On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Flyers traded Sean Walker to the Colorado Avalanche for a first-round pick, an asking price that management had long been firm on. It wasn’t a one-for-one swap though; general manager Daniel Briere had to take on the contract of former All-Star center Ryan Johansen to make the deal work.
Interestingly, the Flyers waived Johansen shortly after acquiring him. He unsurprisingly went unclaimed due to his still-large cap hit, and the team assigned him to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Though Philadelphia could use some help at center, Johansen clearly isn’t the answer after a second consecutive down season.