Photo Credit: Abiagael Filon
As the clock keeps ticking towards the NHL trade deadline, Chuck Fletcher is faced with a daunting task of selling as many expiring contracts as he can. One thing Fletcher and the Flyers know is that they need or top end talent, and that will not come at the trade deadline.
The Flyers currently have $9.127 million of cap space, per Cap Friendly due to Sean Couturier being on LTIR. Also, trading Claude Giroux free up $4.1ollion of cap space that the Flyers will use pre-draft or at the draft, where prices to obtain players might be a lower rate to obtain.
With that being said, what Fletcher could do is add is much draft capital as possible for this year’s draft with some of the lower value expiring contracts the Flyers have.
Justin Braun
Braun, has been everything and then some for the Flyers, especially at a rate of $1.8 million per year. He has stepped up in time of need all season, more importantly, to play on the top pairing with Ivan Provorov due to the injury to Ryan Ellis. Did he play great? No, but he played solid hockey for the conditions that were presented to him.
He is an abled bodied 35-year-old Right-Handed Defenseman, that should be playing as a third pairing defenseman. He has tied his career high in goals on the season with five, blocks a ton of shots, and is able to exit the sound freely more often than not.
The Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, or Boston Bruins are likely destinations for Braun. He will fetch a second round pick, to which the Flyers may be able to squeeze a third round pick from one of these aforementioned teams, as well.
“There’s been a lot of teams calling on Justin, and we’ll see what that means over the next day, whether we move him or not,” Fletcher said yesterday at his press conference. “He plays really hard. He’s a guy who blocks shots and takes hits. I just thought it would be prudent to at least resolve this over the next 24 hours and just hold him out for today.”
Martin Jones
Jones, 32-years-old, has actually played solid hockey for the Flyers all season long. As expected there have been some tough moments, but more often than not he has come in and filled an admirably for Carter Hart.
Numbers do not do him justice (3.36 GAA, .902 Save Percentage), but if you ask any Flyers fan that watches on a regular basis, they will tell you he has been a solid backup netminder. If the Flyers were in contention trading him wouldn’t make sense, obviously that is not the case.
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It was reported that Chuck Fletcher had interest from the Calgary Flames over a month ago for Jones’s services, so the Flyers should expect a fourth or fifth round pick in return of Jones.
Likely destinations include the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames, Boston Bruins
Derick Brassard
Brassard has been injured a lot this season, and that will limited value in terms of return for his services. Teams know now that he is healthy, and being a 15-year veteran in this league they know what they are receiving in Brassard.
He is a versatile Center/Winger, and yes you read this correctly it is not a typo he can play the wing, as well. More often than not, Brassard is suited in a third line pairing role, however, he can play at the very least the second line pairing role temporarily for a game or two due to injuries. This does become attractive to contenders, as injuries will occur, or to get most out of a lineup during a lost playoff game.
Fletcher will be able to fetch a third or fourth round pick for his services. Nothing just shattering, but draft capital is important for this retool on the fly, per Dave Scott.
The Flyers do have Keith Yandle and Nate Thompson on expiring contracts, as well, but I do not foresee either of them being pursued by contenders. Yandle has shown his age this season, and Thompson of course is still rehabbing.
