There weren't many high hopes for the Philadelphia Flyers entering the 2025-26 season, which is why their strong start caught many by surprise. They seemingly solved their goaltending issues, and the addition of Trevor Zegras paid dividends. The team looked destined to make the playoffs. Until a recent stretch.
Entering Tuesday, Feb. 3, the Flyers have lost 11 of their last 13 games. They are 24-20-10 on the year for 58 points, seven points back of third place in the Metropolitan Division. They are not completely in the gutter of the Eastern Conference like their rival New York Rangers, but they are getting close.
The Flyers, like the rest of the league, will enter the Olympic break after Thursday. From there, they will return at the end of the month. Shortly thereafter is the March 6 trade deadline, and teams have to decide whether they want to make a push for a playoff spot by acquiring players that would help, or sell players in hopes of bringing in draft capital and younger players with upside.
For the Flyers, they need to tread carefully in the weeks leading up to the deadline. Simply put, there's not much help for them.
Flyers collapse is putting Danny Briere in a brutal trade deadline spot
If the Flyers wanted to trade for a difference-maker ahead of the trade deadline, the only real option is Artemi Panarin. The thing is, Panarin has a full no-move clause, he wants a $50 million contract extension, and is on the Rangers. The latter is very important, as it's unlikely the Rangers would want to trade Panarin to a division rival, even if the star has a no trade clause. So, we can take him off of the board.
Other than that, is there really a player worthy of giving up draft capital and young players for to help the Flyers make a playoff push late in the season? There's the obvious Rick Tocchet-Vancouver Canucks link, but the options aren't exactly enticing. Elias Pettersson would be the forward the Flyers need, but he's simply not producing enough offensively to warrant taking on the remaining six years on his contract, with a cap hit of $11.6 million. Jake DeBrusk and Evander Kane wouldn't provide much help either.
The Nashville Predators have name-value players like Steven Stamkos and Ryan O'Reilly, but the team is in playoff contention. Not to mention, the Predators had sky-high asking prices for both players.
Before the season, the Flyers brain trust of Governor Dan Hilferty and President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones stressed that this season was not a "playoffs or bust" situation. They wanted to see improvement. There have been signs of improvement earlier this year, but the injuries have caught up to them, especially with Tyson Foerster out for the season due to a shoulder injury.
The best approach for the Flyers is to just stick with what they have. General Manager Danny Briere has already let it be known that he has no desire to mortgage the team's future to make a playoff push. He has a plan, and he wants to stick with it.
"It doesn't change the vision," Briere said, h/t ESPN. "It doesn't change what we're trying to do. It's still about the future. It's not just in the moment. Don't bank on any rentals and to give up assets. We're not at that stage yet."
Sure, the Flyers may be tied for eighth place in the Eastern Conference, but there's still a ton of season left for them to turn things around and right the ship back in a positive direction. Look, there aren't many options on the trade block that will help the Flyers significantly improve at a low trade cost. If the free fall continues, it may be time for Briere to decide which players on expiring contracts could be worth trading away by March 6.