The Montreal Canadiens have traded David Schlemko and Byron Froese to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Dale Weise and Christian Folin, the team announced Saturday. The Canadiens would also activate Andrew Shaw from the injured reserve and place Karl Alzner on waivers for purpose of sending him to the AHL.
The Canadiens have acquired defenseman Christian Folin and forward Dale Weise from the Philadelphia Flyers.
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This trade allows the Canadiens to reacquire Weise from the Flyers after the veteran forward signed a four-year, $9.4 million contract in Philadelphia. Prior to that signing, Weise spent two-plus seasons with the Canadiens, scoring 27 goals and 59 points with the team.
Though Weise has never been much of an offensive producer, he broke out in a big way in Montreal with a 10-goal, 29-point season in 79 games in his first full season with the team and then 14 goals and 26 points in 56 games in his second full-season and final year with the Canadiens prior to this reunion.
Since joining the Flyers, Weise has scored just 17 goals and 34 points in three seasons and has recently played three games in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. As a result, the Canadiens will keep Weise in the AHL to start his second stint with the club.
In Folin, the Canadiens are acquiring a depth defender who has played in 26 games with the Flyers this season. Averaging 15:33 of ice time and recording two assists, Folin isn’t a huge contributor on the offensive side of the puck but he can certainly log depth minutes if needed.
In 209 NHL games split between the Minnesota Wild, Los Angeles Kings and the Flyers, Folin has scored seven goals and 38 points. The Flyers are retaining 18.75% of Folin’s contract which is $150,000 prorated. This basically flips the contract of Folin and Byron Froese as the former is earning $800,000 this season and the latter has a $650,000 contract.
Flyers Add Schlemko & Froese
Froese would sign as a free agent with the Canadiens in 2017 and has only played in 48 games with the Canadiens since then, all coming in the 2017-18 season. He’d score three goals and 11 points in those 48 games.
He’s also spent 59 games in the AHL, including 46 this season alone that’s seen him lead the team with 14 goals, as well as 16 assists on the season and should provide solid depth to the Phantoms in the AHL.
The Canadiens would acquire Schlemko from the Vegas Golden Knights last season with the hope that he could break out with the team following stints in Arizona, Dallas, Calgary, New Jersey and San Jose.
While the advanced metrics indicate that Schlemko has potential, he’s never been able to stay healthy or prove as much on the ice. He’s played in just 55 games in Montreal since 2017 and has scored just one goal and seven points. He’s also played in 11 AHL contests, scoring one goal and five points.
Schlemko will now get a chance to prove what he can do with his seventh NHL team with hopes that he can stay healthy and live up to his potential. This deal also allowed them to dump the salary of Weise with hopes that Schlemko can contribute more for a similar cap hit than Weise did.
Perhaps the most exciting part of this day for Flyers’ fans is the fact that the team also recalled 22-year-old defender Philippe Myers from the AHL. The undrafted free agent has turned heads in the AHL and is set to get his first stint in the NHL.
The 6-foot-5, 202-pound Myers has scored 14 goals and 50 points in 98 games in the AHL over the last two seasons, including nine goals and 29 points this season alone.