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Flyers trade for Valtteri Filppula, as Lightning clear big contract
The Tampa Bay Lightning entered the NHL trade deadline with one objective: Shave more money off their salary cap for next season.
Mission accomplished: GM Steve Yzerman found a dance partner in the Philadelphia Flyers, who traded defenseman Mark Streit to the Lightning for center Valtteri Filppula, as well as a 4th-round pick and a conditional 7th round selection in the 2017 NHL Draft.
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The move clears his $5 million cap hit next season, as the Lightning need every penny to sign restricted free agents Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson. The Flyers retained 4.7 percent of Streit’s salary. That’s not a misprint.
For Yzerman, it wasn’t an easy move. Filppula had trade protection, with a list of 16 teams he couldn’t be traded to without approval. But apparently, the Flyers were palatable.
It’s a good landing spot for him, and he’s a good fit for the Flyers. While Filppula hasn’t had his greatest offensive season, he’s still 1.83 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, which was third on the Lightning. He was a slight drag on possession this season at minus-2.4 percent relative to his teammates.
But the trade allows him to slide in at second-line center for the Flyers, pushing Sean Couturier down the lineup. This is a good thing.
Yzerman then flipped Streit to the Penguins, because apparently the Flyers and Penguins can’t put on their big boy pants and make a trade themselves.
TWO MILBURYS.
What a nice lovely move that allows Tampa to address its cap concerns and the Flyers to get a bit deeper at center. But we’re going to give it a second Milbury because Filppula might not be the player he was and it does pass a problem form the Lightning to the Flyers: That Filppula needs to protected in the expansion draft.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
