How the Flyers can get their first-line center

Everyone has it, wants to have it, or is talking about it. Of course, we\'re talking about a first-line center.

A first-line center is one of a team\'s most important players. It\'s extremely rare for a team to compete for a Stanley Cup without a pivot that they can rely on in all situations. Sure, depth is good, but having someone who can be the guy goes a long, long way.

The Philadelphia Flyers are one of several NHL teams that don\'t really have that guy. Claude Giroux is gone, and he gave way to Sean Couturier as the first-line center in the latter stages of his Flyers career. Couturier is now past his prime, leaving a big hole down the middle in Philadelphia.

Let\'s take a look at the three ways NHL teams can acquire a top center -- draft, trade, or free agency -- and if the Flyers can follow those paths.

Option 1: Draft

Of the 32 first-line centers across the league, over two-thirds were drafted by their current team -- 22 to be exact.

Seven were first overall picks with three more coming in at No. 2 overall. That\'s nearly one-third of the top-line centers in the league.

Add in the two third-overall picks and you have 12 first-line centers drafted with a top-three pick.

Team First-line center Pick Year CHI Connor Bedard 1 2023 COL Nathan MacKinnon 1 2013 EDM Connor McDavid 1 2015 NJD Jack Hughes 1 2019 PIT Sidney Crosby 1 2005 SJS Macklin Celebrini 1 2024 TOR Auston Matthews 1 2016 ANA Leo Carlsson 2 2023 FLA Aleksander Barkov 2 2013 SEA Matty Beniers 2 2021 CBJ Adam Fantilli 3 2023 OTT Tim Stutzle 3 2020 UTA Barrett Hayton 5 2018 WPG Mark Scheifele 7 2011 PHI Sean Couturier 8 2011 MIN Marco Rossi 9 2020 LAK Anze Kopitar 11 2005 DET Dylan Larkin 15 2014 STL Robert Thomas 20 2017 CAR Sebastian Aho 35 2015 DAL Roope Hintz 49 2015 TBL Brayden Point 79 2014

It\'s rare for a team to find a true first-line center later in the first round, let alone later in the draft. Brayden Point dropped in 2014 due to his size, and while Sebastian Aho and Roope Hintz are near the top tier of centers, I\'m not sure if we can call either of them a definitive No. 1 center.

That leaves 19 first-round picks (18 in the top-15 selections) who are first-line centers for their current team. Of them, only a handful (Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Jack Hughes, Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews, and Aleksander Barkov) are what I\'d consider to be a \"true first-line center\" in that they can center a Stanley Cup-winning team.

Of course, Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini lead the list of top picks in recent years who might soon become legitimate first-line centers in the NHL.

Note that I have only included one first-line center per team, so this list doesn\'t even include guys like Leon Draisaitl (3rd overall in 2014) or Elias Pettersson (5th overall in 2017). Pettersson was a last-minute cut in order to add some contrast with J.T. Miller as a trade.

Can the Flyers draft a first-line center?

Hopefully.

The Flyers are searching for their future first-line center and will hopefully find it in the next year or two. Philadelphia made it clear that it wanted to add a high-ceiling center to its prospect pool. Reports swirled about Danny Briere wanting to trade up to fourth or seventh overall -- presumably to select Cayden Lindstrom or Berkly Catton.

It would\'ve reportedly cost the Flyers both first-round picks in 2024 as well as a first-round pick in 2025, which Briere & Co. ultimately deemed too expensive. They instead went off the board a bit to select Jett Luchanko 13th overall after trading down with the Wild. On top of that, they traded the 32nd overall pick to the Oilers for Edmonton\'s first-round pick in the deeper 2025 draft.

Luchanko was one of the youngest players in this year\'s draft class and still put up 74 points in 68 games on a bad Guelph Storm team. That\'s just behind Michael Misa\'s 75 points, and he\'s projected to go in the top five next year.

The Flyers now have three first-round picks in next year\'s draft with the Avalanche\'s and Oilers\' selections on top of their own. They\'ll likely end up in the teens again next year with Colorado and Edmonton in the mid-to-late 20s (or later) unless they really slip up in the regular season.

