Philadelphia Flyers place Louie Belpedio on waivers

The Philadelphia Flyers placed defenseman Louie Belpedio on waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Monday.

The 27-year-old right-handed defenseman has played 12 games with the Flyers in 2023-24, scoring two goals and two assists for four points. During those 12 games, he averaged 13:12 of ice time, as well as recording 18 blocked shots and 14 hits.

Last June, Belpeido signed a two-year, $1.55 million deal with the Flyers, a cap hit of of $775,000.

He had only played four NHL games in the previous six seasons, all with the Minnesota Wild, who drafted the Skokie, Ill. native in the third round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

In seven AHL seasons, Belpedio has 33 goals and 76 assists for 109 points in 309 regular season games, including 14 points in 28 AHL playoff appearances.

Belpedio represented the United States in the 2016 World Juniors, earning a bronze medal.

As of Dec. 4, the Flyers are fifth in the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division with a 12-10-2 record and 26 points. Many pundits predicted the Flyers to compete for a lottery draft pick instead of a playoff spot, but so far, the John Tortorella-led squad has outplayed expectations.

Forward Travis Konecny leads the team with 12 goals and 18 points, putting him on pace for the best offensive season of the 26-year-old’s career.

His teammate Sean Couturier, who only played 74 total games between 2020-21 and 2021-22, is back to being one of the game’s best two-way forwards, scoring five goals and 11 assists for 16 points, along with a 56.3 even-strength corsi percentage.

Meanwhile, Carter Hart is 6-6-1 in 14 games, posting a .909 save percentage and a goals-against-average of 2.68.

The Flyers’ next game is Monday night at home against their in-state rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins.