The NHL’s trade deadline is now only three days away, and Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere has some serious decisions to make. Which players should he move? Should he make any trades at all? How would a potential trade impact morale in the locker room? There are a lot of moving parts to consider, and Briere will surely be taking countless scenarios into consideration over the next 72 hours.
Not every player on the Flyers’ roster is up for grabs, of course. Some are more likely to be moved than others, and to help break things down, a tier list categorized by trade probabilities may help during this hectic period of the NHL season.
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
Strong Possibility
Rasmus Ristolainen: If the Flyers move one player at the trade deadline, it’ll probably be Ristolainen. The 31-year-old blueliner has garnered significant interest from contending teams around the league thanks to his strong play at the Olympics, and despite once being known league-wide as a defensive liability, Ristolainen has completely rewritten his NHL story in recent seasons. He’s established himself as a truly viable right-shot defenseman with a nose for physicality — something teams salivate for in the playoffs. He has one year remaining on his contract beyond this season, and at a reasonable $5.1 million cap hit, he’ll be more than just a short-term rental for any team that seriously attempts to acquire him at the deadline. The Flyers have been playing well since the Olympic break, and Ristolainen has stood out in a very positive way. Briere could theoretically opt to retain Ristolainen with hopes of making a late playoff push, but the Flyers’ postseason odds are slim enough that keeping the hulking rearguard around wouldn’t make a ton of sense. A Ristolainen deal isn’t an absolute guarantee, but he’s far and away the likeliest Flyer to be on the move by 3 p.m. ET on Friday.
Slight Possibility
Bobby Brink: Brink has developed into a legitimately good player for the Flyers since they drafted him in the second round of the 2019 draft. He’s skilled, he’s tenacious, and he adds a nice scoring touch to the middle six. Unfortunately, he’s also part of the Flyers’ logjam at wing. Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett, and Trevor Zegras are all primarily wingers, and that’s not including the injured Tyson Foerster or blue-chip prospect Porter Martone, who could join the Flyers as early as this season when he closes out his freshman year at Michigan State. The Flyers will need to move at least one, maybe two wingers at some point to open spots for Foerster and Martone, and it would be hardly shocking if Brink ultimately ends up being on the outside looking in.
Carl Grundstrom: The Flyers acquired Grundstrom for basically nothing at the start of the season, and he’s turned out to be a nice addition for them. He’s only appeared in 31 games, but he’s logged eight goals and 10 points in those outings — not bad for a fourth-liner. Grundstrom is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, making him an easy piece to move should a postseason contender approach the Flyers about adding some forward depth.
Noah Juulsen: Juulsen is similar to Grundstrom in that he is an impending unrestricted free agent and could offer some depth to a competitive team hoping to bolster the bottom of its lineup. The Flyers would probably only get a mid-to-late-round draft pick for him, but that’s better than letting him walk in free agency for nothing. It wouldn’t be crazy if they got some calls about him.
Owen Tippett: Unlike Brink, Grundstrom, and Juulsen, Tippett is locked up to a long-term deal that runs through the 2031-32 season. And that contract is exactly what makes him such an interesting trade option. With an AAV of $6.2 million, the 27-year-old brings pretty good value to the table as a speedy top-six winger with a ripper of a shot. Teams are reportedly showing considerable interest in Tippett, and while the Flyers may not be frothing at the mouth to trade him, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that a team hoping to bolster its firepower for the playoffs could blow the Flyers away with an offer they cannot refuse. Don’t count on Tippett being dealt, but don’t completely rule it out.
Unlikely
Emil Andrae: Andrae is far from untouchable, but it would make more sense for the Flyers to move him as part of an offseason hockey trade rather than swap him for a draft pick at the trade deadline. Plus, the Flyers still seem intrigued by Andrae’s potential on the back end. He could be traded, but he probably won’t.
Denver Barkey: Barkey has done nothing but impress since being called up to the Flyers in December. Sure, he may not possess the frame of a prototypical Flyer, but it’s hard to imagine the club parting ways with him while he’s playing so well at such a young age.
Noah Cates: The Flyers love Cates. He’s not flashy, but he plays a strong two-way game at a position the Flyers can’t exactly allow to weaken further. Plus, he’s signed through the 2028-29 season at a very reasonable AAV of $4 million. He’s a good player on a good contract, and the Flyers don’t seem even slightly interested in letting that go.
Nic Deslauriers: Deslauriers will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and doesn’t have any clauses in his contract that would complicate including him in a trade. That said, it’s hard to imagine any team coughing up an asset for an enforcer who only plays eight minutes per night — if he even dresses.
