Mar 4, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Scott Laughton (21) screens Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf (32) during the first period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
The third time was the charm when it came to trading Scott Laughton for the Flyers.
After two deadlines where Laughton's name was out there as a possible trade target, the Flyers finally moved on from their alternate captain.
Laughton was traded at around 1PM on Friday to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a conditional first round draft pick in 2027 and forward Nikita Grebenkin.
Flyers getting Nikita Grebenin and a 2026 first rounder from Toronto for Scott Laughton.
The Flyers are also sending Toronto a 2025 fourth and a 2027 sixth round pick in the trade. The condition on the first rounder is that it is top-10 protected.
According to multiple sources, The Flyers went back and forth with the Leafs for weeks, who originally were offering a second round pick. The Flyers also were interested in Toronto center prospect Fraser Minten.
However, both sides made concessions. The Leafs, who didn't want to part with Minten in the deal - eventually using him to get defenseman Brandon Carlo from Boston right at the deadline - finally got to a conditional first round pick and the Flyers, who didn't want to trade Laughton unless they were getting a first rounder, finally went to the second choice of a prospect in Grebenkin, who is a winger that plays with a bit of bite to his game.
Grebenkin, 21, was originally a fifth round draft pick by Toronto in 2022. He had a seven game audition for the Leafs this season, but did not register a point. In 39 games with the Toronto Marlies in the AHL this season his has nine goals ad 12 assists for 21 points.
It's Grebenkin's first season in North America after playing the past two seasons in the KHL.
Originally a 2012 first round pick by the Flyers, Laughton, 30, played parts of 12 seasons in Philadelphia. He played in 661 games for the Flyers scoring 106 goals and 159 assists for 265 points.
Laughton has one year remaining on his contract, with a $3.1 million cap hit. The Flyers are also retaining 50% of his contract in the deal.
It wasn't the only trade the Flyers made on Friday.
Right around noon, the Flyers traded forward Andrei Kuzmenko to the Los Angles Kings.
Hearing a deal with the Flyers and Kings for Andrei Kuzmenko. Waiting to hear what the return is but doesn’t sound like much. #LetsGoFlyers
Kuzmenko, who will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, was acquired last month from Calgary as part of the Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost trade.
Briere flipped him to the Kings by taking on 50% of his cap hit for the season ($2.75 million) and got a 2027 third round pick from Los Angeles for his trouble.
I was told Thursday night that the Flyers like Kuzmenko, but they weren't going to offer him a contract now. Would they be interested in him again in on July 1 when free agency begins?
Maybe.
I was told he wasn't going to be a priority for the Flyers but that if Kuzmenko were willing to take a one year deal at a smaller cap hit (somewhere between $2-$3 million), then they'd consider it, but the odds are pretty long on a return engagement after a short run in the orange and black for Kuzmenko.
At the last minute before the deadline - literally, the trade was filed at 2:59PM - the Flyers traded veteran defenseman Erik Johnson back to Colorado for 27-year-old tough guy journeyman Givani Smith. The funny thing is, when Smith was on the Sharks earlier this season, Johnson fought him for messing with Matvei Michkov:
Erik Johnson scores a goal and then drops the gloves with Givani Smith for messing with Matvei Michkov 👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/W6vqUUl74I
Smith, originally a 2016 2nd round pick of the Detroit Red Wings, has nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points and 268 penalty minutes in 168 games across six seasons with Detroit, Florida, San Jose and Colrado.
The Flyers considered offers for center Ryan Poehling and defenseman Egor Zamula but opted to hold on to their players and not give up on either of them. The Flyers were trying to get a second round pick from New Jersey for Poehling, but New Jersey chose to send that pick to Pittsburgh for Cody Glass instead.
Zamula was a guy who a few teams - including Toronto - were thinking about for defensive depth, but the Flyers didn't want to move him unless they got a better return.
