The NHL trade deadline has come and gone. The Flyers didn't make any earth-shattering deals. Daniel Briere made a few minor depth moves, somehow unloaded Nick Deslauriers for a draft pick, and sent Bobby Brink home to Minnesota for David Jiricek. In between, the Flyers snagged Luke Glendening off of waivers and held onto Rasmus Ristolainen...again.
That's a fairly busy day for Briere. Again, the Flyers weren't really selling or buying. Hanging onto Ristolainen makes sense. The team is on the outside looking into the playoffs, but still could make it depending on how the next few weeks unfold. Who knows, they could still surprise us.
Speaking of which, what version of the Flyers will we see? Assuming that Travis Konency and Nick Seeler aren't injured for long, what will this roster look like? What lines could we see?
The Offense
Well, not much changed here. Deslauriers was rarely played. Brink's departure opens up the logjam at right wing and could allow for Porter Martone to make a late-season arrival. If anything, it could make for some interesting lines. The addition of Glendening gives the team some depth and the fourth line a replacement for Rodrigo Abols, who is pretty much out for the year.
So, for the Flyers offense, the lines could look something like this:
Trevor Zegras--Christian Dvorak--Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov--Noah Cates--Travis Konecny
Nikita Grebenkin--Sean Couturier--Denver Barkey
Carl Grundstrom--Luke Glendening--Garnet Hathaway
Not much change there, Michkov can float on the wings, depending on where he fits in best. Barkey and Grebenkin could see more playing time. It is also possible, as that leaves Philly with 12 forwards, that someone like Alex Bump could get called up with Konecny hurt, or Garrett Wilson may see some playing time as an extra depth forward.
The Defense
Not much changed on the defense. Yes, the Flyers acquired Jiricek, but he is in the AHL right now. In the last game before the deadline, Philly's defensive pairings looked like this:
Travis Sanheim--Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York--Jamie Drysdale
Emil Andrae--Noah Juulsen (Nick Seeler)
Most likely, not much is going to change. If Seeler is healthy, he's probably taking Andrae's spot in the lineup. If Jiricek is called up, Juulsen is probably back to the bench. It'll be interesting to see how Rick Tocchet juggles the defensive pairings now as the Flyers go down the stretch.
The Flyers are largely the same as before the deadline. Now it's time to show Danny Briere why he can trust them to fight.