The 32-year-old defenseman signed a multiyear contract with the Flyers on April 15, 2014. Philadelphia acquired him in a trade with the New York Islanders on March 4, 2014.
"It was a difficult decision and it was solely [NHL salary cap] related," Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said. "This guy's a consummate professional. We asked a lot of Andrew. ... He's just a quality person and a guy that played a very effective two-way game for our team, but we are in a cap world and we made that tough decision today to try and relocate some of those dollars to maximize our chance to stay in the hunt for some players over the next couple of weeks."
Players who can become free agents July 1 can start talking to teams on June 23.
MacDonald played 47 games for the Flyers this season, with nine assists. He had an NHL career-high six goals, and 21 points, in 2017-18. The sixth-round selection (No. 160) by the Islanders in the 2006 NHL Draft has 161 points (28 goals, 133 assists) in 586 regular-season games, and five points (four goals, one assist) in 23 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
On Friday, the Flyers acquired defenseman Matt Niskanen in a trade with the Washington Capitals for defenseman Radko Gudas.
