Although the Philadelphia Flyers are in the midst of an eight game winning streak, they should still look to trade the upcoming Unrestricted Free Agent come February 25th.
After climbing nearly all the way out of the bottom of the Eastern Conference thanks to a long winning streak, the Philadelphia Flyers now sit just seven points back from the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second Wild Card position at the time this article was written. Given the fact that they’ve inserted themselves back into the playoff conversation, it’s time to speculate on whether or not General Manager Chuck Fletcher should continue to look to sell, stand pat, or even…BUY at this year’s trade deadline.
Ok, all jokes aside, he definitely should not buy and when I say “buy”, I mean more in terms of a rental option. There’s absolutely no guarantee the Flyers make the playoffs and even if they do, a Stanley Cup run isn’t very likely. I get that anything can happen, but surrendering assets for a two-to-three month rental player just wouldn’t be a smart move. There are bigger questions to be asked in Philadelphia than if the team should be buyers or not, though, with one of them having to do with the future of Wayne Simmonds.
Simmonds has long been speculated as a trade piece for the Flyers this season and currently ranks third on TSN’s Trade Bait List. With all of the wins the Orange and Black have earned recently, it wouldn’t be crazy for Fletcher to keep the locker-room leader around to see if the team can get in the playoffs as they currently stand, but it’d still be a mistake in my eyes.
The Flyers probably won’t want to sign a 30 year-old Simmonds to a hefty contract this summer, which he’ll receive from some desperate NHL team on the free agency market this offseason. For that reason, Fletcher needs to get something in return for the goal-scoring forward at the February 25th deadline.
It’d be extremely foolish on his part to let a player like Simmonds walk without getting a couple of assets for his services and there’ll be plenty of contending teams in the league who want to sure-up their depth on offense for a Stanley-Cup Playoff run. The haul won’t be huge, as I mentioned here, but a solid return is better than no return at all. Moving Simmer just makes too much sense for Philadelphia and Fletcher must pull the trigger if the correct deal is there.
It seems the recent winning streak hasn’t strayed Fletcher from taking calls on the longtime Flyers forward, as TSN reported that he still plans on trading the 11 year veteran. We’ll have to see if any deal comes to fruition or if the former Minnesota Wild General Manager changes his mind and stands pat when the deadline passes.