Sources: Flyers trade Sean Walker to Avalanche originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
VOORHEES, N.J. — Two days before Friday’s 3 p.m ET NHL trade deadline, the Flyers moved Sean Walker and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Avalanche in exchange for a 2025 first-rounder and Ryan Johansen, according to sources.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported Walker was headed to Colorado.
Per national reports, the Flyers placed the 31-year-old Johansen on waivers Wednesday.
Walker, a 29-year-old, right-handed defenseman, was having a career year for the rebuilding Flyers. He’s on an expiring contract and was one of the club’s biggest trade chips.
“It’s probably one of the best problems to have, right?” Walker said of the trade buzz last month. “At the end of the day, you’re playing really well and teams want you. That is the situation when you come to a place on an expiring contract, the situation I’m in.”
Walker surprised just about everyone in Philadelphia. He arrived last summer in the three-team Ivan Provorov trade, a move made by Los Angeles very much for the purpose of clearing cap space. Flyers head coach John Tortorella had to do his homework on Walker, reaching out to then-Kings coach Todd McLellan for a scouting report.
“I didn’t know anything about him, talked to Mac when we got him,” Tortorella said last month. “Great competitor. When he’s a safe player, he’s a bad player. When he’s a player that takes a chance, takes a chance on his gaps, takes a chance making plays, he’s a really good player.”
More: ‘It’s a big one for us’ — Seeler on IR, Flyers to miss him for at least rest of week
(More coming…)
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