Well, this came out of nowhere -- according to multiple sources, the Los Angeles Kings have acquired veteran forward Vinny Lecavalier and d-man Luke Schenn from Philadelphia.
In exchange, the Flyers receive prospect Jordan Weal, who was the leading scorer in last year’s Calder Cup playoffs. Philly also gets a third-round pick.
The trade is, to put it lightly, a stunner. Lecavalier has one of the league’s most albatross-like contracts, with this year and two more remaining at a $4.5 million cap hit. Schenn’s deal expires at the end of the year, but for a team like Los Angeles to take them on -- the Kings don’t have a ton of cap space to work with -- Philly must be retaining significant salary in the deal.
Update: Yup. Significant.
This trade is just the latest in a string between the Flyers and Kings.
There was the Mike Richards blockbuster, the move that saw Simon Gagne go from L.A. back to Philly, and now this. Undoubtedly, the familiarity between Kings GM Dean Lombardi and Flyers GM Ron Hextall -- Hextall previously served as Lombardi’s assistant in L.A. -- played a big role in getting this deal done.
As for what it means on the ice, well, Schenn could probably work his way into L.A.'s top-six defense. Matt Greene is hurt, Jamie McBain was a scratch in Monday’s loss to the Avs and Christian Ehrhoff barely played over 10 minutes. So it looks like there’s opportunity there.
Regarding Lecavalier, here’s another wild development -- per TVA, he’s intending on retiring at the end of this season. That would eliminate his cap hit for 2016-17 and 2017-18, which is a boon for the Kings. Between that and the Schenn deal, they won’t be responsible for any money beyond this season.
From a personal standpoint, one would think the trade to L.A. was so Lecavalier could go out on a contending team, rather than the Flyers, who will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs.
Lombardi is set to address the media via conference call shortly.