Updated: 9:15 p.m.
The Frenchman has left the building.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, the first player from the city of Paris to ever play for the Flyers, was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL expansion draft on Wednesday night.
The 32-year-old centerman was left unprotected by the Flyers last weekend.
Among the potential candidates on the Flyers' unprotected list, Bellemare and Michael Raffl were the most attractive forwards left exposed at very reasonable salaries.
Bellemare received a new two-year contract last March and was named an alternate captain after Mark Streit was traded to Pittsburgh at the deadline.
He was one of coach Dave Hakstol's favorite players.
What makes Bellemare attractive to Vegas is his ability to play throughout the lineup, his solid work as a penalty-killer and especially his $1.45 million cap hit for this season and 2018-19.
That's bargain money for a player who averages 13 minutes a night as a fourth-line center. Bellemare was expected to move to left wing this fall after the Flyers signed college prospect Mike Vecchione in the spring with the intention of using him as a fourth-line center.
NHL
Bellemare signed as free agent in June of 2014. He had 17 goals and 34 points in 237 games over three seasons with the club.
He was among the most affable, likeable players on the Flyers' roster, a consummate gentleman on and off the ice.
With Oskar Lindblom, Jordan Weal, Vecchione and either draft prospects Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier, and perhaps Scott Laughton, Bellemare's departure opens up a roster spot and ice time for other, much younger players in need of such.
Now that Bellemare is gone, the Flyers can't lose another player.
The really good news there is they won't lose veteran goalie Michal Neuvirth, who was left exposed so the Flyers could protect prospect Anthony Stolarz.
Weal update
J.P. Barry's discussions with Las Vegas apparently have piqued his interest in waiting a little longer on the Flyers and talking to more teams.
"There are too many variables but the Flyers are still a strong option," Barry said of Jordan Weal's re-signing here.
The last thing general manager Ron Hextall wants is for Weal to go into free agency and have this become a bidding war. Bellemare's selection by Vegas may prompt Hextall to sweeten his offer and end this before FA begins.