The Philadelphia Flyers were looking to take a step forward this year. Offseason acquisitions of Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak, and Dan Vladar were meant to help the core of veterans and up-and-coming youngsters become at least a team on the playoff bubble.
And for the first half of the season, it looked like the Flyers were taking a step forward. But that’s all come crashing down in the last few weeks, highlighted by a six-game losing streak. They are now 2-7-2 in their last 11 games, getting outscored 49-28 in that span.
Danny Briere and Keith Jones have been adamant that the Flyers won’t be sellers at this year’s deadline, and it’s not as if they have a ton of players who could be moved anyway.
Instead of selling high on Dvorak, they locked him up for five more years with a contract extension earlier this month. He would’ve been the ideal piece to sell off for future assets, but that is no longer an option.
After that, the Flyers only have a handful of pending free agents, and none of them are particularly appealing to playoff teams.
Nevertheless, if the Flyers’ slide continues and they end up wanting to trade a few players at the deadline, there are at least a few possible options. Unfortunately, most of those players fall into the “take what you can get” category.
Flyers should take what they can get at trade deadline
Rasmus Ristolainen
The Flyers have rehabbed Rasmus Ristolainen over the last few years, thanks in part to Brad Shaw behind the bench. However, the big blueliner has also been rehabbing injuries in that time as well, as it seems like he’s unavailable more than available for the Orange and Black.
Ristolainen has played in just 15 games this season for the Flyers, including just two shifts before leaving Wednesday night’s game in Columbus with a lower-body injury. Perhaps the silver lining is that this injury isn’t another upper-body issue that he’s been dealing with, but there really is no positive to take away from it.
The defenseman missed the first 31 games of the year, played in the next 13, then missed six games before returning earlier this week. He played a season-low (for a full game) 16:38 on Monday against the Islanders and then just 1:01 in Columbus.
The Flyers reportedly want quite the package in return for Ristolainen, including a top draft pick or similarly valued future asset. If they’re able to get anything more than a third-round pick for Ristolainen, they might have to just pull the trigger and take the deal.
Philadelphia can’t rely on Ristolainen to stay healthy enough to be in its future plans. When he is healthy, he’s a fine middle-pair defenseman, but his injury history overshadows that.
Ristolainen might be the only player on this list that the Flyers could actually get something of value back for, especially if they include a pick or another player with him. It’d take him staying healthy for a bit, though, and that’s a risk that a playoff team may not want to take.
The defenseman is under contract for another year at a $5.1 million cap hit. The Flyers might need to retain salary if they are to move Ristolainen.
Garnet Hathaway
On the other hand, Briere & Co. should absolutely take whatever asset they can get for Hathaway. He has just two points this season and infamously got pickpocketed in front of an empty net, leading to the Flyers’ overtime loss in Utah.
Unfortunately, Hathaway also has one more year on his contract at a $2.4 million cap hit. The 34-year-old winger has hit a wall offensively, but can still provide some grit and be a fourth-line pest for a team looking to fill that role.
Carl Grundstrom and Nikita Grebenkin have rendered Hathaway rather useless on the Flyers, and you have to think that someone like Anthony Richard or Phil Tomasino could contribute more than the veteran at this point in his career.
Nic Deslauriers
Teams still value enforcers, right? Right?
Deslauriers is in the final year of a four-year contract that was a year or two (or three) too long. His cap hit is a managable $1.75 million, though, and the Flyers have cap space to take back a bad contract for him if they so choose.
The enforcer probably won’t bring back anything more than a late-round pick, but if a team is looking to add some literal punch for the stretch run and bring a veteran presence into the locker room, the Flyers can offer that up in the form of Deslauriers.
The Rest
There are very few untouchables on this roster, although many of those players would be better used to make a “hockey trade” rather than straight selling them off.
However, if a team comes calling for someone like Grundstrom, Grebenkin, or Noah Juulsen — or really anybody — the Flyers would be smart to listen.
Then there are the guys like Owen Tippett, Bobby Brink, and Emil Andrae who could be used to make a trade for now and the future. If the Flyers can land a young middle-six center — say Shane Wright — without giving up too many future assets and instead trade from their winger depth, that could be something to strongly consider.
All in all, this probably won’t be a very active trade deadline for the Flyers. Perhaps they add a depth piece if they string a few wins together and think they can make the playoffs, but selling or mostly standing pat, unfortunately, seems like the path right now.
