Flyers Acquire Ryan Ellis from Predators

(Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire)

The Philadelphia Flyers and General Manager Chuck Fletcher knew the team was looking for a top pair, right-handed defenseman to fill the void left by Matt Niskanen. Alain Vigneault tried multiple partners for Ivan Provorov last season, but no matter his partner, it just didn’t seem to work.

The team was linked to Seth Jones early in the offseason, but those talks fizzled out when the two sides couldn’t agree on a new contract. Jones has one season left on his contract, and Fletcher wasn’t trading the farm without a longer-term commitment from the defenseman. With the roster freeze going into effect at 3 p.m. on July 17, 2021, it was looking like Fletcher would stand pat, but that didn’t happen.

The Flyers acquired defenseman Ryan Ellis from the Nashville Predators for center Nolan Patrick and defenseman Philippe Myers. Patrick was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights for Cody Glass. It may have taken a three-team trade, but Fletcher finally got his man, whom the Flyers were linked to last season. Ellis will play with Provorov on the team’s top pair and be the perfect replacement for the loss of Niskanen.

In getting the 30-year-old defenseman, the Flyers get a legitimate top guy and a ton of leadership for the blue line, which lacked last season. Ellis is good at making the first pass out of the defensive zone, which should help the Flyers to spend less time defending. If they defend less in their zone, it could lead to less scoring chances and less goals against. Ellis can play on the power play since he has a decent shot from the point.

Ellis is a solid all-around defenseman and should help the Flyers improve on the defensive side of the puck. He played on the penalty kill for the Predators and should help improve the Flyers in an area that was a weakness last season. Though he had his struggles the past two seasons, if Fletcher didn’t believe he could bounce back, he wouldn’t have made the trade. It isn’t all sunshine with Ellis, as there are some unknowns with him.

The first is how he will react to the trade since he has been with the Predators since day one. He will have to get to know a whole new set of teammates, a new system, and a new fan base. The 30-year-old is in the third year of an eight-year contract that started before the 2019-2020 season. His contract has a cap hit of $6.25 million per season for the next six seasons. During the 2020-21 season, he only played 35 games because of shoulder surgery. Ellis isn’t someone who will throw his weight around, and there are the injury concerns.

The Predators traded Patrick to the Golden Knights shortly after acquiring him for Cody Glass. Patrick was rumored to be on the trade block last season, but nothing came about. He missed the entire 2019-2020 season due to migraines and wasn’t the same player when he came back. Patrick was a little hesitant to go into corners after the puck, but he wasn’t afraid to go to the front of the net. The 22-year-old will be eligible to become a restricted free agent on July 28, 2021. The change of scenery and a fresh start can only be a good thing for this kid, who has been through a lot in the last two years.

The other piece of the three-team trade was a 24-year-old defenseman, Philippe Myers. Myers was an undrafted find by former Flyers General Manager Ron Hextall. He is 6’5″ and is a smooth skater who isn’t afraid to throw his weight around. When he keeps his game simple, he is a good player, but if he tries to do too much, he’ll get himself into trouble. In his time with the Flyers, he was inconsistent and benched for poor play, but the benchings didn’t always seem to work. He would return to the lineup and make the same mistakes. Myers has a ton of upside, so maybe a change of teams will be a good thing. He is in his second year of a three-year contract that has a $2.55 million cap hit per season.

Overall, I like the trade even though Ellis is under contract for the next six seasons and has injury concerns. The cap hit for the contract is a manageable one, and the Flyers still have their first-round draft pick and top prospects in play to make another trade to fill other needs on the team.