BUFFALO | It was Daniel Brière’s first transaction as general manager of the Flyers, quite a deal!
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The Flyers opted to roll with three teams by making a trade that also involved the Blue Jackets and the Kings.
Philadelphia traded defenseman Ivan Provorov to the Blue Jackets, but the Kings will inherit 30% of his $6.75 million salary each for the next two seasons.
The Flyers are getting another defenseman, Sean Walker, who had 13 points in 70 games for the Kings last season. They also got youth player Helge Grans, goaltender Cal Peterson and a first-round pick.
In the case of Peterson, the Kings are just happy to be able to give up his difficult contract.
Brière was asked on the sidelines of the Buffalo hopefuls’ evaluation camp to comment on this mega transaction and turned the whole thing into a joke. It was a memorable first exchange for him.
“I’ve never made a two-team trade. That, I don’t know how it works!” he laughed.
A balloon that has grown
Seriously, Brière himself was surprised by the extent of the talks about the Russian defender.
“I wasn’t expecting it. It wasn’t planned to leave so terrified. As we chatted, we realized what needs Columbus had and what needs the rest of us had. Then we realized we needed a third party.
“When I turned to Rob [Blake], he had other ideas even bigger than mine. We started working on all of this, then it just got bigger. “So we agreed,” he said.