The Draft may have ended, but Ron Hextall was far from finished on Saturday. He made seven picks in Day 2 of the Draft, hired a goalie coach and now, he has made a trade.
The Flyers traded defenseman Nick Grossmann to the Arizona Coyotes for forward Sam Gagner and a future draft pick – either the Coyotes 2016 fourth-round pick or 2017 third-round pick.
Also included in the deal is Chris Pronger's contract. This helps Arizona hit the cap floor and relives some cap pressure for the Flyers.
Grossmann played three full seasons for the Flyers after being acquired in 2012 at the trade deadline from the Dallas Stars. He scored seven goals as a Flyers, including a career-high five in 2014-15, and had 38 points while being a plus-six in 198 games. The Flyers retain $500,000 of Grossmann's contract.
Pronger worked in the Flyers front office before joining the NHL's Department of Player Safety. He will remain in his role despite his contract going to Arizona, as the trade was approved by the NHL. Pronger has not played since the 2011-12 season while dealing with post-concussion symptoms after being hit in the right eye by the stick of Mikhail Grabovski. His contract expires after the 2016-17 season.
Gagner, 25, was originally a draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2007. The 2014-15 season was his first with the Coyotes. The center scored 15 goals and had 41 points in 81 games. Gagner has one year remaining on his contract worth $4.8 million.
The Flyers will assume a $3.3 million cap hit, but there is a chance Hextall will buy out the contract. Arizona was mulling a similar decision before the trade. At the moment, the Flyers save about $5 million in cap space from the deal, even if they choose to retain Gagner.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
