The Philadelphia Flyers' playoff chances are still alive as of this writing, despite their struggles this season. And this comes after the team was open for business in terms of trading away players at the deadline. Ultimately, the Flyers traded away forwards Bobby Brink and Nic Deslauriers while bringing in defenseman David Jiricek and a 2027 seventh-round pick. The team floated defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen in trade talks, but opted to keep him for the remainder of the season.
So there were no major additions made by the Flyers. As it turns out, they were in talks for a former top draft pick.
In the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts column, Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman mentioned that the Montreal Canadiens had discussions with the Flyers about potentially trading forward and former 2016 second-overall pick Patrik Laine.
"The Canadiens have done a nice job of shielding their true intentions. There were rumours of a defenceman, of Knies, and even something else they might wish to revisit. They definitely explored moving money. There were discussions about Patrik Laine ending up either in Philadelphia or Toronto, but it obviously didn’t work out," writes Friedman.
Flyers reportedly in talks with Canadiens for forward Patrik Laine
Laine's spot on the Canadiens seemed to be gone given the rise of some of their younger players. But in reality, Laine had been sidelined since October after undergoing core muscle surgery. He has yet to return, and even so, he was a player linked to teams ahead of the March 6 trade deadline, such as the Los Angeles Kings. The Canadiens even allowed Laine to seek a trade to another team.
It appears that the Flyers were among the teams at least interested in the potential of a trade. As we all know, nothing transpired, considering he's still in Montreal and not in Philadelphia. But one has to wonder if this is a move that the Flyers will explore again in the offseason, considering Laine will be a free agent this summer.
As mentioned earlier, Laine last played in October. Through five games, Laine notched just one assist with 12:36 of average ice time. But in the previous season, Laine scored 20 goals in 52 games. While he may not have lived up to his second-overall selection, he could provide some scoring ability, even in the bottom six.
For the Flyers, they entered this season looking to see their younger players take the next step, such as Matvei Michkov, and declared that it was not a "playoff-or-bust" year. The Flyers are just on the outside looking in on the Wild Card picture. This comes after losing Tyson Foerster for the season earlier on with an arm injury.
The Flyers will have some important decisions to make, that includes potentially trading Ristolainen and signing Trevor Zegras to a contract extension. If they are looking to add depth scorers in the offseason, perhaps they could look at Laine again, especially since they won't have to give up draft capital to do so.