They also have three second-round picks with Anaheim\'s and Columbus\' along with their own. Those three picks should be in the first half of the draft order, likely giving the Flyers six picks in the top 50 selections.

How those picks will be used remains to be seen. The Flyers could stock up the cupboard by simply using all six picks to select players. Or they could package a few together to move up to draft one of the top centers in the class. As of now, those look like James Hagens (1st in Elite Prospects\' Consolidated Ranking ), Anton Frondell (3rd), the aforementioned Michael MIsa (4th), Ivan Ryabkin (5th) along with William Moore (10th), Caleb Desnoyers (13th), and Conrad Fondrk (15th) rounding out the lottery picks.

Luchanko will hopefully be joined by at least one more center with top-tier upside in next year\'s draft.

Option 2: Trade

Teams can always wheel and deal to improve their club, but acquiring a first-line center usually costs a pretty penny. Six first-line centers have been acquired via trade, most of which required at least a first-round pick or top player going the other way.

Team First-line center Details BUF Tage Thompson Part of package for other first-line center MTL Nick Suzuki Part of package for T6W NYI Bo Horvat 1st, Raty, Beauvillier NYR Mika Zibanejad Swap for Derick Brassard VAN J.T. Miller 1st, 3rd, Mazanec VGK Jack Eichel 1st, 2nd, Krebs, Tuch

Tage Thompson had a rough rookie year in St. Louis before the Blues acquired eventual Conn Smythe Trophy winner Ryan O\'Reilly from the Sabres for Thompson, first- and second-round picks, and two roster players.

The Golden Knights went all-in in 2018 by trading 2017 13th overall pick Nick Suzuki along with Tomas Tatar and a second-round pick for Max Pacioretty. The veteran winger was past his prime but still required a decent haul, and Suzki has developed into a solid second-line center with room to grow.

Bo Horvat was set to hit free agency so the Canucks shipped him to the Islanders for a first-round pick, former second-round pick, and a roster player. He signed an eight-year, $8.5M AAV extension with the Isles a few days later.

The Rangers straight up stole Mika Zibanejad from the Senators. Sure, he wasn\'t a great player in Ottawa, but the 2011 sixth-overall pick found his game in the Big Apple.

J.T. Miller was a draft day trade in 2019 as the Lightning looked to shed some salary. The Canucks gave up first- and third-round picks for the center who has turned into a star in Vancouver.

Buffalo is involved in another first-line center trade after the Jack Eichel saga. The Sabres got first- and second-round picks for the former second-overall pick, plus 2019 17th-overall pick Peyton Krebs and a roster player in Alex Tuch. Still, the Golden Knights clearly got the best of that deal.

Despite being acquired via trade, these six first-line centers were once first-round picks. Eichel (2nd), Zibanejad (6th), and Horvat (9th) were drafted in the top 10 with Suzuki (13th), Miller (15th), and Thompson (26th) a bit later.

Can the Flyers trade for a top center?

Well, probably not.

First of all, a true top center -- or even a borderline one -- is rarely available on the market. The Horvat trade may be what the Flyers can aim to do with a team that needs to decide which of their top players to pay and which to trade for assets, but it all depends on the teams\' specific situations.

Looking at some of the trade boards around the interwebs, the closest thing to a first-line center available is Trevor Zegras, who is barely a second-line center on his own failing team.

Marco Rossi\'s name has also been out there but he\'s much more likely a second-line center than a first-line guy.

Maybe the Flyers can swing an in-season trade for a pending free agent like the Islanders did for Horvat? But unless a team is out of contention, that\'s unlikely as well. I wouldn\'t put it past Briere & Co. to swing a surprise deal for a top-six center, especially given the Flyers\' depth at wing and their six draft picks in the first two rounds of the 2025 NHL Draft.

Option 3: Free Agency

Fans always talk about wanting their team to go out and make a big splash in free agency. Sure, that can be fruitful, but it\'s not exactly the best way to land the most important pieces of a Cup-contending club.

