Team: 2018-19 Philadelphia Flyers

Initial Creation Date: Dec. 18, 2018

Published: Dec. 24, 2018

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Does this trade meet the needs of the teams? Is the value fair? Do you see salary retention or a pick going either way as needed to even it out?

My thoughts:

Why would Arizona do this? 1) Financial reasons and 2) to improve offense. Arizona can sample Simmonds and Weal before committing to future contract term and salary to either. This flexibility should be valuable to a financially pressured club like Arizona. By contrast, whether the injured Demers can come back and be a top 4 blueliner from yet another season ending injury is a financial risk that can be moved to a club that can bear it more readily. Acquiring MacDonald helps fill an immediate shortage on D, but carries one more year of high salary into 2019-2020.

For Arizona, this deal is probably a win if Simmonds fixes the powerplay and signs long-term. It will be a bonus if Jordan Weal finally receives a proper role and takes advantage of it offensively at 5v5. Both will have fans in Philly happy for them to succeed but possibly ruing the trade in that event. I reckon Arizona fans will be sad to see a young player in Crouse traded away, worry that they just lost a good D man for a replacement level one, but very excited to see some offensive rejuvenation all aboard the Wayne Train.

Why would Philly do this? 1) PK improvement and 2) to possibly upgrade defense down the road at a reasonable cost. Crouse is a better fit for the bottom 6 than Weal, because the Flyers sorely lack another steady PK player. Demers could be a right-sided D upgrade if he comes back healthy for 2019-2020, but that is no sure thing. Bolland is a salary dump to mitigate the high MacDonald salary going the other way, at least for this season. Philly can part with Simmonds and Weal because they are on expiring contracts, and the club may be reluctant to give Simmonds a high cap and term deal given the other pricey forward contracts already on the books.

For Philly, if Demers does not pan out, the deal is probably a fail, but could still be at least palatable if Crouse turns out to be a great fit long-term for the PK and bottom 6. In the worst case scenario, Demers could ride out his contract on LTIR. Flyers fans will initially be happy to be rid of MacDonald, who was often given too many minutes against too difficult competition for his skill set here, but will be sad to see Simmonds and Weal depart.