The Game: 7:00 PM, NBCSP, ESPN+, 93.3 WMMR
As soon as the puck drops for tonight’s game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Winnipeg Jets, we will be less than 20 hours away from the NHL trade deadline. While this game should still be a good one — especially since the Flyers were able to embarrass the Jets at home just last weekend with a 2-1 shootout win — the potential of transactions is a looming cloud over everything that is taking place.
There is certainly not going to be a push into the playoffs in Philadelphia, so Friday is going to signify what we should expect from this team for the rest of the season. But when it comes to the game specifically, there are still a couple things to look out for.
Storylines to watch
Potential last game as Flyers for some
Okay, we’ll get to the specific game details later. Trade deadline chatter is all we can hear about right now. A buzzing in our ears that will never ever cease until it begins to die down after 3:00 p.m. Friday. Of course, this means that the Flyers could move out some players before the deadline and that marks tonight’s game as the very last time we could see these players in Orange and Black.
And while some other players who are potentially going to be moved, like an Erik Johnson or Andrei Kuzmenko, don’t really hold a whole lot of weight in the city, we could be parting ways with a long-time mainstay on this team for over a decade.
Scott Laughton’s final game could be an emotional one as he has meant so much to this city and its fans, and as the Flyers move further into this rebuilding process, parting ways with him makes sense in a team building way but it doesn’t mean that we can’t hold this potential one final game dear to us. Clearly, he knows his name is out there thanks to posting his “The Last Supper” photo online, so should we expect him to say his on-ice goodbyes tonight? Do we see some insane performances from long-time teammates to give him a solid sending off? Could get interesting.
Oh, and this could be the last game for Rasmus Ristolainen too, we guess.
Travis Konecny’s scoring slump
Now moving to the actual hockey game. Travis Konecny has not been good. While he was on a scoring tear that would make 2017-18 Claude Giroux blush, the Flyers winger has been rather quiet lately.
Through the previous 11 games, Konecny has scored just one goal and five points and has earned a minus-9 rating. And there won’t be any change of scenery for Konecny either as head coach John Tortorella is loving the other forward lines so much that he will have to stick it out with Kuzmenko and Laughton (for now), through this downtrodden period.
Tortorella also said all of the line combos will be the same. Torts said he considered changing things up to try and spark Konecny, but he likes how the Cates and Couturier lines are going, & doesn't want to lose that. Thinks TK's struggles are less about lines & more about TK.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) March 6, 2025
But the tides could certainly turn at any moment. Through that same 11 games previously mentioned, Konecny has had 27 shots on goal and is shooting at just a 3.7 percent clip. That is some abysmal regression that should eventually go in his favor. Even proving our point more: When Konecny has been on the ice during that same stretch of play, the Flyers are shooting 4.72 percent. Just some incredibly poor luck that should change eventually.
Does Hellebuyck get embarrassed again?
Matvei Michkov was able to make the best goaltender in the world look ridiculous the last time these two teams played a few days ago. Will that happen again? Could the Flyers certainly turn on the offensive jets (no pun intended, we swear) and pot a couple behind Hellebuyck to not make him appear otherworldly for another game.
Maybe.
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Tyson Foerster – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Owen Tippett – Sean Couturier – Matvei Michkov
Andrei Kuzmenko – Scott Laughton – Travis Konecny
Jakob Pelletier – Ryan Poehling – Nic Deslauriers
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Egor Zamula – Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Sam Ersson
(Ivan Fedotov)
Winnipeg Jets
Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Gabe Vilardi
Nikolaj Ehlers – Vladislav Namestnikov – Cole Perfetti
Nino Niederreiter – Adam Lowry – Mason Appleton
Morgan Barron – Rasmus Kupari – Alex Iafallo
Josh Morrissey – Dylan Demelo
Logan Stanley – Neal Pionk
Haydn Fleury – Colin Miller
Connor Hellebuyck
(Eric Comrie)
