Flyers deal one of their best trade chips to Metropolitan Division team

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The Flyers dealt one of their most attractive chips at Monday's trade deadline, sending Justin Braun to the Rangers in exchange for a 2023 third-round draft pick.

A second-rounder for Braun seemed like the ideal ceiling but it may have been a reach.

There was a lot to like with Braun for contending teams wanting defensive help. He owns 100 games of playoff experience, goal-prevention savviness and a team-friendly, expiring contract to boot. Braun's cap hit is only $1.8 million. Pretty cheap for a player that was showcased in a top-pair role for most of this season.

The veteran had been arguably the club's steadiest and most reliable blueliner over the last two seasons. With Braun's age and contract coupled with the Flyers' need to retool, general manager Chuck Fletcher was wise to cash in on the 35-year-old's value.

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Fletcher said Sunday "a lot of teams" were calling on Braun, who was held of out the lineup that afternoon for asset management purposes.

Through 61 games this season, Braun has matched his career high in goals with five to go along with 11 assists. He had a plus-3 mark on a team that had a minus-58 goal differential, while ranking second among Flyers defensemen with 114 blocked shots and 79 hits.

"Probably the best word is reliability," Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeo said last month about Braun. "That's something that's a real compliment, you get a lot of respect from your teammates and from your coaches when you're a guy who's reliable.

"He'll show up night after night, he'll take hits to make plays, he'll be first on pucks, in the d-zone, he'll block shots, he has attention to detail. He does all of the things that are asked of him."

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Braun was acquired from the Sharks in June 2019 during Fletcher's first offseason running the Flyers and spent three seasons in Philadelphia after nine in San Jose. Fletcher traded a 2019 second-round selection and a 2020 third-round pick for Braun, who played a solid third-pair role and 17:16 minutes per game in 2019-20 as the Flyers fell one win shy of the Eastern Conference Final.

Last season, in a trickle-down effect from Matt Niskanen's retirement, Braun's minutes and responsibilities climbed as the Flyers experienced a lot of instability on their back end. This season, his role grew even more with the injury to Ryan Ellis. Braun has played 20:02 minutes per game with impressive durability.

"It's nice to be back playing those kind of minutes, but when you're not winning, it's not really ideal either," Braun said last month. "You kind of hope to be doing those top minutes on a winning team, but unfortunately we haven't been there yet.

"The first year, obviously we had a really good group and really enjoyed the experience here. With the COVID stuff and everything, it's kind of been hampered a little bit, but I have really enjoyed my experience here."

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