One of the things when looking at this year's trade deadline is how it may affect the Flyers for years to come. Trading away draft picks or prospects could drastically alter the future of this team. Likewise, acquiring the right player who has a great skill set and fits into the locker room could be a team leader for years to come.
So, at this point, let's examine what the Flyers' roster could look like next year. For this exercise, we are going to assume that the Flyers couldn't swing a big-time deal, or if they did make a trade, it was a trade that didn't bring in much of a haul (such as Nic Deslauriers for a sixth-round pick).Â
Likewise, if we go back to the free agents the Flyers have, we are going to safely assume some things. First, the UFAs are all gone. That means goodbye to Deslauriers, Noah Juulsen, Carl Grundström, and Adam Ginning. As for Rodrigo Abols, it depends on how well he's come back from injury. The Flyers seem to like him, and he'd be cheap. So for now, I'd have him at least making the training camp roster.
With the RFAs, the Flyers most likely will bring back most of them. It'd be hard to imagine the team letting Trevor Zegras, Bobby Brink Jamie Drysdale, Nikita Grebenkin, and Emil Andrae all walk, barring some sort of blockbuster summer trade. Sam Ersson, if the AHL guys are ready, is probably gone. That or the team will probably trade him off. Either way, I think 2026 is the last time we'll see Ersson in Philly.
So, that leaves a forward base of Matvei Michkov, Travis Konency, Sean Couturier, Owen Tippett, Christian Dvorak, Noah Cates, Zegras, Brink, Tyson Foerster, Denver Barkey, Grebenkin, and Garnet Hathaway. Again, we're going to assume that Abols might be back here.
As far as the defense goes, the Flyers are running it back with most of the same guys, as most are signed to longer-term deals. Travis Sanheim, Cam York, and Nick Seeler are all back. Andrae and Drysdale will be re-signed to deals. There is a possibility that Juulsen returns because of his connection to Rick Tocchet. Then there is Rasmus Ristolainen. Will he be moved, or will the Flyers have him for one more year? That's a big question that we'll find out soon. However, his time is probably up, either in the summer or at the deadline. So, we'll go with the fact that he is gone.Â
Dan Vladar returns for a contract year, and Ersson is gone. With a vacancy in the backup spot, either Alexei Kolosov or Carson Bjarnson will probably be called up if they are ready.
So, for the Flyers, that leaves us with twelve or thirteen forwards (depending on Abols), five or six defenders (depending on Juulsen), and two goalies. That's 21 spots out of a 23-man roster. So, who's going to fill it?
That depends. In our scenario, the Flyers aren't making any major moves at this year's trade deadline. Jett Luchanko may finally be ready to secure a space up in Philly. If he does, that could spell doom for Abols. Likewise, Spencer Gill, Oliver Bonk, Artem Guryev, Helge Grans, and Christian Kyrou are all probably waiting to make that jump to the NHL. We'll also have to see if Alex Bump and/or Porter Martone are ready to contribute as well.Â
With all this going on, the Flyers are looking to become a very young team, but mixed in with some veteran experience. With the glut at the wing side, it is possible that someone (Brink and Tippett usually seem to be the hot ones) may have to be moved in order to shore up a deficiency somewhere else. (defense? goaltending?)
So, for the most part, it could be much of the same. A lot of the free agents available this year are too old to really be desired or are RFAs that are going to be hard to acquire, unless with a sign-and-trade deal with the Flyers. But with age comes experience, and another year in Tocchet's system and another year playing with each other and learning from each other will make a big difference. Â
In the end, sometimes it's the moves you don't make that end up being more important to the health of a club. The Flyers don't need too much tinkering. We're almost there.