One of the things that makes this time of year exciting is all the speculation on what teams will do heading into the draft and off-season. What players are available in a trade? Who is going where in free agency? What surprises will we see?
Ottawa has decided that they may not want to draft seventh overall after all. According to several reports, they are open to trading the seventh pick. After years of top draft picks and big-name acquisitions, the Senators have stumbled and gone nowhere. They are holding out for goaltending and hoping that some like Boston's Linus Ullmark could be available.
Much like the Flyers, the Senators have two first-round picks. So, a first-round pick alone won't be enough to swing a deal. The Senators want a goalie. However, the only goalie the Flyers would probably be shopping for, if any, would be Cal Petersen. To be fair, he hasn't done much to warrant being picked up by Ottawa, or anyone else for that matter, unless the Flyers were to gobble up a large portion of his salary. So, that's out.
Or is it? What if the price to pay for moving up to seventh is not a goalie? What if the Flyers could flip a first-round pick and something else to Ottawa? Ottawa could then flip those assets to Boston for Ullmark or another team for a goalie.
In this scenario, the Flyers will trade the 12th overall pick, the second round pick the Flyers got from Columbus, Morgan Frost, and Olle Lycksell to Ottawa for the seventh overall pick. For the Senators, they could trade Frost and Lycksell to Boston, with a first-round pick to acquire Ullmark. They could pocket the second rounder for themselves or offer that to Boston, who are currently without a pick in the first three rounds of the upcoming draft. Ottawa can still hold onto their second first round pick.
The Flyers get rid of Lycksell who just hasn't clicked at the NHL level yet. As for Frost, if he needs a change of scenery, perhaps Boston could provide what he needs to be a successful star. Even better, the Flyers will save some cap space, and move up in the draft while not sacrificing their second pick. If it is not enough, the Flyers have several young defenders who may have to be included as a toss in, such as Helge Grans or Ronnie Attard.
It's a longshot, sure, but unless the Senators are wowed by Petersen, this might be the only other option. It's worth a shot. It is possible that the Flyers may have to cough up some more prospects or picks. However, would it be worth all that to move up five places? See what Ottawa wants first and then see if we have the hardware to meet them. If not, we are still good where we are.