The Flyers sent a pair of pending restricted free agents goaltender Sam Ersson along with defenseman Emil Andrae, plus a 2026 3rd-round draft pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for goaltender Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit.
Ersson finished last season with a 14-11-5 record, 3.12 goals-against average and .870 save percentage across 29 starts and 33 appearances during his fourth NHL season. Despite assisting the club's mad dash to a playoff berth by going 6-1-0 in 9 appearances after the Olympic break, his lifetime 65-50-17 record, 3.01 GAA and .884 save pct. were deemed expendable by Briere.
Ersson carried a $1.45 million AAV cap hit on his expired 2-year deal. Both offer sheet and arbitration eligibile, Briere did not wait to tender a qualifying offer to the 26-year-old lefty before making this move.
Andrae, also an RFA who completed an initial 3-year deal with a $903,333K per year AAV, ends up a disappointing 2nd-round choice from the 2020 draft under then-GM Chuck Fletcher. At 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds, the club felt the 24-year-old made the blueline "smaller." He recorded 3 goals and 17 assists across 107 games since making his pro debut during the 2023-24 campaign. Andrae contributed 1 assist in his 4 playoff appearances this past spring.
Woll's acquisition likely signals that Briere views Vladar either unready to assume a No. 1 role with No. 1 work just yet, or he valued a younger player capable of playing more rather than relying on an inexpensive, more experienced veteran. During Tuesday's presser, he said the Boston College product would provide a good "tandem" with Vladar beginning next season.
The 27-year-old, former 3rd-round selection of the Leafs back in 2016 completed last season by going 15-16-7 with a 3.34 GAA, .898 save pct. and 2 shutouts. He posted career bests in wins (27), games started (41) and games played (42) in 2024-25 for Toronto. also starting all 7 games during the club's second-round defeat to eventual Cup champion Florida.
As it stands now, Woll actually carries a larger AAV ($3.6666M) over the last 2 years of his current contract than Vladar does for his remaining one year ($3.35M).
The Flyers additionally brought in Benoit, a veteran of 352 regular season games split between Anaheim and Toronto along with 20 playoff contests for the perpetually suffering Ontario franchise.
Benoit, who will be 28 by the time next season commences, has averaged just over 17 minutes of ice time per game. His career bests of 10 points came for the Ducks in 2022-23 and for the Leafs 2 seasons back. One glaring hole in his game is his defensive usage, which led to garish minus-29 ratings 3 seasons ago and minus-22 last season.
It would be difficult to envision Benoit as anything more than a seat filler at the 6-7 position, just like Andrae, but the expectation is the 6-foot-4, 210-pound backliner would be more of an imposing presence.
The native of suburban Montreal has one year remaining on his current contract, at $1.35M, ahead of UFA status in July 2027.
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