Kate Frese/Flyerdelphia
One injury can make a lot of difference. For Mark Streit, one injury may have sealed his fate in the Orange and Black while another kept him in the city for just a little bit longer.
When Streit was sidelined with a detached pubic plate, it allowed Shayne Gostisbehere to join the Philadelphia Flyers in his stead and the rest is history.
The rookie sensation’s play put Streit on the second power-play unit upon his return and seemingly made the aging defenseman expendable.
However, a few weeks before the trade deadline, Michael Del Zotto sustained a season-ending wrist injury. Del Zotto’s misfortune gave Streit a chance to stay in Philly for just a little bit longer.
Ultimately, general manager Ron Hextall didn’t move Streit. To do so would have ensured the team’s push for the playoffs would have never happened.
Now, Philadelphia faces the opportunity to deal the 38-year-old. A move that would create a good deal of cap space, but remove one of the team’s better defenders. With the blueline still a position of weakness, that could mean trouble for the Flyers in the immediate future.
Trading Streit, who is in the last year of his contract, would give the Flyers $5.25 million of wiggle room in cap space. That financial maneuvering is important when considering that Brayden Schenn is due for a hefty raise while Jake Voracek and Sean Couturier’s massive extensions kick in this season.
Assuming Schenn gets a contract worth $4 million to $5 million, the Flyers will pay out $8 million more to retain those three vital players.
Between those payouts and the logjam on the blueline, Hextall has to move an expensive defenseman if he can. No one will take Andrew MacDonald’s albatross of a contract so, realistically, the most expensive rearguard to trade is Streit.
It makes too much sense to deal him. His role as the offensive defenseman has been usurped by Gostisbehere, whose speed and shot is something Streit cannot match at this juncture of his career.
Yet, Streit was the top defender down the stretch. Could he perhaps remain with the team in that capacity? Well, before his injury, Del Zotto was the top minute-eating, lock-it-up guy and the former Ranger and Predator is a younger and slightly cheaper option.
There’s a caveat to this, though. Streit has a limited no-trade clause. Therefore, he’d have to produce a list of teams he’d be willing to go to in a potential trade.
The problem there is who would be on that list versus who could afford and would actually want to acquire Streit. For example, it’s possible Streit would want to return to Montreal and therefore put him on his list of possible teams. However, the Canadiens have zero cap room to make such a maneuver.
The Edmonton Oilers need defensive help and a boost to their power play, but would he go there? Don’t bet on it.
Teams like Colorado and Nashville have the cap space, but no need to bring someone like Streit in at all.
Buffalo could be a fit if Streit wants to go there and are willing to part with one or two of their 12 draft picks. The Sabres need some help along the blueline. However, with the 12th ranked powerplay in the NHL, they may want look elsewhere for defensive help.
Any lower-spending teams looking to get better on the power play and to the cap floor for the 2016-17 season should be interested in Streit so Hextall must strike if the iron gets hot.
Though Flyers fans may be hoping for a Streit deal this summer, at this point of his career he’s a better deadline rental than an offseason acquisition. However, that’s a dangerous risk to take in order to get a better return. Hextall’s patient philosophy could be a problem if he’s content with holding onto Streit.
And as it’s been shown in the past, injuries tend to nix those deadline plans.
Dan Heaning is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Dan_Heaning.
