The Columbus Blue Jackets let the hockey world know they were in search of an NHL ready blue liner this week. On Tuesday they went out and acquired him.
In a three team deal that involved the Kings and the Flyers, Columbus is acquiring former Philadelphia defenseman Ivan Provorov. Provorov, 26, has two years remaining on his current deal which features a $6.75M AAV cap hit.
Across 82 contests this year, the Russian defender registered 27pts (6G, 21A) while accumulating 24PIMs and -17 +/-. A former 1st round draft pick (7th overall in 2015), Provorov is a legitimate minutes eater, having averaged 23 minutes or more of ice time every year since 2017. A trait which will be a welcome sight in Columbus.
With injuries plaguing the team for most of the year, the Blue Jackets were forced to lean on their youth to eat up important minutes at the NHL level. An experiment which resulted in them finishing with the 4th worst record in the league this past year.
Heading to Philadelphia are former Kings Cal Peterson (G), and Sean Walker (D), while Los Angeles will retain 30% of Provorov’s contract. In essence, Philadelphia and LA clear cap space, while Columbus adds some much needed support on the back end.
Once the dust settles, the Kings will free up nearly $5M in cap space, which they hope to use to re-sign pending UFA Vladislav Gavrikov. Meanwhile, Philadelphia acquired 28 year old netminder Cal Peterson who will earn $5M in AAV over the next two seasons.
Although unconfirmed at this point, it’s also believed that draft picks are likely to be changing hands in the trade as well.
With the acquisition, rumblings have already begun that the Flyers will now attempt to offload 24 year goaltender Carter Hart in a separate deal. After strong rookie and sophomore campaigns in 2018-19 and 2019-20, Hart has largely struggled to find consistency in the crease in the City of Brotherly Love.
While far from a lost cause at this point, all signs point towards a change of scenery in the near future for the former 2nd round draft pick. Hart went 22-23-10 with a .907 SV% and 2.94GAA this past season for the Flyers.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.