Marc Bergevin has made his second trade on deadline day, adding some depth to
their forward group. The Canadiens have acquired 26 year old forward Brian
Flynn from the Buffalo Sabres. In return, the Habs have parted with their
5th round pick in 2016.
This is Flynn’s second full season in the NHL after being a late bloomer,
going undrafted and playing four full years in the NCAA before joining the
Sabres as a free agent. This season, he has suited up for 54 games,
tallying five goals and twelve assists with a respectable -3 rating while
playing just under 16 minutes per game. (On Buffalo, that’s in the upper
echelon for regulars.) In his career, he has 17 goals and 24 assists in
159 games.
While the early assumption may be that Flynn could replace Manny Malhotra on
the fourth line, it should be noted that Flynn is not particularly strong at the
faceoff dot. He has a 47.6% success rate this season, only slightly better
than the 47.3% success rate he posted last year. As a result, it’s
reasonable to think that he could be earmarked for the right wing, either on the
third or fourth line.
Flynn is in the second and final season of a two year deal. He’s making
$650,000 this year with a very modest cap hit of $637,500 and will be a
restricted free agent following the season so this is not a pure rental
transaction as the Jeff Petry trade likely will be.
From a roster perspective, don’t be surprised to see a ‘paper transaction’.
Expanded rosters aren’t permitted until after 3 PM EST and the Habs are now
carrying 24 players; the max is 23. As a result, a player may be assigned
to the minors and then recalled following the deadline, counting against their
non-emergency recall limit.
Flynn’s Stats:
