Fantasy Impact: The Philadelphia Flyers have acquired defenseman Mark Streit from the New York Islanders in exchange for prospect Shane Harper and a fourth-round draft pick.

The Islanders get: Wow – a surefire fourth rounder is much better than the “conditional” sixth-rounder that the Senators got for Sergei Gonchar. And Shane Harper, while an extreme long shot, does have upside. Harper is a minor-league winger who was a big scorer in the WHL. During his brief (due to the lockout) stint in the ECHL, he ripped the league apart with 27 points in 15 games. His AHL numbers were much more modest, but potentially he could really help Bridgeport. And two years from now, who knows?

The Flyers get: the chance to negotiate uncontested with a 35-year-old puck-moving defenseman. Yes, Mark Streit is on the decline. But the Flyers could use him and they have been known to boost the production of aging puck-movers in the past (see Timonen, Kimmo). Don’t buy that Streit in on the decline? Here are the numbers, points-per-game by season:

2007-08 0.77

2008-09 0.76

2009-10 0.60

2010-11 injured

2011-12 0.57

2012-13 0.56

Very minor. And due to his anticipated role (if the Flyers sign him), the numbers should actually reverse a little.

The Flyers are currently over the salary cap for next season, according to Cap Geek. And that’s without signing Streit. So moves will be made (cough, Bryzgalov). 

Fantasy Players Impacted: This helps Streit a little, although the Islanders would have been better for him as they are still on the rise. His points-per-game should fall into that 0.57-0.63 range. The move hurts the veteran Timonen, but he was starting to show that he couldn’t handle being the go-to quarterback anymore.

It does, however, open up some room in Long Island. Players like Lubomir Visnovsky, Travis Hamonic and Andrew MacDonald can gobble up some more power-play time. And youngsters such as Matt Donovan, Griffin Reinhart  and perhaps even Calvin de Haan suddenly have an open spot they can gun for.

Fantasy Players this helps, in order:

1. Donovan

2. Hamonic

3. Reinhart

4. MacDonald

5. Visnovsky

Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:

1. Timonen