Flyers Trade Vincent Lecavalier, Luke Schenn in Salary Dump

Oct 29, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn (22) celebrates his goal with center Brayden Schenn (10) and center Vincent Lecavalier (40) against the New Jersey Devils during the second period at Wells Fargo Center. Photo | Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Flyers traded away a pair of veterans with big contracts for a 23-year-old center and a third-round draft pick today, according to the team. In return for the young guy and the pick, the Flyers shipped the Kings forward Vincent Lecavalier and defenseman Luke Schenn.

The move is a salary dump, though the Flyers are reportedly retaining half of each player’s salary. Lecavalier signed a five-year, $22.5 million deal with the Flyers in 2013, but as his production has dropped the contract has become prohibitively expensive. NBC today called it an “albatross” and the top Google autocomplete search when you search “Vincent Lecavalier” is “contract.”

He has a $2.25 million cap hit over the next three seasons, including this one, though he’s talked about retiring at the end of the year. He hasn’t played since November 15th, recording one assist in 7 games, and was looking for a chance to play.

Schenn, in his fourth year with the Flyers, has an average salary of $3,600,000. He has 5 points in 29 games for the Flyers this season.

By keeping half their salaries, the Flyers essentially retain $4.05 million in salary cap space in the deal while clearing the same amount. With the team in a rebuilding mode under GM Ron Hextall, the move makes sense. Lecavalier hasn’t played much of the year, and Schenn became expendable especially after the standout play of rookie defenseman Shayne Gostibehere.

Jordan Weal has played in 10 games for the Kings this year. The 23-year-old was the team’s third-round pick in 2010; he played in the AHL All-Star Game last year and was MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

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