Chuck Fletcher made his first big splash of the offseason this weekend. The Philadelphia Flyers traded Philippe Myers and Nolan Patrick to the Nashville Predators for Ryan Ellis. Patrick was then swapped to the Vegas Golden Knights for Cody Glass. It was one of many trades in a flurry of activity before Saturday’s NHL roster freeze.

Ryan Ellis was one of the many names on the defensemen market that the Flyers were looking into. Given the Seth Jones drama in Columbus, and Dougie Hamilton drawing of interest ahead of free agency, Fletcher pounced on the opportunity to get Ellis.

The Flyers were reportedly a fit for Ryan Ellis during the season, and Chuck Fletcher confirmed on Saturday that he’s had eyes on the former Predators defenseman for a while.

“I’ve been speaking to [Predators GM David Poile] for a long time. We’ve had a long-time interest in Ryan Ellis,” Fletcher said. “I spoke to David about potential defenseman trades last season, prior to when our season shut down basically due to the pause.”

That lines up with the reports about the Flyers’ interest in Ellis. The Predators reportedly scouted the Flyers and Phantoms multiple times in March and Ellis was one of the defensemen they were shopping.

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