Count the Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken among the teams that have been a bit out of it this week.
That’s what happens in the days leading up to the NHL trade deadline.
The teams, who are scheduled to meet Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia, both ended up being sellers.
The Flyers dropped the first two games on their seven-game homestand — 6-3 to Calgary and 4-1 to Winnipeg — to fall to eighth in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, five points back of the second and final playoff berth.
“There’s maybe a lot of distractions off the ice, but it’s on us to do a better job coming to the rink and being focused, especially with this home stretch for us, to get a couple wins and stay in the (playoff) race and give ourselves a chance,” Flyers captain Sean Couturier said. “It’s the business side. It’s on us to be ready and control what we can control and show up to the rink and bring our ‘A’ game.”
The Flyers made three trades Friday, the biggest sending veteran forward Scott Laughton and a pair of late-round draft picks to Toronto for prospect Nikita Grebenkin and a first-round pick in the 2027 NHL draft.
“This trade is as tough as they come for me personally and professionally. Scott was an integral part of our team for a long time …” Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said. “Ultimately, we have had to make this difficult decision for what’s best for our future.”
The Flyers also dealt forward Andrei Kuzmenko and a seventh-rounder to Los Angeles for a third-round pick in 2027 and sent defenseman Erik Johnson to Colorado for forward Givani Smith.
The Kraken were just as active. They sent forward Brandon Tanev to Winnipeg on Friday for a second-round pick in 2027 and reportedly traded forward Daniel Sprong, who was playing for AHL affiliate Coachella Valley, to New Jersey for a seventh-rounder.
That came two days after they traded forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde, prospect Kyle Aucoin and a fifth-rounder in 2026 to Tampa Bay in a three-way deal that included Detroit for Mikey Eyssimont, a second-round pick in 2025 and conditional first-rounders in 2026 and 2027.
Eyssimont scored in his Kraken debut on Thursday, a 5-3 loss at Nashville. It was the second defeat in a row for Seattle and the fourth in the past five games. The Kraken are seventh in the Western Conference’s wild-card race but entered Friday 12 points out of the last playoff spot.
Eyssimont played on the Kraken’s fourth line with Ben Meyers and Jacob Melanson, who was making his NHL debut.
“I really liked playing with them,” Eyssimont said of his linemates. “I think we’ve got to find a way to trust each other a bit. We’re all running and gunning and excited, so we’re kind of three guys on the puck. As the game went on, I think we started to trust each other more, and then that turned into a little bit of offense.”
Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said he asked around to get a better scouting report on Eyssimont before inserting him directly into the lineup.
“Fiery and competitive are two descriptors that are about him and his game,” Bylsma said. “That’s what we’re looking for in a player.”
–Field Level Media
