Flyers trade rumors: Do they have interest in Keith Yandle?

Keith Yandle is not necessarily on the market, but that hasn't stopped Paul Holmgren from asking about the Phoenix Coyotes defenseman. He's a strong puck mover and can certainly be a No. 1 defenseman so it's not a shock that Homer has kicked the tires here.

Flyers have interest in Keith Yandle but doubt that's do-able today... Coyotes not looking to move him, would have to be huge offer...

— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) April 3, 2013

Yandle's a fine player. In a lot of ways, he could fill the Flyers hole on defense, but he's also not a shut down defenseman that we'd expect to be the anchor.

If you're trying to mark him down on a scale of Mike Green to Chris Pronger, he's going to fall much closer to Mike Green. Click here to see his 2011-12 usage chart. He faced the toughest competition on the Coyotes a year ago as their top pairing defenseman but saw negative results with rather favorable zone starts. He'll log a lot of minutes on your top pairing, will play on the power play and will put up points, but he's not necessarily the shut down guy the Flyers are really looking for.

That's not to say it wouldn't be nice to add Yandle, but it all depends on price. And by all indications, the price is insane.

Yandle price is steep. Two impact forwards, including someone who can be No.1 centre. Not getting traded unless offer PHO can't refuse.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 3, 2013

Yeah, uh .... no thanks. That essentially means Sean Couturier and Matt Read ... plus more. We've talked in the past about how Couturier is one of the NHL's top defensive forwards, which is just insane at his age. A lot of people in Philadelphia have soured on Coots this season because of his lack of production, but he's still very young, isn't playing in an offensive role and has an impressive junior-level past that indicates he'll break out offensively sooner than later.

Trading him PLUS other pieces for Keith Yandle seems crazy.