It might be Thanksgiving, but that does not stop the NHL rumor mill from slowing down.
The trade market has been slow to start the season. Nothing has really gone on and no big names are drawing early interest as every team is still trying to find out where they might finish at the end of the season.
And while the Philadelphia Flyers are certainly still in the playoff hunt at the important milestone of Thanksgiving, it sure sounds like they are not getting over their heads and are committed to making some trades with the rebuild in mind.
“I can tell you that they are interested and eager in becoming a wheeler and a dealer,” Darren Dreger said on the Thursday edition of TSN’s Insider Trading. “But that’s not because they’re trying to sell off assets here. It’s because they want to build a stronger foundation for the future.
“They are willing to listen on every position. Not every player, but every position; they feel like they have the assets to move.”
Dreger then mentioned two specific names — Nick Seeler and Sean Walker — as two defensemen who are playing over 20 minutes a game and teams are starting to notice and are interested in acquiring them to improve the depth on their various blue lines.
This is somewhat comforting. The main concern with the Flyers being so successful to start the season was that they would become more short-sighted and not commit to the rebuild process. While other (dumber) teams might do that and not see the entire picture, it appears that Philadelphia knows that there is still a long journey to where they want to be, build off the backs of their blossoming young core. And how do you get more good young players? Well, you sell off the old ones.
The Flyers might not move the substantial pieces like Travis Konecny or Travis Sanheim, but with Seeler, Walker, and Marc Staal being the only pending unrestricted free agents the team has this season, those names are much easier to part ways with.
It sure sounds like the Flyers want to get this thing rolling and see what team really wants some help on the blue line. The NHL’s trade deadline is still over three months away, on March 8, but maybe Danny Briere doesn’t want to wait that long to shape the future of his team and get a better picture heading into an interesting summer next year.
