Trade Rumors Swirling: Should The Flyers Buy or Sell?

It’s that time of year folks. With the trade deadline of February 24^th fast approaching, General Mangers (GM’s) all over the NHL are starting to ponder whether they should be buyers or sellers. Most GM’s are pretty good at adding to their team through either the draft and/or free agency; Often what sets the elite GM’s apart from just the average ones is the ability to evaluate their team mid-season- looking at where they need to add help. Whether it be because of injuries that have occurred throughout the first half of the season, lack of player development, free agent additions that just haven’t fit into the system, etc., the GM’s can then scan the league trying to find that “diamond in the rough.” That one addition could help set his team up for a lengthy playoff run.

With that in mind, the one rumor that keeps surrounding the Flyers is that the Toronto Maple Leafs are drooling over the possibility of acquiring Flyers Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. A reason for this is that the Leafs are playing without their number one defenseman Morgan Rielly, who was placed on Long Term Injury Reserve (LTIR), and is not due back till late March.

The Leafs are front-loaded for sure, with names like Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitchell Marner, and William Nylander. To go along with them, they have their franchise goalie Frederik Anderson. All together, these five players total a massive $45.3 Million dollars this year in salary and leave little cap space to work with to add the quality of defense that Frederik Anderson, and his teammates deserve in order to compete in May and June.

So, everyone knows the Leafs needs now, so let’s talk about the Flyers wants. The Flyers have great depth on defense, and have more coming up in the system soon. With that being said, Chuck Fletcher may just be willing to deal the offensively-talented defenseman Gostisbehere. With the uncertainty of when former #2 overall pick Nolan Patrick will rejoin the club, and with Oskar Lindblom forced to fight his toughest opponent yet (Cancer), Head Coach Alain Vigneault and General Manager Chuck Fletcher are now forced to try and replace these two talented players with sub-par talent (at best) from the team’s AHL (American Hockey League) affiliate- the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Philadelphia lacks bottom-six offensive talent and have found themselves slipping out of the playoffs, and into the Wild Card race.

Let’s look at a few possible trade scenarios that would work out for both Leafs and the Flyers. We know the Leafs want the 26-year-old Flyers Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who makes $4.5 Million a year until the end of the 2022-2023 season. What would the Flyers want in return that would help the offense, but also fit into both teams’ cap space?

Kasperi Kapanen would be a great addition for the Flyers (Son of former Flyer and fan favorite Sami Kapanen). This former 1^st round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins stands at 6’1″ and weighs in at 187 pounds. At only 23-years of age, the Flyers would be getting a winger to replace the offense production lost by Lindblom’s absence. Kapanen would be doing so with great size, strength, and speed. Kasperi uses his lightning-quick speed with the puck on his stick to gain many breakaways where he creates great separation from the defenders- leaving them to chase him, which allows him time to wait until the opposing goalie makes the first move. After the goalie drops, Kasperi often uses his wrist shot to blow the puck right over the goalie’s shoulder, torching the top of the net! Last year Kapanen netted 20 goals. He is on pace this year to match that, while adding time this year on both the Power Play Unit and the Penalty Killing Unit. With all that being said, Kapanen still finds himself buried in the depth chart in Toronto by those names listed earlier. With a cap hit of just $3.2 Million through the 2021-2022 season, Kapanen would fit in well in Philly’s plans not only now, but in seasons to come as well. This still leaves $1.3 million in cap space to even out.

Of course, the potential exists that the Leafs can’t take on that extra salary. A contingency would help the Leafs obtain their much-needed defenseman (who could strengthen their top pairings) from the Flyers, while also maintaining cap consistency. Enter Leafs 6’4″ 192 pound Pierre Engvall. This 23-year-old was drafted in the 7^th round of the 2014 draft. He can play wing and center, and at $925,000 a year it would allow the Flyers to have a more stable NHL talent to sure up the bottom two offensive lines. This would leave only a difference of $375,000 in cap space.

The Flyers should take advantage of the glaring hole on the Toronto Maple Leafs blue line, and use this as a chance to gain a couple of young forwards with offensive talent that may be a better fit than Gostisbehere into Coach Vigneault’s current system. If this trade needs a little bit more from Philly to make Toronto agree, the Leafs are without a 1^st round pick this year. NO: The Flyers should not offer up their 1^st round pick; but maybe throwing in one of their two 4^th rounders, or a 2^nd round pick with the promise of Toronto giving us their 3^rd round pick would be enough to make this trade happen. This deal has the potential to allow the boys of Broad street to make a real push for a playoff spot this year, and the possibility of a run for Lord Stanley’s Cup.