Jamie Drysdale: Teams may be inquiring about Drysdale, but Briere probably won’t have any interest in striking a deal unless the return is significant. Drysdale is playing the best hockey of his career, and while he is due for a pay raise in the offseason, it won’t be unmanageable. Drysdale’s staying.
Sam Ersson: Ersson will become a restricted free agent this summer. The Flyers could theoretically trade him, but what team wants a goalie with a .859 save percentage and 3.44 goals against average? Not exactly a convincing sell.
Tyson Foerster: For starters, Foerster is out for the remainder of the season with an arm injury, so teams won’t exactly be salivating to acquire him. Plus, Foerster is one of the key members of the Flyers’ core — it’s probably not a coincidence that the club began plummeting down the standings soon after Foerster suffered his season-ending injury on December 1. If Foerster were healthy, teams would be calling about him, but Briere would likely hang up the phone immediately.
Nikita Grebenkin: At 22 years old, Grebenkin is young, cheap, and has shown some encouraging flashes since the Flyers acquired him at last season’s trade deadline in the Scott Laughton deal. Grebenkin has shown enough promise that the Flyers shouldn’t be in a rush to trade him elsewhere.
Garnet Hathaway: Hathaway has registered just two points in 51 games this season, which is decidedly bad. A year ago, a team probably would have traded an asset to the Flyers if it meant adding Hathaway’s nastiness to the roster ahead of the postseason. This year, though, Hathaway just doesn’t look like the same player. A move involving Hathaway would be very surprising.
Nick Seeler: Seeler’s contract includes a no-trade clause, and there’s no indication that he’d be interested in waiving it. He’s not going anywhere. The last two years of his contract do not include the no-trade clause, however, so perhaps he’ll be someone to keep an eye on this time next season.
Dan Vladar: Given how well Vladar has played this season, the Flyers could probably get a solid return for the 28-year-old goaltender. But will they actually trade him? Absolutely not. After the horrors the Flyers have experienced in net the last few seasons, they’re just happy to have a competent backstop guarding the cage.
Cam York: York is a solid, no-doubt-about-it second-pair defenseman. Signed through the 2029-30 season, it’s certainly possible York will one day be moved, but that won’t be happening now.
Trevor Zegras: If the Flyers moved Zegras at the trade deadline, the fan base may actually set Xfinity Mobile Arena on fire and then topple over the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. As an impending restricted free agent at a very manageable cap hit, the Flyers could easily trade Zegras. But unless they’re landing a bona fide superstar in return, they won’t.
No Chance
Rodrigo Abols: Two months ago, Abols, an impending unrestricted free agent, may have been a candidate to be shipped elsewhere at the trade deadline. However, after suffering a fractured right ankle in January, it’s hard to imagine any team coughing up assets for an injured fringe NHLer.
Sean Couturier: Couturier has become a shell of the player he once was, and even if the Flyers wanted to trade him, they likely wouldn’t be able to. Couturier has four years remaining on his whale of a contract, which comes with an AAV of $7.75 million along with a full no-movement clause. Unless the Flyers gain Couturier’s approval to trade him elsewhere, they’re pretty much stuck with him until his contract expires in 2030 (barring a buyout, of course).
Christian Dvorak: Rightly or wrongly, the Flyers just signed Dvorak to a five-year, $25.75 million contract extension in January. The Flyers clearly value what Dvorak brings to the table, and considering their lack of depth in the middle of the ice, it would be utterly shocking for Briere to ship out one of the few competent centers on the roster.
Travis Konecny: Despite Konecny’s clear frustration with the Flyers’ lengthy run of mediocrity, the soon-to-be 29-year-old isn’t going anywhere — at least for the time being. He is in the first year of an eight-year, $70 million contract extension signed in 2024, which carries a full no-movement clause. If the Flyers really wanted to trade Konecny, he would need to give his approval of the move beforehand. There does exist a world in which Konecny could waive his no-movement clause in order to facilitate a trade to a more competitive team, but the odds of that happening in the immediate future seem nonexistent.
Matvei Michkov: Michkov is the centerpiece of the Flyers’ rebuild. He’s not being traded. Next.
Travis Sanheim: Sanheim was a Torey Krug no-trade clause away from being shipped to the St. Louis Blues in 2023. Since then, he has become a workhorse for the Flyers as their unquestioned No. 1 defenseman. With five years remaining on his contract, which carries a pretty reasonable cap hit of $6.25 million per season, trading Sanheim away while he’s playing the best hockey of his career simply wouldn’t make sense unless it somehow landed the Flyers a bona fide superstar. Plus, Sanheim’s contract includes a no-trade clause, so that pretty much squashes any possibility of him being moved.
