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Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (28-21-11) had a team-wide off-day on Wednesday. Trade deadline week is always a nerve-racking time for players and team executives alike. While the team’s veteran leadership core group hopes the organization adds a piece or two in an attempt to push for a playoff spot, management is caught between a rock and a hard place.
From all indications, general manager Daniel Briere is willing to be both a buyer and a seller. Acquiring more assets alone is not management’s main goal but everything depends on the type of offers that come in to sell and the price tags to buy. I don’t think Briere will entirely stand pat, ala Chuck Fletcher in his final season as Philly’s GM. However, Briere also will not sell below the price ranges he’s set just for the sake of saying his team was active at the deadline.
As of now, the price tag to acquire Rasmus Ristolainen from Philly is a first-round pick (needn’t be in 2026) and either a young NHL roster player or one that is close to being NHL-ready. For reference, see last year’s Scott Laughton trade to Toronto.
The Flyers are willing to absorb cap on Ristolainen for the remainder of his contract. They’d also consider taking on salary that another organization wants to unload.
None of this has changed since the Olympics. Philly is also willing to perhaps move a role-playing depth piece on an expiring contract such as Noah Juulsen. In terms of being buyers, nothing seems imminent. They may try again the off-season if there is not a significant deal to make by the deadline on Friday.
Flyers vs. Utah
On Thursday, the Flyers will try to win their fourth straight game. The last time the Flyers played Utah, Philly let a very winnable game slip away. Ultimately, the Flyers suffered a 5-4 overtime loss. Philadelphia held leads of 3-0 and 4-2 but were unable to nail down the game.
Clayton Keller scored in the final 35 seconds of the third period to force sudden death. He struck again in OT to end the game. The tallies were Keller’s 14th and 15th of the season. Dylan Guenther had a goal and assist in Utah’s late comeback.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Flyers are seven points behind the Boston Bruins: six standings points plus a nearly impossibly steep (seven regulation wins) tiebreaker disadvantage. With 22 games remaining on the teams’ respective schedules, the odds of a successful push into a wildcard playoff spot are slim. Meanwhile, in the Metro Division standings, the Flyers are nine points (eight standings points, plus tiebreaker disadvantage) behind both the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders.
Moreover, the Flyers are a banged-up team. Travis Konecny (upper-body injury) missed Monday’s win in Toronto. Nick Seeler (lower body) left the game during the second period. Ristolainen and Christian Dvorak both took a maintenance day on Monday. That immediately led to speculation that Ristolainen was held out for potential trade reasons. However, the Flyers denied it. Dvorak would have been a prime trade candidate until he signed a five-year contract extension.
Flyers Daily: March 4 edition
Subbing this week for Jason Myrtetus, Brian Smith drops in on Rick Tocchet’s media availability from Tuesday. Jason underwent surgery this week as part of his ongoing battle with colorectal cancer. His prognosis remains good. As always, Jason is a fighter. The surgery was postponed last week due to the blizzard. Consequently, Jason kept right on recording Flyers Daily each day despite not feeling well.
