Flyers

Flyers Acquire Defenseman Justin Braun from San Jose

By Russ Joy

Published: Jun 18th, 2019 · 12:22 PM EDT

---

When news of Erik Karlsson’s 8-year extension with the San Jose Sharks broke yesterday, it became immediately clear that San Jose would need to cut salary with names like Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Joonas Donskoi, Timo Meier, Kevin Labanc, Dylan Gambrell, Joakim Ryan, Gustav Nyquist and Tim Heed needing to be re-signed. Enter Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher, who acquired yet another right-handed defenseman in Justin Braun:

BREAKING: The #Flyers have acquired defenseman Justin Braun from San Jose in exchange for a second-round pick in this year's draft (41st overall) and third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) June 18, 2019

Fletcher traded a 2019 second-round pick (41st overall) and a 2020 third-round pick for the defenseman. The Flyers’ acquisition of Braun makes sense on a few levels. Right-handed defensemen are a highly sought after commodity and while he’s by no means an offensive force -he’s only put up 154 points in 607 career games- he’s a defensively sound defenseman:

Justin Braun (to Philly from sj in exchange for draft picks) almost completely neutralizes his team's 5v5 offence, but provides a little defensive value. pic.twitter.com/DkQUH3WoX8

— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) June 18, 2019

This marks the third trade of the month for Fletcher, who previously acquired defenseman Matt Niskanen and the exclusive negotiating rights of center Kevin Hayes. The latter has not yet signed a deal with the Flyers, though TSN reported yesterday that Philadelphia had made some headway in their negotiations.

For more Flyers coverage, be sure to check out our Flyers podcast Snow the Goalie ([Apple Podcasts] [Spotify] [Google Play] [Stitcher] [RSS]), leave a 5 star review, and follow us on Twitter:@AntSanPhilly @JoyOnBroad