Only four first-line centers were acquired via free agency and, well, they\'re not exactly the best first-line centers in the league.

Team First-line center Year Details BOS Elias Lindholm 2024 7 x $7.75 CGY Nazem Kadri 2022 7 x $7 NSH Ryan O\'Reilly 2023 4 x $4.5 WSH Dylan Strome 2023 1 x $3.5 then 5 x $5

Elias Lindholm is more of a second line than a first-line center but might be able to thrive on the top line given Boston\'s skilled wingers. Nazem Kadri is another middle-six guy playing an elevated role in Calgary. As is Ryan O\'Reilly.

Dylan Strome? Yeesh. The Capitals are hoping Pierre-Luc Dubois can be a reclamation project but that remains to be seen.

Once again, all four of these centers acquired via free agency were also rather high draft picks: Strome (3rd), Lindholm (5th), Kadri (7th), and O\'Reilly (33rd).

Can the Flyers sign a top-line center in free agency?

Maybe?

It depends on a few things, most notably how quickly this rebuild comes together, but if the Flyers exceed expectations once again this season they could be in the market for a first-line center as soon as next offseason.

Let\'s take a look at some of the top centers set to hit free agency in the coming years. Mind you, these players very well could sign extensions with their current teams before that happens.

2025 Free-Agent Centers

Leon Draisaitl

The German centerman may want to stay in Edmonton and take a few more cracks at the Stanley Cup, but the Oilers have a decision to make in terms of the salary cap. Connor McDavid is also set to hit free agency in 2026, and the Oilers already have a few bulky contracts -- namely Darnell Nurse\'s $9.25M cap hit through 2030. Evan Bouchard is also due for a big payday as an RFA in 2025

If things go south in Edmonton this year, Draisiatl could hit the open market. If things spiral out of control, he could be an in-season trade candidate if the Oilers think he might walk, but that\'s much less likely.

Draisaitl turns 29 in October and while that may not exactly fit the Flyers\' rebuild timeline, signing a guy like him would signal a big next step from rebuilding to contending

Mikko Rantanen

Rantanen primarily plays on the wing for the Colorado Avalanche but has taken around 250 faceoffs in each of the past two seasons. It\'s unusual for a player to switch from wing to center so late in his career, but it\'s not out of the realm of possibility.

The Finnish forward is a year younger than Draisaitl but the Avalanche may have more wiggle room to pay him depending on the status of Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin.

Ultimately, it\'s not realistic.

Other 2025 free-agent centers: Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Claude Giroux

2026 Free-Agent Centers

Connor McDavid

The Flyers need to give McDavid a blank check if he hits the open market. Period. Name the arena the Connor McDavid Center and give him a statue, ownership in the team, free cheesesteaks for life, whatever he wants.

Jack Eichel

Eichel may be a peg below McDavid and has more injury concerns but all of the points above remain. The Flyers should do everything in their power to woo Eichel if he hits free agency.

Martin Necas

Some fans speculated that the Flyers could be interested in Necas this offseason as a restricted free agent but the Hurricanes signed him to a two-year contract. He\'s also primarily a winger but fits the time line a bit better as he\'ll be 27 in 2026.

Free-agent centers after 2026: Nico Hischier (2027), Auston Matthews (2028)

All in all, the Flyers are in a pretty tough spot right now when it comes to a first-line center.

They\'ll have a few cracks at it in next year\'s draft and could have a chance to sign one in free agency in the coming years. However, that requires the player not re-signing with his current team, him wanting to come to Philadelphia, and the Flyers negotiating a fair (enough) contract with him.

The Flyers\' decision to not bottom out and tank for a top draft pick complicates their path to a top center. They have the assets to trade up in the draft if so desired, and those same assets could be used to trade for a top center if one becomes available. It\'ll all take time, scouting, and ultimately some luck.

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How NHL teams have acquired their first-line center and how Flyers could get theirs

Option 1: Draft

Talking Points