After a couple of days’ worth of rumors linking goalie Cam Talbot to Philadelphia, the Flyers finally made their move right at the stroke of midnight on Saturday, bringing in Talbot from Edmonton in exchange for Anthony Stolarz. The trade was a straight up, player-for-player swap, with no picks or salary considerations changing hands either way. While not a huge move, this is a swap that has meaningful reverberations for the Flyers in both the short and long-term. With some time to digest it, here are some more thoughts on Chuck Fletcher’s first NHL-level player-for-player swap as general manager of the Flyers. 1. It’s easy to root for Anthony Stolarz, and hopefully things work out for him whether it’s in Edmonton or somewhere else. He was the first real goalie prospect drafted in this era of Flyers hockey, and while it’s easy to forget it, he was seen as the potential goalie of the future as recently as early 2017 prior to his first knee surgery. The back-to-back operations on his knee basically cost him the entire 2017-18 season, and coming into this year he was on the verge of being an afterthought with all of the other goalies under contract with the team. That he has a chance to really put things back together is awesome, and he’s earned it. And on an Oilers team that’s lacking great options in net, he should get some chances to show what he can do over the remainder of this season. Best of luck to him. So then, why trade him for a 31-year old pending unrestricted free agent goalie? Well ... 2. It was always going to be tough to piece together a potential long-term role for Stolarz with the team as soon as it became clear that Carter Hart was not just the team’s goalie of the future but of the present. Sure, there was some optimism about Stolarz as recently as earlier this season. I would know, I had some of that optimism. But even earlier this season when he was playing well, the hope was that maybe he could be part of a short-term goaltending solution that helped you bridge the gap to Carter Hart. And at that time, it was tough to envision that Hart was going to get called up in mid-December and then immediately prove that he was ready for the NHL. The acceleration of Hart’s timeline made it tough to find where Stolarz fit in the long term plans. Consider that ... 3. The Flyers were never going to go into next season with Stolarz as Hart’s backup. Look, I like Carter Hart. And I think he’s going to be good next year once again, maybe not quite to the extent he has been this year but certainly enough to be considered a solid starting goalie. But no team in the NHL was going to back up a 21-year old starter with a goalie that had 20-something NHL games and two fairly recent knee surgeries to his name. Even with a goalie like Hart, who is shattering all realistic expectations for what a goalie his age can do in this league, there’s a lot of projection involved with guys this young. As soon as the Flyers were able to say with confidence that Carter Hart was their goalie going forward, the backup goalie position became one in which the team probably was looking for stability more than it was even more projection, which is what Stolarz would’ve been. And when you consider that Stolarz was likely going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer (he would’ve needed to play in at least 10 of the Flyers’ final 25 games to remain a restricted free agent, and was that really going to happen with how things are going for Hart right now? ), there was a pretty good chance that Stolarz was going to get offers from other teams that could maybe give him more of a real shot at a backup role than the Flyers would’ve been able to. Getting a trial run of a potential new goalie (more on him in a moment) is a decent return given the situation. 4. All in all, the upside/downside balance here is a reasonable one. A realistic best-case scenario for this trade is that Talbot pulls things together, signs on as a backup for another couple of years, and gives the Flyers steadiness in net behind Hart while they wait and see if any of the next wave of goalie prospects (Felix Sandstrom, Samuel Ersson, Kirill Ustimenko) turn into something. A worst-case outlook would probably involve Talbot either walking in free agency this summer or sticking around but turning back into a pumpkin, while Stolarz does turn into a steady goalie for Edmonton and the Flyers end up having given up that guy for nothing. That’s an acceptable tradeoff for the Flyers, particularly since — as we’ve established — it was tough to find a scenario in which Stolarz was on the Flyers next year. There’s been some consternation among Flyers fans and observers asking why the Flyers weren’t able to get a draft pick or some other compensation from the Oilers in exchange for helping them out from a salary cap perspective. Edmonton needed to shed salary to make room on their roster for defenseman Andrej Sekera, and this trade gave them the flexibility to do just that. The reason the Flyers weren’t able to get more in the deal is simple: they got the safer, more proven, and in all likelihood the outright better goaltender in the deal. That’s the value in the deal for the Flyers. In all, for them, this trade is much more about what Talbot may or may not become than it is about the potential missed opportunity cost of what Stolarz could have been for this team. So with that, let’s talk about the new guy. 5. How much of a difference does a change of scenery make? That the Edmonton Oilers are a bit of a mess is not really news to anyone.<doc-sep>The Edmonton Oilers have acquired goaltender Anthony Stolarz from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for netminder Cam Talbot. The 25-year-old Stolarz has appeared in 12 games for Philadelphia this season and has a 4-3-3 record, 3.33 goals-against average and .902 save percentage. Stolarz has 19 career NHL games in five pro seasons, spending time majority of his time with Philadelphia's American Hockey League affiliate. He is on a one-year, $761,250 US deal and set to become a restricted free-agent this summer. The Edison, N.J., native was drafted 45th overall in the 2012 by the Flyers. Talbot, 31, is in the final season of a three-year, $12.5 million contract with the Oilers and was expected to be on his way out as an unrestricted free agent with the addition of Mikko Koskinen. The Caledonia, Ont., native appeared in 31 games this season for Edmonton, posting a 10-15-3 record with a 3.36 GAA and .893 save percentage.