Now that the NHL season is in full swing, team needs are beginning to emerge. While it’s been all quiet on the trade front for the Philadelphia Flyers, one must presume they are still highly motivated to move Andrew MacDonald, and/or Luke Schenn.
Andrew MacDonald
Andrew MacDonald was “shocked” to be sent to the AHL at the start of this season. He’s doing okay down there playing on the top pair with Shayne Gostisbehere, but the Flyers don’t want to be absorbing ~$4 million of dead cap space for him to play big minutes with the Phantoms. MacDonald is still owed $25 million over 5 years on his contract, so whether he’s trade-able at all is a big question. I presume the Flyers will be willing to retain some salary to move him.
Any trade return and retained salary would have to be weighed against a buyout. If he was bought out after this season, the terms would look like this (per war-on-ice.com):
Those cap savings of $3+ million per season over the next 4 seasons would be nice for the Philadelphia Flyers, but the trade off is 4 extra years of $1.7 of dead cap hit. For that reason, I think the Flyers would consider trading him and retaining up to $1.5 or 2 million of salary to facilitate the deal.
Luke Schenn
Luke Schenn is the other guy the Flyers are presumably trying to move. He never won over ex-coach Craig Berube, and Brandon Manning won the training camp battle for the opening night spot under new management.
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To Schenn’s credit, he has shown something since then. He may have won his job back within the last week, and he has the best Corsi differential of all Flyers defensemen. That may not be enough to get the pending unrestricted free agent off the trade block, however.
Potentially Interested Parties
Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets missed the playoffs last season, but many attributed that to a devastating run of injuries. They were a popular pick to bounce back this season, but the start of this season has been simply disastrous. Much of that is due to the terrible play by Sergei Bobrovsky in net, but on paper the clear weakness of this team is the defensive corps.
The Blue Jackets have already fired their coach, and thus making it less likely to seek an immediate shakeup in personnel. That doesn’t change their roster need, and they are likely still in the market for a “top-4 defenseman.”
Once upon a time Andrew MacDonald was generally considered a decent #4, but his stock may have dropped below that over the last year. Luke Schenn has also seen a similar drop in reputation over the last few seasons. Neither Schenn nor MacDonald will rouse great interest from Columbus, but they are a team worth keeping in touch with over time.
Bruins
The Bruins have a clear need for defensemen. Chara has been banged up, minutes-eater Dennis Seidenberg is out for a while, and young star Dougie Hamilton left in the offseason. Guys like Kevan Miller, Colin Miller, and Joe Morrow are seeing a bigger role than the Bruins would prefer.
Luke Schenn could possibly be a fit for Boston. He could fit their physical style of play, and the Bruins could afford him if the Flyers take a little bit of salary back in a trade. The Bruins might prefer to ship out Louis Eriksson in return for a defenseman, but as another pending unrestricted free agent, he would be of little appeal to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Are the Bruins buyers or sellers this season? Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
The bigger issue for the Bruins is they must decide if they are sellers or buyers. There have been some rumblings they are exploring trading Chara or Marchand as their cup window appears to have closed. So long as the Bruins remain competitive enough to be a buyer in the market, and the defense still needs improvement, the Flyers should give them a call.
Coyotes
With the Coyotes’s surprisingly fast start this season, I have seen some mention they are beginning to explore adding a defenseman. Their defensive group is not very deep, and they probably need more experience on the back end to stay competitive for a playoff spot.
Ekman-Larsson needs some help out in the desert. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
While the Coyotes are certainly building for the long haul, the good news is that they have plenty of cap space. Their limitation would be real life dollars. I don’t think they’d be interested in a UFA like Schenn at this point in the season, but if someone in their organization likes Andrew MacDonald, and the Flyers retain some of his financial burden as they did with Niklas Grossmann this summer, there might be some possibilities there.
Kings
Lastly, the Kings defense hasn’t been settled since the whole Slava Voynov mess. I’ve seen their name come up in the past as potential trade partner for the Philadelphia Flyers and their defensemen, and the Kings 0-3 start this season only heightened their need.
Things change quickly, however. The Kings are now winning games, and they may feel their defense has stabilized. Furthermore, they are tight against the cap, complicating any trade the Flyers could make with them. They are not looking like a very likely trade partner at the moment, unfortunately.
Market Competitors
A final wrinkle to this game is the presence of other sellers on the market. One team that may be looking to deal is Calgary, who is off to a very disappointing start this season. They also have the type of mobile defensemen trade partners would find more valuable than Schenn or MacDonald.
Another team looking to trade may be St. Louis. St. Louis has been in the market for a top-9 forward since the season began (see the Brayden Schenn rumor), and that need has only heightened with injuries to Paul Stastny and Jaden Schwartz. Furthermore, with the emergence of Colton Parayko and Joel Edmundson they can spare a defenseman without hurting the team on the ice.
Ultimately the Flyers may have to continue to bide their time with Schenn and MacDonald. In the case that a team decides they want to add a defenseman, they will probably try to work out something with Calgary or St. Louis first. Until then the Philadelphia Flyers must keep working the phones to market their trade goods.
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