Flyers swap fourth-liners, trade Zack MacEwen for Brendan Lemieux and a pick

An hour after the Flyers took Zack MacEwen (jaw) off injured reserve, they traded him to the Los Angeles Kings for Brendan Lemieux and a fifth-round pick, a source confirmed.

Lemieux is the son of longtime NHL player Claude Lemieux and is probbaly best known for being suspended five games for biting Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk during a game in Nov. 2021. MacEwen was previously a waiver claim and is known for being a bruiser — his jaw injury was the result of a January bout in Minnesota.

This season, the 26-year-old Lemieux has played 27 games for the Kings and notched three assists. He was on injured reserve with a lower body injury for 23 games and has been a frequent healthy scratch.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound MacEwen’s production this season has also been limited by his time on injured reserve. He played 46 games for the Flyers this season and established himself on the fourth line as a hard checker who is willing to drop the gloves. The 26-year-old is tied for ninth in the league with six fighting majors this season but has missed the last five weeks with a broken jaw.

Early in the season, MacEwen also helped out by playing as far up as the second line when the Flyers were dealing with several injuries. He’s scored four goals and five assists this season.

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The Flyers claimed MacEwen off of waivers from the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 13, 2021. Amid last season’s injuries, he quickly became a staple in the lineup and played 75 games, scoring three goals and adding six assists. He also won the Flyers fan club-selected Gene Hart Award, which goes to the player with the most heart.

After returning for the Flyers first training camp under John Tortorella, MacEwen was cut and placed on waivers for the purposes of assigning him to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL.

All 31 teams passed on him, and he reported to Lehigh Valley. However, he was recalled nine days later and was a constant in the lineup until his injury.

The 26-year-old Lemieux was the Buffalo Sabres’ second-round draft pick in 2014. The Flyers will be his fifth NHL organization.

The agitator debuted in the 2017-2018 season for the Winnipeg Jets and played 53 total games for them across two seasons before being traded to the New York Rangers in the Kevin Hayes deal during the 2018-2019 season. After 109 games in three seasons with the Rangers, he was traded to the Kings in the 2020-2021 season and has played 95 games for them over three seasons. He was close friends with and hosted the controversial podcast “Watch Your Tone” with Tony DeAngelo while with the Rangers.

He joined the Kings in the 2020-2021 season and has played 95 games for them over three seasons. Last season, Lemieux had eight goals and five assists in 50 games for the Kings. He has a $1.35 million cap hit and is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Lemieux has scored 31 goals, added 32 assists, and compiled 463 penalty minutes in 257 career NHL games. While Lemieux plays with and edge, he often times crosses the threshold, and has served three separate suspensions since entering the league.