Ranking Ivan Provorov’s trade: Blue Jackets get serious, Flyers scorch the dirt, Kings lighten the wallet
[ad_1]
With the NHL Draft just over three weeks away and the launch of free agency less than a month away, the general managers of the 30 teams not currently alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs n Were not going to politely wait for the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida. Panthers to finish. It was only shortly before a major player move happened, and the Columbus Blue Jackets, Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers kicked off a potentially crazy offseason with a huge three-team trade. Tuesday afternoon.
The Blue Jackets have landed the centerpiece of the deal with defenseman Ivan Provorov. The Kings unloaded a pair of big hits with goaltender Cal Petersen and defenseman Sean Walker. The Flyers cashed in on one of their top trade assets and accepted a salary while winning first-round pick and respected prospect Helge Grans in the process, signaling a scorched-earth mentality to open up Danny Briere’s tenure as as general manager.
How did each team fare under the three-way deal?
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
Receive:
D Ivan Provorov, 26, $4.725 million cap reached through 2024-25 (Kings retain 30% of Provorov’s $6.75 million AAV)
Although the hiring of Mike Babcock as head coach was not official, the idea suggested the Blue Jackets were trying to flip the switch and become a contender in the Metropolitan Division this season. Given their awful chance of injury last season and their influx of young talent, it shouldn’t take much to improve next season. They were already supposed to pick up a healthy Zach Werenski, not to mention mega-prospect David Jiricek likely to push for a spot out of camp, and now GM Jarmo Kekalainen is further deepening his blue line with the centerpiece of the trade in Provorov . His moral character was called into question last season when he refused to wear a Pride jersey during warm-ups and sparked a chain reaction of teams and players walking away from Pride festivities. It was frowned upon to say the least, but for the purposes of this exercise, we will be evaluating acquiring an on-ice vantage point.
Selected seventh overall in the busy 2015 NHL Draft, Provorov has been the Flyers’ No. 1 workhorse in defense since his debut in 2016-17. In his seven NHL seasons, he led all Philadelphia defensemen in games, goals (65), assists (152), points (217) and average time on the ice (24: 05). He more or less delivered on his promise and became a reliable top-four NHL defenseman who does a bit of everything, threatening with his offense and mixing up his physique.
But there’s reason to believe that Provorov is more of a hallmark than a truly dominant defenseman in the NHL. He does a decent job leading the game in attack but is overrated in his defensive impact. Over the past three seasons, the Flyers have allowed 55% of the goals with him on the ice at 5-for-5, giving him the third-lowest rating among 10 Flyers defensemen logging at least 500 minutes in that span. The stat partly reflects Provorov taking on more difficult duties, but no No.1 defender beaten on 55% of goals is doing particularly well at his job.
With Provorov, the Blue Jackets are clearly deepening their blue line with a viable minute muncher, replacing much of the minutes fellow southpaw Vladislav Gavrikov gave them. A D-body including Werenski, Provorov, Adam Boqvist, Andrew Peeke, Erik Gudbranson and maybe Jiricek looks a lot better than what Columbus trotted there for much of last season. Provorov isn’t the needle mover he’s sometimes heralded, and he hasn’t become the perennial Norris Trophy threat that many of us envisioned years ago. But the acquisition cost (at 1st and conditional second, with 30% of Provorov’s salary withheld) from the Blue Jackets’ perspective was not too prohibitive. They already have a busy crop of youngsters and they will further bolster their pipeline with the third overall pick in the 2023 draft later this month.
Category B-
KINGS OF LOS ANGELES
Receive:
RW Hayden Hodgson, 27, $800,000 until 2023-24
Dr Kevin Connauton, 33, $762,500 until 2023-24
30% held back on Ivan Provorov ($2.025 million through 2023-24)
This agreement is clearly a means for LA. It was no secret that the Kings had far too many good defensemen and would buy at least one this offseason; Walker leaves, checking item #1 on General Manager Rob Blake’s to-do list. The Kings also entered their offseason with the difficult mission of pulling off Petersen’s success. If they wanted to have any chance of (a) finding another goalie to team up with Pheonix Copley and (b) re-signing Gavrikov, they needed to create significant cap space.
That’s exactly what Blake did. Factoring in the 30% retention on Provorov, the Kings released $5.625 million on Tuesday and now have over $13 million to play. That’s enough to settle something with Gavrikov and pursue a high-impact goalie acquisition, be it Connor Hellebuyck, California boy Thatcher Demko or a mid-level starting option.
The Kings traded a promising prospect to Grans, whom they picked in the second round of the 2020 draft. its active. Keep in mind, however, that the right side of the D-body was an extreme surplus area for the Kings; Among their prospects, not to mention their NHL roster, Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence were ahead of Grans in the pecking order.
The Kings are clearly preparing for a bigger move, and the price they paid to free up cap space was reasonable.
Category B, with potential for a higher or lower rating depending on what the kings do with their cap space
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Receive:
2022 1st Round pick (22n/a in all of CBJ, originally owned by LA)
2024 2n/a Round Pick (from LA)
2024 or 2025 conditional 2n/a round pick (by CBJ)
G Cal Petersen, 28, $5 million cap hit through 2024-25
Dr Sean Walker, 28, $2.625 million cap hit through 2023-24
Dr. Helge Grans, 21, $847,500 cap reached through 2024-25 (ELC)
Well. That’s how you come on the scene as the NHL’s general manager, Mr. Brière. The changing of the guard at the front office in Philadelphia with the firing of Chuck Fletcher has reset the conflict timeline, meaning Briere could change the way the team thinks and think (very) long term. Two more seasons of Provorov weren’t going to do much except keep the team more competitive than they maybe even want to be right now; by shipping it, they create a hole in the lineup that should prove difficult to fill, and that’s probably the point. The Flyers are no contenders and better hit rock bottom in 2023-24.
In exchange for subtracting underperforming Provorov and winning Petersen, the Flyers got quite a hit. Landing the first extra round means they will pick twice from the top 22 picks later this month. Walker’s contract expires at the end of 2023-24, so he’ll be useful as a reversible piece, possibly at the 2024 deadline. Grans gives the Flyers a long-term advantage on what’s a pretty right side barren of their D-body.
What’s not to like about the Flyers here? They’ve significantly beefed up their capital project, added a strong prospect, and picked up another tradable veteran asset for later. Since Grans and the draft picks are moot assets more than bankable assets, I’ll stop at the A+, but Briere’s first trade was about as impressive as it comes.
Rating: A
_____
Discover Betano.ca – a premium online sports betting and casino experience. Offering many unique and dynamic betting options as well as various digital and live casino games, Betano is where the gaming begins now. 19+. Please gamble responsibly.
_____
Recently by Matt Larkin
[ad_2]
