Report: Flyers listening to calls on Provorov
The Philadelphia Flyers are fielding calls from teams about the availability of defenseman Ivan Provorov, multiple sources told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.
Provorov, 25, has two goals and 12 assists in 41 games this season while ranking second on the Flyers in average ice time (23:12) behind only Tony DeAngelo.
The 2015 seventh overall pick wouldn't be a rental for any interested parties: Provorov has two years remaining on his current pact after this season at a cap hit of $6.75 million.
He posted a career-high 41 points during the 2017-18 season - his second in the league - but endured a frustrating stretch as of late. Provorov put up nine goals and 22 assists in 2021-22 but was a minus-20 on the campaign, the second-worst mark among all Flyers defensemen.
The Russian rearguard expressed frustration with the media's criticism of his play during last season's exit interviews.
"No matter what I say, you guys are gonna give me your own grades," Provorov said last May. "It doesn't matter, you're all experts on hockey, so you're gonna give me your super experienced grades. I don't think my opinion really matters to you guys."
He's also had to contend with a series of rotating partners after Matt Niskanen retired in October 2020. The acquisition of Ryan Ellis could've helped stabilize the blue line, but he was only able to play in four games last season due to injury and isn't expected to suit up at all in 2022-23.
Provorov has spent the majority of his time on a pair with DeAngelo this campaign.
The Flyers have had a rough ride through the first half of the 2022-23 campaign - their first under hard-nosed head coach John Tortorella. Like last season, Philadelphia enjoyed a promising start. It went 5-2-0 right out of the gate, but a 10-game losing streak in November sent the team crashing back down to earth.
Philadelphia currently sits in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 16-18-7.