The Philadelphia Flyers are already finding themselves in trade rumours just a few games into the season. However, this time it is for the 2026-27 offseason. This stems from a Daily Faceoff prediction article that says Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews will be dealt to the Flyers after the 2026-27 season if he requests a trade from Toronto.
Yeah, that's right, DFO's managing editor and senior writer, Matt Larkin, predicted that if the Maple Leafs fail to make the playoffs this season, he will request a trade out of Toronto. He then went on to predict that the team he will end up with is the Flyers, who need a top-line center.
Matthews would be a dream addition for the Flyers
It's clear that Matthews wanted to return to the Maple Leafs. He played a huge role in the number of changes the organization made, so the team was better when he came back. But if the team fails to make the playoffs for the second straight season, there is a chance, albeit not a high one, that he could request a trade.
If he does, and the Flyers are actually able to convince him to waive his no-movement clause, it would be a dream addition for the organization. Even if the cost was astronomical, he would be a perfect addition to the lineup and would likely lead them into Stanley Cup contention.
Larkin suggests Matthews for Michkov
In the article that Larkin wrote, he had a tiered list with 25 bold predictions in it. When he got to the top three, he called them the "piping-hot takes." Number two was "After the Toronto Maple Leafs miss the playoffs again, Auston Matthews tells management he’s ready to move on. He’s traded during the 2027 NHL Draft Week."
"Don’t get me wrong. The Leafs will show plenty of positive progression in Year 1 of the John Chayka era. They’ll rise to the Eastern Conference playoff periphery. Their team speed and play driving will drastically improve. But the Atlantic’s top five is extremely tough to crack, so they’ll be inching toward a new era built around McKenna, Marchenko, William Nylander, and Darren Raddysh, not Matthews. With a year left on his deal, he’ll decide not to wait for the retool to yield a full Stanley Cup contender team. And Chayka, who proved earlier this week he’s an absolute wild man on the trade front, will cash out the most purely talented player ever to wear the Maple Leaf."
As for number three, Larkin titled it: “Despite his improved physique, Matvei Michkov can’t get on the same page as Rick Tocchet, and Michkov ends up part of a blockbuster that sends Matthews to the Philadelphia Flyers.”
"A fitter Michkov should be faster and more dangerous as a scorer, but he’ll remain prone to bouts of inconsistency, which will continue to draw Tocchet’s ire. The Leo Carlsson offer sheet showed that Flyers GM Danny Briere is willing to spend massive money on a superstar center, and Matthews would accelerate the team’s timeline significantly. Meanwhile, the Leafs, who began fostering a Russian contingent with Marchenko and Sergei Bobrovsky, would buy low on a high-ceilinged talent while netting some other useful draft-pick capital."
This is where the hot-take doesn't make too much sense. Even with a no-movement clause, if Matthews were to request a trade and list the Flyers as a potential landing spot, it wouldn't just be for Matvei Michkov.
To get a better idea of what a trade package could look like, we should look back at the Quinn Hughes deal. The Vancouver Canucks received three NHL-ready young players and a first-round pick. If this is the bar set for a star player, it would cost the Flyers about the same. Something like Tyson Forrester, Matvei Michkov, and Cam York, plus a draft pick, which is a significant trade package.
Obviously, it was just a hot take and had no factual merit. It is still interesting to see what it would hypothetically cost the Flyers to acquire a star player like Matthews. In this case, despite him being a star, Danny Briere would need to see if it was actually worth parting with Michkov to acquire Matthews or if it is better to keep the younger players as the future of the organization.
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