March 01, 2017
While Ron Hextall and the Flyers spent most of the 2017 NHL Trade Deadline re-signing some of their own players, it appears the Orange and Black did strike a deal before 3:00 p.m.
TSN's Bob McKenzie first reported that the Flyers traded veteran defenseman Mark Streit to the Tampa Bay Lightning. And in return, Hextall got forward Valtteri Filppula and a couple of draft picks. From the team:
The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they have acquired forward Valtteri Filppula, Tampa Bay's 4th round selection in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and a conditional 7th round selection in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft from Tampa Bay in exchange for defenseman, Mark Streit.
The Flyers are also reportedly eating some of Streit's remaining salary from this season.
The 32-year-old Filppula has 34 points (7 goals, 27 assists) in 59 games this season for Tampa. He has one season left on his contract at $5 million for the 2017-18 season. In the deal, the Flyers are clearly taking on salary:
#Flyers now inherit Filppula's NMC & will be required to protect him in the upcoming Expansion draft. #Tampa on the other hand gains a spot.
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) March 1, 2017
UPDATE: The Lightning turned around and flipped Streit to, yup, the Pittsburgh Penguins:
Also told the Penguins have acquired Mark Streit from Tampa Bay
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) March 1, 2017
More to come later.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann