Press release:

The Philadelphia Flyers have traded defenseman Kimmo Timonen to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a second round draft pick in 2015 and a conditional draft pick in 2016, according to general manager Ron Hextall.

Well this came out of nowhere. Good move for the Flyers, though. They’re not going anywhere this year and got a couple of draft picks for Timonen, who will now get a legit shot at a Cup.

He was scheduled to make his season debut this weekend after fighting blood clots in his leg the second half of last year. Low-risk, high-reward deal for the Blackhawks. Can’t help but think the Flyers almost did this as a favor to Kimmo. He’ll probably be an assistant coach here within a year or two.

You can get tickets for that Flyers-Blackhawks game on March 25 before they go through the roof right here.