<doc-sep>Why Flyers traded Anthony Stolarz to Oilers for Cam Talbot originally appeared on nbcsportsphiladelphia.com Here comes number eight. The Flyers acquired Cam Talbot in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers late Friday night in exchange for Anthony Stolarz, the Flyers' 2012 second-round selection (see story). The move means at some point the Flyers will become the first team in NHL history to start eight different goaltenders in one season after tying the 1989-90 Quebec Nordiques on Dec. 18. There's a good chance Talbot could make his Flyers debut Sunday in Detroit as interim head coach Scott Gordon stated Thursday he was uncertain who would start that game. Here are some important questions surrounding general manager Chuck Fletcher's latest move. Why trade Stolarz? Here's the perplexing question perhaps on the minds of many who were hoping for a Carter Hart-Anthony Stolarz duo next season. The Flyers feel they need a solid veteran who can start next season alongside Hart. As well as Stolarz has played, he's still very raw and limited when it comes to NHL experience (just 19 games). Plus, there's still some internal concern regarding his health. Stolarz has required knee surgery twice over the past 18 months, and sustained another lower-body injury this season that kept him out of action for six weeks. Even if the Flyers valued Stolarz, he's a restricted free agent following this season and would need to clear waivers just to be assigned to the Phantoms next season. Sensing a team would likely claim him to start the season (much like the Flyers did with Calvin Pickard), Stolarz became expendable. Unfortunately, you just can't keep everyone and this gives Stolarz a great opportunity moving forward in Edmonton. Why acquire Talbot? As we mentioned the other day, Talbot has experience as a starter with the Oilers and a backup with the New York Rangers. He led the NHL with 140 starts from 2015-17 while backstopping the Oilers to the playoffs in 2016-17. Story continues What's very important is that he has a strong relationship with Hart after the two goaltenders worked together this past summer. Talbot will know exactly what his role is moving forward. "We partnered up and took the ice for goalie sessions this summer," Hart said this month. "He's a great mentor, he's a good guy, a great goalie. He's the guy I called before my first start to ask about pregame jitters and what to expect." Will they re-sign Talbot? In all likelihood, yes. Consider the final 25 regular-season games somewhat of a trial run for Talbot. The Flyers want a firsthand look at how Talbot fits in with his new team, and is he still capable of winning games and playing well? Plus, Talbot needs to make his own determination of whether he wants to stay in Philadelphia or test the free-agent market this summer. I would expect the Flyers to offer a two-year contract in the $2.5-3.5 million range, which would be perfect as Hart still has two years remaining on his entry-level deal. What's the next move? Well, the Flyers won't carry four goaltenders on the roster, that's for certain. Once Brian Elliott is ready to return to Philadelphia following his conditioning stint with the Phantoms, expect Mike McKenna to be placed on waivers, and if he clears, to be sent down to the Phantoms. However, for Saturday's game against the Red Wings, McKenna will serve as the backup to Hart. Interesting tidbit Talbot's first NHL start came against the Flyers on Oct. 24, 2013 - a 2-1 loss. However, his first NHL win was a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings in his next start. Hart's first NHL win was also a 3-2 victory against those same Red Wings. Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device. More on the Flyers<doc-sep>EDMONTON—The Edmonton Oilers have acquired goaltender Anthony Stolarz from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for netminder Cam Talbot. The 25-year-old Stolarz has appeared in 12 games for Philadelphia this season and has a 4-3-3 record, 3.33 goals-against average and .902 save percentage. Stolarz has 19 career NHL games in five pro seasons, spending time majority of his time with Philadelphia’s American Hockey League affiliate. He is on a one-year, US$761,250 deal and set to become a restricted free-agent this summer. The Edison, N.J., native was drafted 45th overall in the 2012 by the Flyers. Talbot, 31, is in the final season of a three-year, $12.5 million contract with the Oilers and was expected to be on his way out as an unrestricted free agent with the addition of Mikko Koskinen. The Caledonia, Ont., native appeared in 31 games this season for Edmonton, posting a 10-15-3 record with a 3.36 GAA and .893 save percentage. Read more about:<doc-sep>
Well, it happened! We had just talked about how the Flyers were rumored to be in talks with Edmonton over Cam Talbot, and now, at midnight, they’ve announced that the trade has officially been made; a one-for-one deal that sends Anthony Stolarz the other way. TRADE ALERT: The #Flyers have acquired goaltender Cam Talbot from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for goaltender Anthony Stolarz. https://t.co/mzPANUwVSG — Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 16, 2019 Stolarz, 25, has appeared in 12 games for the Philadelphia Flyers this season, posting a .902 save percentage on his way to a 4-3-3 record. The 6’6” netminder missed almost the entirety of last season with a knee injury, but has been enjoying a comeback season that saw him back in the NHL where he had previously played just seven games. The 2012 second-round pick had at one point served as the third-string goaltender in the AHL prior to his recall in late November, but since then has been a mainstay with the Flyers outside of a quick conditioning stint in January. For a look at who the Flyers are adding, here’s an excerpt from what we had to say about Talbot’s season two days ago, when we discussed the possibility of him being traded to Philadelphia. Out of the 29 goalies across the league who have played in 30 games or more this season, Talbot is dead last in save percentage and 28th in GAA despite seeing the sixth-fewest shots among the group. At 5-on-5 the numbers don’t get too much prettier for Talbot. Of the 29 goalies who have played 1,300 5-on-5 minutes or more in 2018-19, Talbot is 24th with a .911 save percentage, 21st with a .971 low-danger save percentage, and 27th with a .757 high-danger save percentage. Of the 31 games he’s played in this season, Talbot has posted a save percentage of .900 or lower in 18 of the tilts. He’s been bad, there’s no way to sugarcoat it — he’s had a really bad season thus far. However, he’s had two seasons as the Oilers’ starter where he finished with a save percentage above league average, so his history points towards this season being an outlier. With the trade being one goaltender for another, this doesn’t change much to the Flyers current situation. They still have a lot of goaltenders that have been NHL regulars. It feels likely that a good portion of the Flyers’ remaining 25 games will be used to determine whether Talbot should be re-signed or if they should look elsewhere for a backup to Carter Hart next season.