The Philadelphia Flyers have traded forward Scott Hartnell to the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward R.J. Umberger and a 2015 4th round pick.
The 32-year old Hartnell was drafted 6th overall in the 2000 draft by the Nashville Predators. Hartnell has five years left on his contract totaling $22.5 million and a cap hit of $4.75 million.
The 32-year old Umberger was drafted 16th overall in the 2001 draft by the Vancouver Canucks. Umberger has three years left on his contract totaling $13.5 million and a cap hit of $4.6 million.
Thoughts from media:
- Dan Rosen: “I can’t rationalize this on what we know. Maybe Hartnell begged for a trade. Maybe the Flyers wanted him gone. Maybe….just maybe.”
- Elliotte Friedman: “No salary retention for either team in CLB/PHI trade…clean break both ways”
- Chris Johsnton: “It’s worth noting that Scott Hartnell waived a no-movement clause to join #CBJ.”
- Dan Rosen: “I can’t describe the reasoning behind this deal from the Flyers perspective. I have to dive into some details but on surface I don’t get it.”
- Justin Bourne: “You do have to respect Philly’s decision to get appreciably worse for the same cap hit tho”
- Gus Katsaros: “Hartnell relies on brute strength to power his way to the net instead of a finesse approach. That’s going to wear down with age.”
- Nicholas W. Goss: “I like the Hartnell-Umberger trade from the Flyers perspective. Hartnell’s contract was only going to get worse.”
- David Pagnotta: “Nice move for the Jackets… Hartnell should win over the Columbus crowd pretty easily.”
- Joe Yerdon: “I know Umberger played well in Philly before but this just has all the makings of there being another move coming. This on its own is odd.”
- Joe Yerdon: “Hartnell is the better player in this by a long shot. I’m lost on this one.”
- Sean Gentille: “Umberger is way worse than Hartnell, but he’s signed for two less years. This is so tough!”
Scott Hartnell
RJ Umberger
