While You Were Sleeping, The Flyers Traded Braydon Coburn To The Lightning
Braydon Coburn deal to #TBLightning is now official. #flyers get TB's 2015 first-round pick, 2015 third-rounder and Radko Gudas. #NHLTrade
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 2, 2015
EXCLUSIVE statement from Braydon Coburn after being told he will be shipped down to the Lightning:
Pretty eventful 2 AM on a Monday morning, wouldn’t ya say? Everyone knew yesterday that the Flyers were going to try to find a way to trade Braydon Coburn and his $4.5 million cap hit (no salary will be retained by the Flyers) by the deadline. But it finally happened in the dead of night because Ron Hextall is a crazy son of a bitch. Listen, Braydon Coburn is a very pretty good defenseman. He immediately strengthens the Lightning’s blueline as they head into the playoffs. Coburn had a great run in Philadelphia and wasn’t really deserving of most of the hate that got thrown his way. However, it was for sure his time to go. Especially with the news of his buddy Kimmo getting traded to Chicago on Friday. Braydon Coburn did a lot of good stuff here in Philly, but there’s nothing left for him here anymore. So that’s why everyone should be happy about this deal. Not necessarily because because he “sucked” like a lot of fans will try to say, but because we just weren’t going to get anything more from him so why not stock up on some draft picks and clear that $4.5 million off the Flyers’ books.
As for what the Flyers got in return, it was a great package. Hextall really proved himself with this one. Now the prices have been outrageous so far with the way this deadline has been going. So relative to some of the other deals that have gone down the past couple days, a 1st round pick makes sense for Braydon Coburn. But if this wasn’t such a sellers’ market right now, you have to imagine that a 2015 1st round, 2015 3rd round, and Radko Gudas is a pretty steep overpayment. But who cares, sucks to be Tampa. Gudas is currently done for the rest of the 2014-15 season after undergoing knee surgery in January. So I guess we won’t be seeing him until next year. But some things to look forward to out of the 24-year-old? Not much. Other than the fact that he can grow a sick beard.
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Personally, I think the dude is pretty ugly. But I know chicks are into that whole lumberjack scene these days so I guess that means the Flyers won the trade? Sometimes you just have to call it as you see it.
Another quick thing to point out:
– Now that Kimmo and Coby are both gone, that makes Zac Rinaldo the 2nd-longest tenured Flyer on the roster. LOL.
There is obviously going to be plenty of action going on today with the deadline and I’m almost positive that Hextall isn’t done yet. So follow me on Twitter @BarstoolJordie so we can go through all of this together.