Report: Flyers may be forced to trade 24 year old Dman

Once the Philadelphia Flyers manage to re-sign restricted free agents Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov, their roster should be more or less set. At least, that’s according to a report from Flyers insider Charlie O’Connor.

In his latest column for The Athletic, O’Connor takes a look at the Flyers’ projected roster for 2019-20 and sees a potential problem on the blue line. You see, once Provorov is under contract, the Flyers will have eight defensemen under NHL contracts and all eight players are waiver eligible. Meaning, if GM Chuck Fletcher elects to demote someone to the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, he risks losing that player for nothing.

So… what’s a GM to do? Trade? 

O’Connor believes that the odd man out will likely either be 24 year old defensemen Robert Hagg or Samuel Morin. Again, both are waiver eligible and given the two players’ pedigree, it’s not likely that they’ll pass through waivers unclaimed.

From O’Connor’s column:

At first glance, Morin would seem the most likely candidate for a demotion. He’s yet to establish himself as a full-time NHL player, and even though he is no longer waiver-exempt and would have to be exposed to the entire league before being reassigned to the Phantoms, it’s not impossible to imagine 30 teams passing on a 24-year-old with just eight games of NHL experience — particularly at the end of September, when every organization is desperately trying to slip its own players through waivers.

That said, it appears the Flyers remain high on Morin as a role player at the NHL level. My read is that they’re not itching to put him on waivers and remove him from the roster mix. 

So… Hagg then?

Again from O’Connor:

If they do choose to keep Morin with the big club but still want to cut down the number of defensemen on the roster to seven, Hagg could be the odd man out.

Not only is there stylistic overlap between Hagg and Morin, but Hagg’s spot in the lineup also was essentially taken by Braun, who fills a similar role while being more experienced, better defensively and right-handed. It’s not crazy to wonder if the Braun acquisition could ultimately push Hagg out. Like Morin, Hagg is no longer waiver-exempt, but considering his 153 games of NHL experience, one presumes another team would claim him and his $1.15 million cap hit. If the Flyers choose to remove Hagg from the roster, a trade would be the most likely way.

Interesting. Don’t be surprised if you hear Hagg’s name begin to float in trade rumors over the next month. The 24 year old Swede put up five goals and 20 points in 82 games with the Flyers last season, his second full season in the NHL.