All eyes were on the Eagles on Thursday night for obvious reasons, but it was the Flyers who were busy in the hours leading up to the NFL season’s kickoff.
The Flyers announced Thursday afternoon that they traded forward prospect Jon-Randall Avon to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for forward Tucker Robertson.
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The minor league deal actually sees 22-year-old former teammates swap places, as Avon and Robertson played four seasons together with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League. Robertson (90 points) and Avon (60 points) were two of the Petes’ top three scorers on their 2022-23 OHL title team.
On paper, the deal seems like an opportunity for two organizations to get a look at a different player in a new environment. Both players have played primarily in bottom-six roles in the American Hockey League.
Avon, who has mostly been a fringe prospect in the Flyers’ organization since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2021, has played the last two seasons with Lehigh Valley, tallying 16 goals and 35 points in 125 games. Last season, he had seven goals and 17 points in 60 games.
The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Robertson, meanwhile, was a fourth-round pick of the Kraken in 2022. He was a prolific player at the junior level — he eclipsed the 35-goal and 80-point plateaus twice — but Robertson’s offensive production hasn’t translated to professional hockey. Known for his speed and work on the forecheck, Robertson has played 77 career AHL games and has mustered only 10 goals and 19 points for Coachella Valley.
Robertson will try to earn a bigger role with the Flyers organization, but it won’t be easy. The team is graduating several prospects from the college and junior ranks, including Karsen Dorwart, Devin Kaplan, Oliver Bonk, Denver Barkey, and Alex Bump. Bump and Dorwart are expected to compete for NHL jobs out of training camp.