If you've been paying attention to the Philadelphia Flyers and Daniel Briere since the beginning of the season, the team has been making some moves. At first glance, they seem rather small and insignificant. When you dig deeper, you see a pattern starting to emerge. A change is coming on defense.
Five trades have already been made since September. The first three had been done before or during training camp: trading J.R. Avon to the Seattle Kraken for center Tucker Robertson, Ivan Fedotov to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a draft pick, and Ryan Ellis to the San Jose Sharks for forward Carl Grundstrom and defender Artem Guryev. As the season started, Briere made two more moves: trading Samu Tuomaala to the Dallas Stars for defender Christian Kyrou and Dennis Gilbert to the Ottawa Senators for defender Max Guenette. All told, the Flyers have picked up a draft pick, a center, a forward, and three defenders. Most of these have been NHL-ready/near-ready prospects.
These are all under-the-radar moves, but hint at something significant. If you look at the current Flyers' roster, on defense, the team has Nick Seeler, Travis Sanheim, Jamie Drysdale, Cam York, Egor Zamula, Emil Andrae, and Noah Juulsen. Rasmus Ristolainen may be coming off the injured list sometime soonish. Guryev, Guennette, and Kyrou are lurking not far off with guys like Oliver Bonk, Helge Grans, Ethan Samson, Ty Murchison, Spencer Gill, and Hunter McDonald. That's a lot of young defenders with a high ceiling all coming together at the AHL level, with some at the NHL level. All told, that's 17 guys; 18 if you include Ristolainen.
That's too many people for not enough slots. Someone's going to have go. Who's it going to be?
Let's start with the obvious one. Ristolainen's time in Philly is coming to an end soon. It has to be. He's underperformed and overpaid. Either he's going to be traded or will stay injured, and one of the young guns will take his place. But after Ristolainen, who could be on the chopping block? Who could Briere be looking to deal away?
So far, Jamie Drysdale has been healthy (knock on wood) and playing well. Is he worth extending, or would he be worth more dealing away from draft picks/prospects? Time will tell. Likewise, it is possible that some young guys like Grans, Zamula, and Andre could be moved as part of a bigger deal in order to sweeten the return.
As far as veteran defenders, Sanheim is pretty much set in stone, as is York, as they are signed beyond 2030. Probably the most tradeable piece is Seeler. I can hear some of you screaming "Noooooooo!" However, he is getting older and he is cheap. He is one of the most solid defenders you can find in the league. That makes him desirable come trade deadline time. He could be one of the most valuable chips that Briere has to deal away. I don't want to see it either, but it could happen.
This situation will have to be monitored. Something is brewing. Briere is prepping for some major moves coming up. What will happen is yet to be seen. We'll just have to wait and watch.