As Philadelphians frantically refreshed X Monday night hoping to see that Howie Roseman and the Eagles had traded for a passer before Tuesday’s trade deadlineit was Danny Brière and the Flyers who made the deal.

The minor trade saw the Flyers and Oilers swap defensemen from the American Hockey League, with Ronnie Attard going to Edmonton and Ben Gleason coming to Philly.

The deal ends a frustrating few years for Attard within the Flyers organization. Not long ago, Attard was considered a mid-level prospect with good size (6-foot-3, 208 pounds), intriguing offensive ability and a big shot. But after playing in 15 NHL games at the end of 2021-22 after joining the Flyers after an accomplished college career at Western Michigan, the 2019 third-round pick has managed just 14 over the past two seasons. .

Attard, who turns 26 in March and is in the final year of a two-year contract worth $1.7 million (average annual value $850,000), has scored goals at two numbers in the AHL each of the last two seasons and was an all-time AHL player. -Star in 2023. But he struggled to replicate his AHL success at the highest level, particularly on the defensive side of the ice, and fell below young defensemen like Egor Zamula, Emil Andrae and Adam Ginning in the hierarchical order of the organization. The final straw for Attard was a mediocre training camp, as he struggled with turnovers and defensive assignments, and was a surprising early cut.

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He finished his tenure with the Flyers with two goals, four assists, 14 penalty minutes and a minus-one rating in 29 games. He has compiled 22 goals and 59 points over the past two seasons at Lehigh Valley, but has yet to record a point in seven games this campaign. We will see if a change of scenery will be an opportunity for Attard to unlock some of his offensive tools.

Gleason, 26, spent most of his career in the AHL, first with the Texas Stars, Dallas’ affiliate, for five seasons, and the final season-plus in the Oilers organization with the Bakersfield Condors. A former undrafted free agent, Gleason recorded four 30-point seasons in the AHL, including a career-high 44-point campaign in 2021-22. Gleason, who is 6-1 and weighs 190 pounds, is known as a fluid player who likes to get active offensively. The questions surrounding Gleason concern his defensive play and his strength. The Michigan native, who played four NHL games with Dallas in 2018-19, appears to bring organizational depth to the blue line. Gleason will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

It should be noted that Gleason is left-handed while Attard is right-handed. The Flyers are considerably deeper on the left side, as Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, Cam York, Zamula and Andrae all shoot left-handed. In comparison, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jamie Drysdale and Erik Johnson are the team’s only right-handers in the NHL.

This move, although minor, is only the latest transaction executed by Brière. The second-year general manager had already made high-profile deals involving Ivan Provorov, Cutter Gauthier and Sean Walker, not to mention his decision to go back twice in the first round of the June NHL draft.