Standing Pat At The Trade Deadline Could Be The Best Decision Chuck Fletcher Could Make

Photo Credit: Zack Hill

This is the best time of year in the NHL, with the trade deadline less than a week away. Every morning feels like it’s Christmas morning when you are checking your phone to see the latest rumors, and trades that transpired over night.

For once the Flyers are not looking for a stop gap Goaltender, or defensive help this year. When was the last time some one could say that honestly? This is a feel good trade deadline for the Flyers and their fans. The Flyers could make a trade, or not make a trade. With that in mind, why should the Flyers make a trade?

The Flyers are 6-3-1 in their last ten games, and currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division. Teams like the New York Islanders, and the Columbus Blue Jackets are reeling at the moment, while the Flyers are red-hot. Why should the Flyers make a trade? Honestly, with the prices being so high right now on the current market, I personally would be happy with General Manager Chuck Fletcher standing pat.

Realistically, Fletcher is looking for bottom 9/bottom 12 help, with the hope of Nolan Patrick returning. Think about this, the Flyers currently sit third in the Metropolitan Division, minus Patrick and Oskar Lindblom. Who would have thought that? Would acquiring a bottom 9/bottom 12 player move the needle that much for the Flyers to make an extended playoff run? Maybe, maybe not.

Fletcher should be very careful this trade deadline, as he shouldn’t mess with the chemistry that this young Flyers team has formed at the moment, not only on the ice, but in the locker room, as well. This locker room is the tightest locker room it has been in years. Fletcher should not panic and just make a trade, to make a trade. It could do more harm in the end to move a glue player.

Trade deadline deals just haven’t panned out in the past for this organization, with the exception for Radko Gudas (Braydon Coburn trade), and Alexei Zhamnov, so why would this year be any different? In the end, standing pat could be the best decision Fletcher could make with how loaded the 2020 draft is shaping up to be, and with a possible return of Nolan Patrick on the horizon. Let’s be honest folks the best trade deadline acquisition would be Nolan himself, and he wouldn’t cost the Flyers anything.