The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers made a trade on Saturday. David Schlemko and Byron Froese will head to the latter while Dale Weise and Christian Folin will head to the former.
Earlier this season, Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin made it clear he wasn’t pursuing rentals if it meant sacrificing his future. He did, however, make a minor trade with the Philadelphia Flyers early on Saturday.
Defenseman David Schlemko and forward Byron Froese will be heading to the Philadelphia Flyers. Meanwhile, forward Dale Weise and defenseman Christian Folin will be heading to the Canadiens. Philadelphia is retaining 18.8 percent of Folin’s salary, according to CapFriendly.
Canadiens Perspective
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The Canadiens get some forward depth in Weise. He’s a guy who the Habs are familiar with, as he spent three seasons with them from 2013-14 to 2015-16. Weise was originally drafted by the New York Rangers in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL Draft. The Canadiens originally acquired him from the Vancouver Canucks in February of 2014 and later traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2016.
This is the third time in his career Weise has been traded. Each time has been in February. Weise was very happy in Montreal, so this trade is nice for him. He has a year remaining on his deal after this one with an annual cap hit of $2.35 million.
Weise will report to the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate and will carry an NHL cap hit of $1.325 million since teams can bury $1.025 million on a player’s deal in the AHL. He has 11 points in 43 games this season and was put on waivers earlier this year.
Folin provides the Canadiens with defensive depth. He has a $650,000 cap hit thanks to the retained salary from the Flyers. Folin will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. He’ll most likely be the Canadiens extra defenseman on most nights.
Flyers Perspective
The Flyers save some future money with this trade (about $200,000 each season) since Schlemko’s $2.1 million cap hit is cheaper than Weise’s ($2.3 million). Both of them have a year left on their deal. If you include the retained salary, the Flyers save $250,000 total.
Schlemko should give the Flyers some defensive depth. This trade could be the start of something else, as the Flyers don’t really have a huge need for him. Though, if they traded Radko Gudas or Andrew MacDonald, Schlemko would have a spot in the NHL.
Froese should give a boost to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He served as the captain for the Larval Rocket and might get a chance down the stretch with the Flyers.
Overall, this might seem like a minor trade. But for the Flyers, it might be a little bit bigger than one would think.