The March 8 trade deadline is fast approaching, and numerous Philadelphia Flyers have cropped up on various trade boards. Pending unrestricted free agents Sean Walker and Nick Seeler chief among them, but also players with term like Morgan Frost, Scott Laughton, and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Most Stanley Cup contending teams look to add at the deadline, and the rebuilding Flyers have some players at premium positions available. However, it may be in Philly’s best interest to sit tight on the players with term remaining for two major reasons: a stagnant cap and reticence to tie up additional retention slots, and the return options available in the summer may be more beneficial to the Flyers than what’s available at the midseason deadline.
NHL teams are given three slots to retain salary; the Flyers have used one retention slot for half of Kevin Hayes’s contract through the end of the 2025-26 season, which means they’re left with two. A Laughton trade could be done without retention (even in a stagnant cap, a $3-million AAV isn’t significant), but a Ristolainen deal would almost certainly require some level of retention on the Flyers’ part. Retaining on the Finnish blueliner, along with the Hayes contract, ties up two of the three retention slots the Flyers have until the end of the 2026 season.
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