3 solid trades that will revitalize the Flyers in 2024
After such a hot start to the season, the Philadelphia Flyers have lost steam lately. Therefore, few should be more aggressive at the deadline.
While the Philadelphia Flyers could be a top seller at the 2024 trade deadline, they are still in a top-three spot in the Metropolitan. That could entice general manager Daniel Briere to try and put the best team together on the ice and hold off on rebuilding until at least the summer.
If the Flyers continue to struggle throughout February, then unfortunately, they will end up trading away their top talents and start the rebuild next month. But for this scenario, let’s predict that the Flyers go on another hot streak and prove to the front office that they can make a deep playoff run this season.
Following a recent five-game losing streak, it’s clear they need help. So if they pull off any of the following three trades, we shouldn’t see something that they are going through now happening again.
Anthony Duclair provides a scoring option on special teams
One good thing about Anthony Duclair is that he won’t cost a fortune. However, the Flyers need a sound winger on the power play, and Duclair has been a prolific scorer in the past with his team playing 5-on-4 hockey. In 2021-22, he scored nine power play goals, and he also pitched in with 31 total that season.
Duclair spent most of 2022-23 sidelined while recovering from an injury, and he was basically handed to the San Jose Sharks this past offseason. The 28-year-old has since been forced to endure a season trying to lead a struggling organization that has barely started its rebuild, so to play for a potential contender that isn’t looking to give up a lot at the deadline would be a win for Duclair and the Flyers.
Meanwhile, the Sharks would retain 25 percent of Duclair's contract, and get a seasoned veteran in Garnet Hathaway, who they can stick onto their lower lines to help guide this young team through the rest of the season. This package also includes a third-round pick in 2024, which would allow them to parlay the fifth-round selection they traded him for into a mid-rounder, along with a decent prospect in Ronnie Attard.
Kaapo Kahkonen will provide stability at goaltender
The Flyers need a goaltender if they play well enough to remain in legitimate contention from now until the trade deadline, and in this scenario, they would also turn to the Sharks. While a scorer like Duclair would be the top option, if by any chance they wouldn’t land one, someone like Kahkonen would help them out in the crease.
Like Duclair, Kahkonen has turned a bad situation in San Jose into a relatively good one for himself, snagging a 0.524 quality starts percentage and a 0.901 save percentage despite the ugly 3.55 GAA. But when you’re playing for a team that has been awful for most of the season, the above numbers, even that GAA, aren’t horrible.
For Kahkonen, we’re offering the same exact deal as what the Flyers would give up to acquire Duclair. Remember, these packages will overlap, because while we are listing three different trades, there would be no chance of the Sharks pulling off two with the Flyers because they can only retain one more salary, and they would have to retain either Duclair or Kahkonen.
Therefore, in this scenario, it would be Kahkonen, and not Duclair, heading for the City of Brotherly Love while the other most likely goes somewhere else.
Dominik Kubalik would be another prolific scorer on the middle-six
Dominik Kubalik has not enjoyed a good season as a member of the Ottawa Senators, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a prolific scorer. Like Duclair, Kubalik is a player capable of putting up 30 goals, something he did as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks in that shortened 2019-20 season.
Kubalik may also be 28 years old, but he only has four-and-a-half seasons of NHL experience, so he’s still, in a manner of speaking, someone with untapped potential. Therefore, forget his unremarkable stint so far in Ottawa, as besides his solid rookie season, Kubalik also played well for the Detroit Red Wings in 2022-23 when he scored 20 goals and seven on the man advantage.
Yet given his relative inconsistencies this season along with the fact he, like others, have been unable to turn the Senators into contenders, Kubalik is another player the Flyers could acquire for a decent price.
Supposing the Flyers wouldn’t make a trade for Duclair or Kahkonen, they will instead send that third-rounder in 2024 and a fourth in 2025 to the Senators along with the gritty Garnet Hathaway. The trade would give Ottawa a couple of draft picks to rebuild its ailing prospects pool while they also get another big hitter who should further play into the identity they are trying to build.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)