The Philadelphia Flyers are going to be sellers at the trade deadline. That much is clear. Even if they’re in the playoff race, general manager Danny Briere let it be known last week that he won’t be trading away any prime assets.
Of course, the Flyers’ five-game losing streak heading into the break certainly quieted down any talk of the Flyers being buyers anyway.
So, with the Flyers being sellers, all eyes are on their pending free agents. Sean Walker has been drawing the most interest, with defensemen Nick Seeler and Marc Staal also having contracts expiring after this season. While the Flyers may want to re-sign Seeler instead of trading him, it may be hard for Briere to say no if a team ponies up a mid-round pick for a third-pair defenseman. Staal, on the other hand, should be shipped out if any team comes calling with a mid-to-late round pick.
Those three blueliners make the most sense for the Flyers to trade. Walker has been much better than expected this season but given teams’ interest in him around the league, you have to think that he’d leave in free agency anyway. Briere will get some assets for his pending free agents, unlike Chuck Fletcher with James van Riemsdyk last year.
After that, however, the Flyers don’t really have any obvious names that could be on the trading block. But Briere should be open for business on a handful of other players — players that are under contract through at least next season.
Continue reading…
