Photo Credit: Our very own Michael Reaves
Believe it or not there are only 17 games left for the Flyers, and the injury bug is rearing it’s head especially on the defensive side of the puck with the likes of Rasmus Ristolainen, Jamie Drysdale, Nick Seeler, Egor Zamula (Sick), and of course Ryan Ellis all on IR (Injured Reserve). So with the Flyers trying to stay afloat in the playoff race, especially within the Metropolitan Division as they currently hold the third place in the Metropolitan Division. Did Danny Briere and the orange and black honor their promise of a rebuild with how they acted at the trade deadline or not?
Last week you may have read rumor after rumor with certain Flyers players mentioned, or articles that were geared towards adding players or stars. That did not transpire for the Flyers at the NHL trade deadline this year, as they moved on from Wade Allison and added a depth Forward (Denis Gurianov) and a depth Defenseman (Erik Johnson).
The hierarchy for the Flyers preached patience (The fans have been very patient for the past few seasons, but just a little longer), and have been very transparent about the overall state of the organization. They DID NOT lost sight of this and, and the rebuild continues on regardless of how the team is faring at the moment. Winning is important yes, however, this team has over exceeded expectations according to most pundits already. Does John Tortorella and company want to win every game? Yes, but this is the beginning stages of the rebuild, they’re growing process of winning and losing. The team did not trade assets for some unknown. What is unknown is how they will fare in the playoffs, and that is why the organization will stuck to their plan.
“I wasn’t going to trade him for fair value because he’s more than fair value to us,” Danny Briere said of Scott Laughton following the trade deadline. “I told him that, we are not going to trade you just because it’s a fair trade.” It’s quite obvious that the Flyers did not receive a first round pick for Scott Laughton, and if they did they were asked to bring back a bad contract. Briere may also have been asked to retain monies for Laughton, but that would handcuff the Flyers moving froward as they have already retained monies on two contracts (Kevin Hayes and Noah Hanifin (For the 2023-24 season only, while acting as a broker for Vegas).
Briere also talked about Erik Johnson, “I’m not expecting Erik Johnson to replace Sean Walker.” The Flyers desperately needed a depth defenseman, as the Flyers are ailing on the backend for this late playoff push (As mentioned above). Some of the youth for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms are not ready for the next step, such as, Ethan Samson, Emil Andrae, Will Zmolek, or Helge Grans. Added Victor Mete and Louie Belpedio could step in, but keep in mind the Phantoms are also jockeying for playoff positioning and they also need a Veteran presence to aide the youth.
The key to the Flyers trade deadline this year was to gain as many first round picks, and assets as possible. This meant sticking to the guns, not trading Scott Laughton or Sean Walker for a bag of pucks like in the past (Shayne Gostisbehere). These are such assets that were mentioned in rumors, for good reason. If that meant Sean Walker re-signed with the club, possibly if teams don’t want to meet what Flyers General Manager Danny Briere wants in return for him, so be it, then he could have been flipped for such with teams knowing Walker’s salary and term. This is a different era for the Flyers organization. Those times of Flyers General Manager’s being taken advantage of for assets are over. Briere proved to be a hard-ass and he garnered some respect without being taken advantage of. How many times in the past have most seen the Flyers organization get taken advantage of in trades? Those days are over.
We can’t change course, we’ve got to stay the course and let our kids develop.” Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella
For once the team has a plan, a plan of trying to gain some high-end prospects through the draft, a plan looking ahead to the offseason to maybe flip some picks or roster player(s) for a high-end player. The trade deadline is over, and the Flyers did well.
Tortorella has said over and over again that the Flyers would stay the course, and the organization did just that. I have to give the organization their props for addressing the players that could have been traded by the time the trade deadline ended, “I’ve talked to them. I want to show respect to them and not spring anything on them. The whole team knows where we stand. We always try to be transparent,” John Tortorella said.
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