Once again, I am asking for Chuck Fletcher to trade for Seth Jones. The offers seem to be pretty high but given the talent that Seth Jones has, it will be worth it to solidify the Flyers shaky blue line that was worse than the mites on ice. Outside of Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere, everyone on that blue line is replaceable until proven otherwise.
Looking outside of Ghostisbehere and Provorov, the Flyers have Phil Myers, Justin Braun, Robert Hagg, Sam Morin, Travis Sanheim, who needs to be re-signed, and two rookie defensemen in Egor Zamula and Cam York. In order to get Jones, you will most likely have to give up Sanheim or Myers. If that is the case, you can always get outside veteran help from free agency as well.
Seth Jones brings poise, leadership and skill to the blue line and to the locker room as well. Before acquiring him though, a commitment for the long term must be acquired before trading away any asset. If the Flyers could re-sign Jones to five-year contract to play alongside Provorov, it would be more than perfect.
The aging veteran core could be on its way out soon with the potential Voracek van Riemsdyk heading to Seattle. Giroux and Couturier will need new contracts soon. The Flyers new core is going to have to take shape sooner then later and a player like Jones, who is already an alternate captain, would be huge to building the new core.
As of right now, a lot of teams are in on him, but none have gotten a commitment to the long term. He will cost a decent amount and different proposals have had different pieces in them. The consistent pieces that have remained are either Sanheim or Myers, a high end prospect or two, and this years first round pick. Joel Farabee and Travis Konecny’s names have been thrown around, but it would take more than just Seth Jones for me to move either one of those two.
If you move on from Sanheim or Myers, it would not be a huge lost because it not only opens up spots but also creates competition for Hagg, York, Zamula and Morin to fight for that final spot on the every night roster. Now this is also all dependent on if you keep Gostisbehere after the Seattle expansion draft.
In one of my latest articles, I discussed Seth Jones stats, contract negotiations and how exactly the could afford to bring him here. All that matters now is if the price is right and if he commits to Philadelphia for the long term.
The overall needs for the team this offseason is to upgrade the blue line. Seth Jones is the best option currently out there for the Flyers. He struggled without Werenski last season, but playing alongside Provorov could help solve the woes that both blue liners were dealing with.
If the Flyers choose to not go after Jones, I believe it will be a big failure on their part and something they will come to regret in the future.