Flyers Trade Vinny Lecavalier & Luke Schenn to Kings

Jan 7, 2016

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The Philadelphia Flyers were looking to clear cap space and general manager, Ron Hextall found a way to make that happen.

Hextall sent forward Vincent Lecavalier and defenseman Luke Schenn to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for center Jordan Weal and a third round 2016 draft pick.

The 35-year-old Lecavalier has been a healthy scratch for most of the season for the Flyers. He has only gotten into the lineup because of injuries or when someone else wasn’t playing well. In the seven games played, he has zero goals, one assist, one point and has only averaged 9:27 of ice time per game. Lecavalier has looked slow and his game has been declining since the end of the 2010-11. Last year, he was relegated to fourth line duties and was even playing the wing to get on the ice. He was also a healthy scratch at times last season for his poor play.

In 133 games played for the Flyers, he scored 28 goals, had 30 assists and 58 points. He was a minus 24 with nine power play goals and three game-winning goals. He averaged 13:48 of ice time per game while with the Flyers and had 82 penalty minutes. He won a Stanley Cup in 2004 while with the Tampa Bay Lightning and is a four-time All-Star. Lecavalier will add depth to the Kings roster and most likely be the fourth line center.

In 29 games played this season, Luke Schenn has two goals, three assists, five points, and was a minus seven while averaging 17:35 of ice time per game. Schenn has been a healthy scratch a few times for the Flyers this season because of his poor play and matchup purposes. He is not afraid to finish his checks, in fact he has 171 hits this season. He is a physical, stay-at-home defenseman, who can sometimes get hurt by the turnover. Schenn played on the penalty kill for the Flyers, where he averaged 2:16 of ice time per game.

Schenn is a decent depth defenseman, who isn’t afraid to block shots. He doesn’t have the skills to be productive in the offensive zone, but does own a decent shot from the point. Schenn can get hurt or cost his team a goal or scoring chance by being out of position in his own zone. In 231 games played with the Flyers, he has 12 goals, 30 assists, 42 points and has 712 hits in 18:16 ice time per game.

The Flyers will retain half of each player’s salary in the deal. The team will retain $2.25 million of Lecavalier’s contract and $1.8 million on Schenn’s contract. Schenn will be a free agent at the end of the season, which will clear the full $3.6 million off of the Flyers salary cap. Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoierva), of TVA Sports, reported that Lecavalier would retire at the end of this season and forego the remaining two years of his contract. The remaining two years are at $3 million per season. If he retires, then neither the Flyers nor the Kings would be responsible for his contract.

Jordan Weal is coming to the Flyers from the Kings along with a third round 2016 draft pick. Weal is a 5’10” center who has played in 10 games this season for the Kings while averaging 8:07 of ice time per game. In 221 AHL games played, he has 58 goals, 115 assists, 173 points and averaged .78 points per game. His breakout season came during the 2013-14 campaign when he had 70 points in 76 games played for the Manchester Monarchs. He had 69 points in 73 games played last season for the Monarchs.

In 27 career AHL playoff games, he has 10 goals, 17 assists, 27 points and is averaging a point per game played. He won the Jack A. Butterfield Award as the AHL Calder Cup Playoff MVP in the 2015 AHL Playoffs. He can produce points at the lower levels, but he is small for the NHL. He has good vision, playmaking ability and is works hard, according to eliteprospects.com.

Weal should add some much-needed scoring depth to the Flyers. The center will have to stay up with the Flyers — if he was sent down to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers’ AHL Affiliate, he would have had to clear waivers before being sent back down.

Hextall has managed to clear almost $4 million in cap space for the rest of the season with this trade and give Lecavalier a chance at winning another Stanley Cup.