The Flyers today acquired the rights to veteran defenseman Mark Streit from the New York Islanders with the intention of reaching a new contract with him as soon as possible. The Islanders received a fourth-round draft pick in 2014 and minor league winger Shane Harper in the exchange.
Streit, 35, scored six goals and 27 points last season in logging all 48 games for the Islanders. He is a pending unrestricted free agent. It's believed Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren and Streit's agent, Pat Brisson, will soon commence negotiating a deal.
“Mark is a player we would have had interest in on July 5," Holmgren said in a statement, referencing this year's belated start to the free agency period. "We now have exclusive negotiating rights and we are hopeful that we can get an agreement in place prior to him becoming a UFA.”
Streit joined the Islanders as a free agent in 2008 and led that club in scoring his first season with 16 goals and 56 points. A native of Switzerland, he was originally an overage draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens, selected in the ninth round in 2004 at the age of 26.
Harper, 24, was a Flyers free agent pickup in 2010. In 143 games with the Phantoms he scored 20 goals and 41 points.