As the Flyers acquire Petr Mrazek from the Detroit Red Wings for two conditional draft picks, they get more than a solid goaltender for the stretch run of the season: Ron Hextall traded for a 26 year old Goalie with plenty of experience in the regular season and playoffs.

Mrazek has started 145 games during his time in Detroit while posting a career 2.60 goals against average and .912 save percentage; he also started 10 playoff games with 1.88 GAA and three shutouts.  With injuries sidelining Michal Neuvirth and Brian Elliott, Mrazek will get the bulk of the starts between the pipes for the Flyers over the next several weeks.

ESPN NHL Analyst Barry Melrose discussed what this trade means for the Flyers and Ron Hextall's message to his team:

“The message to the players in the dressing room is that ‘I’m behind you and we are going to try to win’ – I thought it was a great move, it was really quickly done and it sent a message; Mrazek has been a guy that’s played some really good games in the NHL and has been hot for long periods of time and really for a couple (draft) picks if it gets them in the playoffs and gives you a chance to win the Stanley Cup, anyone would give up a couple picks for that right.  So I think Hextall made a great move, he sent a great message to the club, took every excuse away from the club and this team right is playing as good as any team in the NHL - (Ron) Hextall should be getting a good pat on the back on what he just did for the Flyers.”

Checkout what Melrose had to say about Dave Hakstol, Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, and who are his top teams in the NHL this season...

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