PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Flyers will end January on the outside looking in of the NHL playoff race. The NHL All-Star game and a mandatory bye week has the Flyers looking up at the teams currently in playoffs spots these days. With 50 games in the books, and only 32 games left in the 2019-20 season, the playoff push has officially been kicked into high gear. The Flyers are one point out of a wild card spot and in an ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division they are only three points behind the New York Islanders for third place in the division.
Kevin Hayes #13 of the Philadelphia Flyers scores an unassisted shorthanded goal in the third period against the Colorado Avalanche Goalie Philipp Grubauer #31
Most importantly, however, is the fact that the NHL trade deadline is all of a sudden becoming more and more a part of the conversation. February 24th should prove interesting as always, but will the Flyers be part of the fun?
According to capfriendly.com the Flyers currently have roughly a little over $1.3 million in cap space. To complicate matters is the Nolan Patrick situation. So far this season Patrick has not played in a game, but he is still expected to play this season despite his migraine disorder.
The Flyers could look at is return to the lineup as a bit of a deadline deal without giving up an asset. Even if Patrick does come back to play this season he is going to take some time to get back into the NHL groove. If your someone who does a lot of speculating as to what the Flyers will and need to do between now and the deadline, then this article is for you.
Photo by Les Stockton
A good place to start is to see who might be available in the trade market and who could the Flyers afford. The answer to that question is simple: The Flyers can’t afford any of them. The Chris Krieder’s of the world are not only too expensive, most of the big-name players who appear to be on the market are teams that are within the conference. Teams like the New York Rangers who are in the playoff hunt are simply are not going to be a viable trade partner for the Flyers.
That said, look at the bottom of the standings and teams like the Detroit Red Wings, who are about to have a fire sale would be a possible trade partner. Part of the problem is the Red Wings have four players on Injured Reserve including Andreas Athanasiou. His speed alone is worth trading for. His cap hit is only $3 million.
Athanasiou was a 30-goal scorer last season and can play both an offensive shut down role as well as a goal scorer. That makes him enticing to any team, and the Flyers need someone just like him. He is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, but the Flyers aren’t known for going after someone unless they have a long-term deal in place before making any trade for a free agent.
Philadelphia Flyers Goalie Brian Elliott #37 looks around the screen of Jared McCann #19 of the Pittsburgh Penguins as Justin Braun #61 of the Philadelphia Flyers helps defend the net.
What could the Flyers offer the Wings to make a trade enticing? The Flyers are very deep on the blueline, especially in terms of prospects but also with younger players already on their current roster. Detroit already have three defensemen who will be UFA’s at seasons end and they all make between $3.1-$5.375. Detroit has quite a few defensive prospects in the system but how many of them are NHL ready blue-chippers is another story.
To make a deal worth the Flyers would have to part with Shayne Gostisbehere and his $4.5 cap hit, possibly another player such as Robert Hagg, and another young prospect. This is expected to be a very good draft and you know darn well the Red Wings are not about to give up their first round pick this year to the Flyers with the league worst record and Alexis Lafreniere. Philly does not have a third round pick this year but Detroit has two second round picks, their own and a pick from the Washington Capitols which figures to be a low second round pick. You can bet draft picks on both side will be a part of the trade equation.
Oskar Lindblom’s recent Cancer diagnosis has left the Flyers with a huge hole in their lineup. At the time he left the lineup Lindblom was tied for the team lead in goals with 11 with Travis Konecny. Adding Athanasiou should help the offense and the penalty killing unit but if a deal can’t be made between the two clubs, don’t be surprised if the Winnipeg Jets come a calling. The Dustin Byfuglien situation has Winnipeg in a bit of a bind, and you can bet the Jets are running out of patience. My guess here is that Winnipeg makes a deal.
Finally we get to the Los Angeles Kings. The two names that are being floated out there with the Flyers seemingly have an interest are Tyler Toffoli and former Flyers Jeff Carter. Both players have 14 goals each which is tied for second on the team three goals behind team leader Anze Kopitar. A trade for one if not both players makes a ton of sense for a lot of reasons, especially given the Kings need to get younger, and like Winnipeg they have cap space.
General Manager Chuck Fletcher is not known for keeping kids. He has been known to trade away prospects for veterans. Getting both players in a major deal would be a huge coupe but a stretch. Both players are making a combined $9.8 cap hit so trading away a Jakub Voracek and/or a James Van Riemsdyk would have to be part of any deal.
Truth be told it’s hard to tell if the Flyers are buyers or sellers at this point. The team has had some impressive wins as of late. That has some like Fletcher thinking more along the lines of a tweak to the lineup rather than making a major overhaul. Any major trades will have to wait until the offseason when teams will have more flexibility salary cap wise. Justin Braun is almost assured to not be renewed and his $3.8 cap hit is one such player who will not be here part this season.
Our gut feeling is the Flyers will use the return of Nolan Patrick and call up Morgan Frost from Lehigh Valley. Both players should help solidify some of the offense that has been missing. A minor deal with Winnipeg will happen but my guess is it will be for someone like Hagg or Phillipe Myers as part of any deal. I am not expecting Dustin Byfuglien to play again this year so Winnipeg will make a deal for a defenseman but whether or not that includes the Flyers is another story. We see the Flyers going after Athanasiou and one of the Kings players like Toffoli or Carter but I see the Flyers standing pat for the most part.
The bottom line for the Philadelphia Flyers is they need at least two more defenseman to truly solidify their blueline.. Fletcher will probably go after at least one defenseman. They also need another scorer or a penalty killer at the trade deadline. Defensive prospects Cam York, Adam Ginning, and Yegor Zemula are waiting in the wings.
So are a ton or offensive prospects we haven’t even scratched the surface on. Former first round draft pick German Rubtsov is finally getting some ice time with the big club. Bobby Brink, Egor Serdyuk, Noah Cates, Wade Allision, and Tanner Laczynski are just some of the names you can expect to hear about in the coming years in a Flyers uniform.
The silly season known as the NHL trade deadline is all but here. Let the fun begin.
Brian Jennings covers the Philadelphia Flyers for prohockeynews.com and can be found on twitter at @Flyersfan22.
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