The Flyers will be sellers at the trade deadline, but which Players should stay & Which should go?

With the Flyers currently riding a NINE game losing streak- and not being able to beat a playoff bound team in well over a month (Dec. 10^th Las Vegas Golden Knights)- it’s high time that management realizes that they should be in full-on “sell mode” NOW, and not wait until Monday, March 21st, 2022 (NHL Trade Deadline) when most of the teams in need will have already made other deals. With the internet already swirling with trade rumors, and players now being made available by teams, the question now becomes which of the Flyers’ players should stay and who should go?  

Claude Giroux

The biggest name that teams will be calling the Flyers’ general manager (GM) Chuck Fletcher about is their captain Claude Giroux who, at season’s end, will be an unrestricted free agent (UFA), and for good reason: Over the past decade Giroux has been one of the most consistent players production wise, and he has proven to be deadly while on the power play. With that being said, with each passing game the now 34-year-old Giroux seems to be breaking a Flyers record, or at least surpassing another Flyers great in one statistical category or another. But as he closes in on a thousand games played, the reality is that he has yet to win this franchise a Stanley Cup and, given the team’s current record, he isn’t going to be doing so anytime soon. So, both the team and Claude have a decision to make. Given that the Flyers already inked both Sean Couturier and Joel Farabee to new deals that will (starting next season) pay them millions of dollars more than their previous deals, they might not have the kind of cap space in which to re-sign Giroux even if he agrees return for a home-team discounted rate. Whereas Giroux- even if asked by the Flyers to waive his full no-movement clause- has earned the right to refuse and stay with the team anyway. But the question is why would he want to? Claude is not getting any younger and at 34 years of age he doesn’t have too many more years of playing left. If dealt, it would be to a team that has a real chance to win a Stanley Cup and, if he wanted to return to Philly next season anyway, the team most likely would welcome him back with open arms. So, this writer says trade him because it’s not only what’s best for this franchise (seeing that it would potentially bring in a first-round pick, or at least some NHL-ready prospects), it is also in Giroux’s best interest as well. Depending on where he chooses to sign next season it may very well be his last chance at a cup and, I assure you, with an ever-growing family that desire to return to the game will continue to dwindle with each passing off season. 

Derick Brassard

Before being injured this season, the decision to sign the now 34-year-old Brassard for just $825,000 this year looked to be a smart move for the Flyers’ GM, especially seeing that at the start of the season he was able to fill in for the team’s star center Kevin Hayes (who was out on long term injured reserve). Brassard, too, is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and if he is able to return from his hip injury to play in a few games before the deadline he could be sought after by teams who are in a post-season hunt. The reason for this is that he does have a lot of post-season experience (117 games to be exact). Along with that experience Brassard also brings a net-front presence, the ability to slot in up and down the lineup as his coach sees fit, and excels in the face off dot. As far as what the Flyers might be able to bring back for him in return it’s hard to say. When last traded a few years ago near the deadline the Colorado Avalanche gave up a third round pick for his services. Now, like I said, that’s been a few years ago so if the Flyers were to get back a 4^th or 5^th round pick for him now it would be suffice.  

Rasmus Ristolainen

Acquired this off season out of extreme need in a deal that sent the Flyers’ first round pick from last year along with defenseman Robert Hagg and the Flyers’ 2023 second round pick in order to obtain him, it should be a safe bet that this colossal soon-to-be UFA right-hand-shot defenseman isn’t going anywhere once his contract expires. This is especially since fellow right-hand-shot defender and teammate Ryan Ellis has only managed to play in just four games this season and whose absence this year has proven to be an ongoing occurrence over the years. Ristolainen, who is only 27 years old, has played well enough this season to deserve a new contract with the Flyers but I doubt the club will have to shell out the kind of cash he was inked to in Buffalo. $5,400,000 is a lot of money for a player of Ristolainen’s skill level despite him excelling in the physical side of the game. At the time he signed his current deal Rasmus was forced into being something he was not (a top-pairing defenseman) because Buffalo, at the time, did not have one. Therefore, to get a more realistic term and monetary value for his next deal I would look to a few other defenseman that play a similar type of game. Jamie Oleksiak for example: his deal that he signed with Seattle would be on the high end of the spectrum seeing that he and the team agreed to a deal that pays him a cap hit of $4.6 million a season. Then you could look at Nikita Zadorov, a towering defenseman who can rattle the boards and who currently plays with the Calgary Flames. Zadorov’s deal pays him a much more reasonable $3,750,000 this season. Both of these individuals are of similar age, height, weight, offer comparable point production, and play a very similar style of play to Ristolainen. Therefore, I think the Flyers should re-sign Rasmus to a 3-year 12 million dollar deal (that carries a $4 million cap hit) at this season’s end.  

