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Greg Wyshynski
The Calgary Flames bolstered their pursuit of a playoff spot by acquiring forwards Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee from the Philadelphia Flyers for a package that includes forward Andrei Kuzmenko, the teams announced Thursday night.
The Flyers picked up Kuzmenko, forward Jakob Pelletier, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2028 seventh-rounder for Frost and Farabee. No salary was retained in the deal.
Frost, 25, has 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 49 games this season for the Flyers, who drafted him 27th overall in 2017. He was a frequent target of criticism and benching by coach John Tortorella over the last two seasons, as his time declined in each. Frost has a $2.1 million salary cap hit and is a restricted free agent after the season.
In his sixth NHL season, Frost gives Calgary a center its lineup has sorely needed.
Farabee, 24, has 19 points (8 goals, 11 assists) in 50 games this season. Drafted 14th overall by the Flyers in 2018, he’s suffered an epic dip in production from his career highs of 22 goals and 50 points last season, with his ice time dropping by over a minute on average year over year.
He’s signed through 2028 at a cap hit of $5 million, after which he’ll become an unrestricted free agent.
Kuzmenko, 28, has 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists) in 37 games this season. He was held out of Calgary’s 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
In his third NHL season, Kuzmenko has been unable to match his dynamic rookie season (39 goals and 74 points with Vancouver in 2022-23). He’s a former teammate of Flyers star rookie Matvei Michkov, as the two played together for St. Petersburg SKA in Russia’s KHL.
Kuzmenko is an unrestricted free agent after the season and has a $5.5 million cap hit.
Pelletier, 23, was drafted 26th overall in 2019 by the Flames. He had 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) in 23 games for Calgary this season, averaging 12:57 per game. In 60 career NHL games, Pelletier has 21 points in 60 games. He’s a restricted free agent after the season.
The Flames have been a surprising playoff contender and currently hold the second wild card spot in the Western Conference with a .570 points percentage, slightly ahead of the Vancouver Canucks (.560).
The Flyers are four points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They’ve lost four of their last five games, getting shut out by the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders in their last two games.