On Saturday, Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher pulled off his third trade since taking over for Ron Hextall earlier this season.

The trade sent Dale Weise and Christian Folin to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman David Schlemko and forward Byron Froese.

Fletcher, had been trying to trade Weise – one of the bigger blunders made by Hextall, when he signed him to a four-year, $9.4-million free agent deal in July of 2016 – but until this past weekend, didn’t find any takers.

By dealing Weise, the Flyers got rid of a bad contract and also created a roster spot for Phil Myers, who was recalled from the Phantoms immediately after the trade was announced. The 22-year old defenseman had 14 goals and 36 assists in 98 games with Lehigh Valley over the past two seasons. The move marked the first time that Myers was placed on the NHL roster.

On Sunday, Justin Bailey, who Fletcher acquired from Buffalo in exchange for Taylor Leier last month, was also recalled by the Flyers. In 10 games with the Phantoms, Bailey had played well with the team, notching five goals and two assists.

The exits of Myers and Bailey make room for Schlemko and Froese to join the Phantoms roster.

Froese, 27, played 46 games for the Laval Rocket this season and served as the team captain, tallying 14 goals and 16 assists for 30 points, as well as a plus-two rating. Last season, the Winkler, Manitoba native played 48 games with the Montreal Canadiens, posting 11 points on three goals and eight assists. Overall, he has played in 110 NHL games with Toronto, Tampa Bay and Montreal after originally being drafted by the Blackhawks in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL Draft.

The 31-year old Schlemko has registered 18 games with the Montreal Canadiens this season, picking up two points before being loaned to the Laval Rocket. He has played eight games for Laval and notched a goal and three assists for four points with the Rocket. Overall, Schlemko has played 415 NHL games during his 11-year professional career. He totaled 94 points and 124 penalty minutes during his time with the Phoenix Coyotes, Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks and the Canadiens.

ANOTHER SKID... Lehigh Valley dropped four of its last five games coming into Sunday’s home contest against Hartford. The streak dropped them to fourth in the Atlantic Division. Bridgeport has gotten hot and is slowly closing the gap between second place and the front-running Charlotte Checkers, which now stands at nine points. The Phantoms are 14 points out of first place and are currently hanging on to the final playoff spot by just two points over the Hershey Bears, who are also surging.

WHERE’S THE POWER... One of the reasons for the recent slide has been that the Phantoms went five games without a power play goal, until Sunday’s win over Hartford. Interim coach Kerry Huffman attributed the power outage to not having some of their top power play guys available because of injuries or call-ups. Huffman explained that getting T.J. Brennan healthy and having Corban Knight back with the Phantoms helped in Sunday’s game.

A KNIGHT IN PHANTOMS ARMOR... Corban Knight played in three games for the Flyers this season before winding up on injured reserve in late October. On Sunday, the 28-year old was loaned to the Phantoms where he had played the past two seasons before joining the Flyers for the first time to open the 2018-2019 season.

“Just having him around the team - regardless of what he did on the ice - he’s the type of person and player that makes everybody feel good about themselves. He’s a true leader and you can’t have enough of those guys in the dressing room and on the ice,” said Huffman of the former fifth round pick of the Flyers.