Justin Braun

Next up on the list of potential unrestricted free agents the Flyers should look to deal or re-sign is their 34-year-old defenseman Justin Braun. Believe it or not, he could be sought after come this trade deadline. Think about it: we all know Braun is well past his prime, but he offers any potential team looking for a solid veteran defenseman to add for a playoff push 100 games of playoff experience. The Flyers just overutilized him over the past two seasons. At this point in his career Justin is nothing more than a solid third-pairing defenseman. But, when injuries and lack of signings occurred, the Flyers forced Braun into playing top-line minutes alongside Ivan Provorov- both last season when Flyers’ general manager Chuck Fletcher failed to find a replacement for Matt Niskanen and this season when Ryan Ellis went down with injury. Both times Justin was able to maintain the expected level of play for a while but when asked to sustain that level of play- along with the extra ice time for an extended period- Braun (to no fault of his own) faltered. I’m not trying to make excuses for him, but you can only make a Ford Pinto look like a Ferrari for so long before it is no longer going to fool anybody. With all that being said, he would still be desirable to a playoff-bound team that needs defensive depth on their third defensive pairing. If traded, Braun could bring as high as a fourth or fifth round pick back in return depending on how desperate a team is for his services (I.E., possible defenseman injured on their team). So, with him going to be 35 next year, if a suitor comes calling the Flyers should take what’s offered to them for Braun. They could easily replace him next season with someone from the free agent market like 27-year-old right-hand-shot defenseman Matt Benning whose cap hit was only a million dollars this year.    

Keith Yandle    

Yandle, who is now 35-years-old and a pending unrestricted free agent, was brought in this season for pennies on the dollar ($900,000) to be a stop-gap until the Flyers’ top prospect Cameron York was ready to make the jump to the NHL. That time has come, and York is now looking more confident with each passing game played with the Flyers. This makes Keith expendable for sure, but the question is would any potential playoff team want to acquire him at the deadline? Although Yandle started out this season looking like a solid pickup, his play of late has left a lot to be desired. He has not been able to quarterback the second power unit like the team once thought he would be able to do, and he has begun to not make the same kind of crisp outlet passes that he was once known for. Still, the Flyers won’t likely be bringing him back next season so if they could obtain a late-round draft pick for him by all means they should do so. Trading him would not only provide them a future prospect but also allow for another player already in the team’s system to get an extended chance to showcase his worth before the start next season. That player would be none other than 21-year-old defenseman Egor Zamula who has three goals and eleven assists for fourteen points in twenty-eight games played for the Flyers’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this season. This is important because if both Cam York ($880,883) and Egor Zamula ($756,667) can prove themselves worthy of being starters next season for Philadelphia the Flyers could have plenty of cap space in which to sign/re-sign other big name free agents who could help the team next season.

Martin Jones

Last but not least on this list of players who the Flyers might look to unload come the trade deadline is their impending UFA goaltender Martin Jones. Signed by the Flyers this offseason for only one year at $2 million dollars, Jones’ performance this season hasn’t been overly impressive. He’s been a .500 netminder that has a goals-against-average well over three goals a game and a save percentage that is barely over .900. So, despite him only being 32 years old, the likelihood of him returning to the orange and black next season seems slim to none. As far as why other teams might come calling- it’s been a while, but Jones does have a championship ring from his days with the Kings and he did carry the Sharks to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2016. If dealt, Felix Sandström could fill Jones’ role for the rest of the season, and it would give the Flyers an extended look at him since he is a restricted free agent at the season’s end. To get an idea of what Philadelphia might get for him you could look to last year’s deadline deals where goalie David Rittich was acquired for a third round pick, and goalie Devan Dubnyk was had for a player and fifth round pick. As far as who might replace him next season, it depends if one of the teams’ prospects are ready or not. If one of them is not, Philadelphia could look to sign 27-year-old unrestricted free agent Joonas Korpisalo from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a season or two who is coming off a deal that paid him a cap hit of $2.8 million dollars a season. 

The team will most likely not find potential suitors for all of their soon-to-be unrestricted free agents. Although, if the team could manage to get something for the majority of the ones that they do not wish to re-sign next season, then that would prove to be most beneficial to a team who is slowly coming to the realization that they need to prepare to commence a full on rebuild next season. Now, time will tell just what Fletcher will be able to acquire for his shoddy bunch of soon-to-be-free agents but let’s just hope that Chuck has a bit of sleazy used-car salesman in him and is able to convince opposing GMs who may come calling that who he has to offer are instead fine-tuned machines. 

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