It’s been a wild ride of a season, starting with not a soul believing the Philadelphia Flyers could finish outside the bottom ten, to the Flyers now holding down third place in the Metropolitan Division. It may not be the tank some wished for in order to get top-end talent, but it has been an enjoyable and exciting season all the same: young players have taken a step, vets have stepped up, and free agent signings have stepped in.
Still, this is a rebuilding team, and the March 8 trade deadline looms. Trades are likely, if not imminent.
That’s a good thing, too: the playoffs and a Stanley Cup run were never the goal of this season. The plan remains the plan, and that is to build for the future–GM Danny Briere and President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones have said as much during every press availability leading up to the deadline. Those looming trades put the Flyers in a precarious position, even though they have solid odds to make it to the postseason.
For the rest of March, after the deadline, the Flyers face the Lightning, the Rangers, the Hurricanes, and the Panthers once each, and the Maple Leafs and Bruins twice. Sure, they have some one-offs against miserable Blackhawks and Sharks teams, and then a mediocre Canadiens team, but that is going to be a gauntlet of tough opponents–and the Flyers will be without some of the key pieces that got them this far.
Sean Walker and Nick Seeler have been a steady, dependable second pair on the blue line–something the Flyers have seemed to lack for years. Their likely departure does open up space for prospects to get some games in (Ronnie Attard, primarily, but maybe Emil Andrae if he’s ready, too), but you’ve now got rookies and unproven players (maybe Louis Belpedio or Victor Mete?) in pivotal roles during a tight playoff chase.
That’s a good thing! Young players should get that experience–but it makes the final month and change of the season much more difficult. Many of their opponents in March are either playoff locks or in the hunt, and hell, the final three games of the season in April are against the Rangers, Devils and Capitals. The Flyers could find a way to miss as the season wraps up, and that would be a real drag.
Up until the deadline next Friday, the Flyers have games against a bad Ottawa Senators team, the over-the-hill Capitals, and a middling Blues team–plus a game at the Panthers the day before the deadline. Three of those four should be winnable, and the one against Washington is particularly important to drive a stake into their playoff hopes and create some distance for the Flyers (don’t look now, but the Penguins have won three in a row).
They are all must-win games–all four of them–because the Flyers need to take advantage of the roster they have now before players depart at the deadline, and bank some points to provide a bit of cushion while call-ups find their footing in the NHL. The Flyers already do have a bit of leeway, as the teams chasing them have even more difficult schedules through the end of the season, but getting as many points as they can now may save them when the going gets tough and they don’t have the supporting cast that’s gotten them this far.
