Flyers Trade Gostisbehere, 2 Picks to Arizona

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Following the underwhelming results of Wednesday’s expansion draft, the Flyers were going to need to continue to get creative if they wanted to open up cap space. With the NHL’s roster freeze off as of 1 p.m. Thursday, they wasted little time doing so.

The Flyers have traded defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, plus a 2022 second-round pick and 2022 seventh-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes. While Arizona sent nothing in return to the Flyers in terms of a player or pick, they did absorb all of Gostisbehere’s $4.5 million cap hit.

Gostisbehere, 28, had nine goals and 20 points last season in 41 games. In seven seasons with the Flyers, he scored 60 goals – including 17 in his rookie season as a Calder finalist – and had 219 points – among them a 46-point season in 2015-16 and a 65-point season in 2017-18.

In addition to the offensive successes over those two seasons, Gostisbehere had plenty of struggles, dealing with injuries as part of his time in Philadelphia. The move comes as the Flyers look to continue to make changes within the organization and free up cap space for potential moves in the coming days of the offseason.

The 2022 seventh-round pick previously belonged to the Montreal Canadiens and was acquired at this year’s trade deadline for Erik Gustafsson. 

This marks the second trade made by the Flyers this offseason, and in both, they kept this year’s first-round pick and did not trade away prospects. The additional cap space puts the Flyers at approximately $13.8 million available. GM Chuck Fletcher will be addressing the media this afternoon.