Mark Streit traded to Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired Mark Streit from the New York Islanders and plan on re-signing him before July 5.
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The Philadelphia Flyers need to do something about their defense and they took a big step toward fixing it Wednesday.
The team announced it has acquired the free-agent rights to defenseman Mark Streit from the New York Islanders in exchange for forward Shane Harper and a 2014 fourth-round draft pick.
Streit, 35, is eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 5 but the Flyers will now have an opportunity to work out an agreement with him before he hits the open market.
“Mark is a player we would have had interest in on July 5th," general manager Paul Holmgren said in a statement. "We now have exclusive negotiating rights and we are hopeful that we can get an agreement in place prior to him becoming an unrestricted free agent.”
Streit made $4.1 million last season. He spent the past four years with the Islanders.
He's been one of the most productive defenseman in the NHL since the start of the 2007-08 season recording 241 points, a number that only seven defensemen have topped over that stretch.
His age is a bit of a concern, especially since the Flyers will be relying so much on Kimmo Timonen, but he still seems to have a little left. The only question that remains now is whether or not the Flyers can finalize a contract with him, and how much money it's going to cost them. This past weekend the Dallas Stars acquired Sergei Gonchar's free agent rights from the Ottawa Senators and gave the 39-year-old defenseman a two-year, $10 million contract.
