Flyers add forward depth ahead of deadline
The Flyers were talking up the help provided to them and looking ahead in confident tones, this after general manager Chuck Fletcher added a couple of grinders from the heaps of unwanted checking line players around the league.
For the Flyers, however, that undervalued commodity is exactly what they’ve needed all season.
Long before the trade deadline bell tolled at 3 o’clock, the Flyers had acquired fourth-line center Nate Thompson from the Montreal Canadiens and versatile checking line stalwart Derek Grant from the Anaheim Ducks.
Probably the major reason the moves were so welcome in the Flyers’ Skate Zone locker room is that the club left the current group essentially untouched. For Thompson’s services, which are likely to extend only until the offseason, the Flyers gave up only a fifth-round draft pick in 2021, appropriate remuneration for a guy who’s 35 years old with 62 career goals over 13 seasons.
As for Grant, the Flyers sent
27-year-old Phantoms forward Kyle Criscuolo and a fourth-round draft pick in this June’s entry draft for Grant, another well traveled player whose 14 goals for the Ducks so far this season is a career high.
Flyers coach Alain Vigneault confirmed Thompson would be the club’s fourth-line center going forward, which likely will result in Phantoms grad Connor Bunnaman heading back to the Lehigh Valley. Vigneault added Grant, 29, will be a 6-3, 212-pound forward who can throw his weight around up and down the lineup.
“He’s tough to play against, really good on faceoffs and a pretty disciplined player,” Sean Couturier said of Thompson, who has played for seven clubs and in 760 career NHL games. “And Grant, I don’t know much about him, but I know he’s a big guy and pretty strong. But they’re two big bodies with good experience and I think it’ll help us down the road.”