UPDATE, 1:00 PM ET: The Flyers have sent James van Riemsdyk to the AHL to make room on the roster for Boynton. Before you flip out, it’s only necessary because Erik Gustafsson is with the NHL club right now. After tonight’s game in Ottawa, JvR will come back up and Gustafsson will go back down. I’d bet that JvR actually never leaves the Flyers (unless he technically has to go to Glens Falls according to the rules, I’m not sure).
van Riemsdyk has to go down because he’s one of the few players on the roster who doesn’t have to clear waivers. It makes sense. Also, as a result, we might get to see Nikolay Zherdev tonight against Ottawa, which could be his chance to show Peter Laviolette and Paul Holmgren that he wants to stay. We’ll see.
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You thought the Flyers were going to trade for a defenseman at the trade deadline? Ah, not so fast. Paul Holmgren has claimed defenseman Nick Boynton off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks instead, adding depth to a Flyers defense that is now without Oskars Bartulis — probably for the season.
Don’t expect Boynton to jump on the Flyers blueline and play a top-six role. He’s capable of doing that, and he played 41 games with the Blackhawks this season, but he’s definitely just here for depth. It’s a fantastic move in terms of adding that depth, though. Boynton is a reliable defenseman when you don’t ask too much of him.
He was bumped out of the lineup in Chicago thanks to the emergence of young guys like Nick Leddy and Jordan Hendry. He was a healthy scratch there in 18 of the last 22 games as a result.
Boynton only has a cap hit of $500,000 this season and he’s unrestricted at the end of the year. Fitting him under the cap shouldn’t be much of an issue.
