Philadelphia Flyers And Columbus Blue Jackets Make Huge Trade

Saturday, July 24, 2021 ,

The Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets have made a huge trade. The Flyers are sending Jakub Voracek back to Columbus for Cam Atkinson. None of Voracek's salary is being retained. 

The Flyers trading Voracek was predictable, as it was announced that both parties wanted to move on from one another. Atkinson leaving the Blue Jackets is a bit of surprise, though, as he seemed to love the team and just signed a long extension a few summers ago. In fact, he spent his entire 627-game career thus far in Columbus. Regardless, each team will be losing a top-six winger and gaining another. 

Voracek spent the first three seasons of his NHL career with the Blue Jackets before being traded to the Flyers. At 31-years-old, he was still a very productive winger for the Flyers when it came to offense. In 53 games played this season, he scored nine goals and recorded 43 points. However, his contract was the primary reason why Philly wanted to trade him. He has three years left at an $8.25 million cap hit.

Atkinson is two years removed from a 41-goal season, but has not come close to that total since. This season with the Blue Jackets, the 32-year-old scored 15 goals and registered 36 points in 56 games. That is still a very solid season from a statistical standpoint. Even if he never hits the 40-goal plateau again, he should fit nicely in the Flyers' top-six and comes at a far cheaper price. He has four more years left on his contract and it carries a much lower $5.875 million cap hit. 

This is a big trade that certainly will be fun to follow starting next season. Keep in mind, these two teams are in the same division, so they are going to see one another quite often. 

Nonetheless, the Flyers are continuing to retool their roster and have even more money to work with now. Expect to see them being active once free agency officially starts. 





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