Philadelphia Flyers Trade Value Rankings: Part 1

With the trade deadline looming, we rank each of the Flyers based on their trade value in a three-part series. Part 1 lists 28 through 20.

With just over two weeks left until the NHL trade deadline, the Philadelphia Flyers figure to be one of the major teams making moves. Unfortunately for the club, it will likely be as a seller as the postseason still looks like a mirage despite the just-ended winning streak.

To celebrate the looming trade deadline, I’ve ranked 28 Flyers on their trade values. Included in the rankings are every player on the roster as of Feb. 7 (including injured players), plus recently demoted veterans Dale Weise and Jori Lehtera. Cap hit, age and length of contract were the major factors while salary retentions were not considered.

Of course, the majority of these Flyers won’t be moved or even considered available by general manager Chuck Fletcher, but a few could be on the move before Feb. 25. This is the first part in a three-part series looking at numbers 28 through 20.  Tomorrow will detail 19 through 11 and Sunday will feature the top 10.

28. Andrew MacDonald, Years Left: 1, Cap Hit: $5 million

Seeing MacDonald at the end of this list with his contract isn’t as somber as it used to be. The defenseman has just a single year left on his contract and if the Flyers really wanted to move him, it’s not such a tough pill to swallow for other teams if there’s some retention.

27. Dale Weise, Years Left: 1, Cap Hit: $2.35 million

The Flyers have reportedly been trying to move Weise since he was placed on waivers on Jan. 15. The lack of movement should be enough to justify his low spot on these rankings. Weise wasn’t having a terrible year this season, but he’s still a mediocre fourth-liner that most teams can find a cheaper substitute within their own organization.

26. Jori Lehtera, Years Left: UFA, Cap Hit: $4.7 million

The trifecta of bad Flyers contracts will, at worst, turn to just two after this season thanks to Lehtera’s contract coming to an end. The 31-year-old is too slow for the NHL and just passed through waivers without a claim. Every team has an AHLer that could do a better job than Lehtera.

25. Mike McKenna, Years Left: UFA, Cap Hit: $700K

With McKenna, we jump from negative value to just no value. Some AHL teams could probably use the veteran netminder, but that’s all he is at this point — an AHL goalie. He’s been a heartwarming story since coming to Philly, though.

24. Corban Knight, Years Left: UFA, Cap Hit: 650K

The former Panther is due back soon from injury and that’s had to put a damper on Knight’s season so far. After two seasons of solely AHL play, the 28-year-old made the Philly roster out of training camp, but only played three games before suffering a collarbone injury. He’s only ahead of McKenna because teams typically value tweener skaters over tweener goalies.

23. Phil Varone, Years Left: UFA, Cap Hit: 650K

Because of Knight’s injury and coach Scott Gordon’s choice to bench Lehtera more often, Varone has been able to carve out a small NHL role this year, playing 28 games and scoring two goals. Like the previous players on this list, Varone is a dime-a-dozen player.

22. Michal Neuvirth, Years Left: UFA, Cap Hit: $2.5 million

When healthy, Neuvirth is a decent goalie, but in the past two years that’s been a rare sight for the former Capital. This year he’s played just seven games and no playoff-bound club is going to acquire a goalie for an emergency situation that is usually in an emergency situation himself.

21. Christian Folin, Years Left: UFA, Cap Hit: $800K

Of the players with little to no value, Folin pulls ahead because of the position he plays. Playoff teams like to stock up on NHL-valued blueliners because the postseason is a war of attrition and with just six regular defensemen, teams can run into a depleted defense corps pretty quickly. It seems unlikely any team would give an asset for the seventh defenseman, but he probably wouldn’t pass through waivers.

20. Brian Elliott, Years Left: UFA, Cap Hit: $2.75 million

Elliott’s a better goalie than Neuvirth and has a shorter injury history, but the goalie market at the trade deadline has always been small. Ben Bishop, a near-elite goalie in 2017, was traded along with a fifth-round pick from the Lightning to the Kings for prospect Erik Cernak, Peter Budaj and a seventh-round pick. Cernak is a part-time NHL player now, while the other two pieces were just throw-ins. If that’s all a legitimate starting goalie can get, Elliott won’t receive much.

The 2019 NHL Trade Deadline is on February 25th at 3pm EST.