Flyers trade Sean Walker to Avalanche couple of days before deadline

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 conditional 2025 first-rounder and Ryan Johansen.

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 the Kings 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-Los Angeles 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."

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With the Flyers, Walker has had a career resurgence after suffering a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee not even two and a half years ago. Playing mostly alongside Nick Seeler on the Flyers' second defensive pair, Walker put up six goals, 16 assists and a plus-9 rating over 63 games.

He entered Wednesday tied with the Hurricanes' Jaccob Slavin for most shorthanded goals by a defenseman (two) and was second among Flyers blueliners in hits (86).

While Walker played an important role in the Flyers' turnaround this season, the organization has stated it's rebuilding. The Flyers have put an emphasis on the future and not losing sight of it because of one playoff run.

Walker is a pending unrestricted free agent. He'll have his suitors and a potential payday in the offseason.

"We've said from the beginning we wanted to build a team that was going to be a Stanley Cup contender for years to come and not just a one in, one out, one in, one out [of the playoffs] like it has been," general manager Danny Briere said in January. "The eye is still on the future."

(More coming...)

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