrom will be able to report to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. There’s always the chance he sees action with the Flyers at some point this season. Unless some other club claims him ahead of Monday’s 5 pm deadline to finalize rosters, he’ll likely clear waivers.
Once assigned to the AHL, the Flyers will save about $750K of Grundstrom’s $1.8 million cap hit. So, the club would still be on the hook for about $1 million. Still, that’s a much better scenario than moving Ellis’ entire cap hit to LTIR.
It’s worth pointing out that using LTIR to remain cap compliant reduces the amount of cap space a team can accrue at the trade deadline. The Flyers now have about $7.5 million in cap space, with about $34 million open for the trade deadline. The club also has a projected $15.9 million in playoff cap space.