The Philadelphia Flyers are once again in the unenviable position on the outside looking in at the playoff picture as the NHL Trade Deadline arrives. Friday will cap off a busy week of deadline activity, with many teams already starting to get to work on finalizing trades.

What will the day look like for the Flyers? Well, there’s the course of action they should take, plus some names that maybe you weren’t expecting to be generating buzz. Here’s our primer for deadline day.

What the Flyers Should Do

Thursday night’s game shouldn’t dictate any change to the Flyers’ stance. They were already facing an uphill battle to make the playoffs after a dismal January and run into the Olympic break, losing 13 of 16 games and falling out of playoff position.

Things would have certainly been interesting in the standings had the Flyers won on Thursday, though. Losses by Boston, Pittsburgh, and the New York Islanders would have allowed the Flyers to trim the gap to four points of a wildcard spot and within six points of two teams in the Metro. The Flyers face the Penguins on Saturday and have one more meeting with the Islanders in April. They also play Boston one more time in April.

Instead, the Flyers’ own lackluster loss to Utah all but solidified their fate. Whether it was a disparity in talent, the mental side of the looming trade deadline, or just one of those games that the Flyers throw in every so often, it sent a message loud and clear to GM Danny Briere. Stay the course.

That puts the Flyers in a seller’s spot once again, and they should look into as many options as possible for movement, especially with some of the returns going around the league.

Of course, one of the team’s unrestricted free agents entering the 2025-26 season is no longer a pending free agent. Christian Dvorak would have certainly fetched a solid return at the deadline, but the Flyers lack of centers at the NHL level led to them extending him for five years in January. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other possibilities to watch in the hours leading to the 3 PM deadline.

This is the headliner from the Flyers on the market. Ristolainen has been in trade rumors plenty of times before. But this year, it feels like there is much more legitimate traction for a deal to get done.

Ristolainen has one year remaining on his contract after the 2025-26 season with a cap hit of $5.1 million. If the Flyers were willing to retain half of his salary for the rest of this season and next, it could help them get what they are looking for in return: a first-round pick and a near NHL-ready prospect.

There were reports that several teams were circling on Ristolainen and the market had really heated up as of Thursday afternoon. A reunion in Buffalo was possibly in the cards, taken away as the Sabres crafted the framework of a deal around St. Louis’ Colton Parayko, then back on the table after Parayko vetoed the trade, honoring his no-movement clause. Buffalo eventually made a deal with Winnipeg for two defensemen, Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley, officially taking them out of the running for Ristolainen.

Dallas and Edmonton also made deals for big defensemen. The Stars acquired Tyler Myers, while Edmonton picked up Connor Murphy. For as many of the landing spots that have dried up for Ristolainen, Detroit and Boston remain heavily in the mix, and Carolina could be a potential landing spot as well.

There is no guarantee that Ristolainen moves, and the Flyers don’t have to move him with a year still remaining on his contract. But they were in this position last season with Scott Laughton and were able to get more in return because of the affordable extra year on the player. It feels very much like the same outcome could be on the way for Ristolainen.

The Flyers made an interesting move on Thursday afternoon, signing Garrett Wilson to a two-way NHL deal for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. Wilson has been with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms since 2020-21 and the team’s captain for the last three seasons.

So why is this significant? Because opening up the option for Wilson to be called up to the NHL could indicate that the Flyers are preparing to unload another contract. And Nic Deslauriers’ role on the roster seems like a perfect parallel for Wilson.

Deslauriers is in the final year of a four-year deal with the Flyers and has played in 195 games for the Flyers. However, he has just 55 games played over the last two seasons, including just 24 this season. So he’s largely been the 13th forward on the roster. Could the Flyers move Deslauriers to a contender for a late-round pick to give him a chance at being on a playoff roster? It sounds a whole lot more likely now than it was even a few days ago.

Similar to Deslauriers with the Wilson contract, the Flyers made a recent move that could indicate some traction towards moving another player. The Flyers made an AHL trade earlier this week, acquiring Boris Katchouk from Minnesota for Roman Schmidt.

On the surface, it’s not that big of a deal. But as Katchouk joins the Phantoms, it could mean the Flyers are ready to give one of their prospects a look. Alex Bump has been close to a call-up at multiple times this season, but also battled injuries and been out of the lineup in Lehigh Valley. Recently, he has started to turn a corner and the NHL could be calling. And with the Flyers’ abundance of wingers, could Bobby Brink be the odd-man out.

It certainly feels like that will be the eventual outcome. Will it happen by Friday? It’s not overly likely unless the Flyers package Brink into a bigger deal or really get wowed by an offer. It’s probably more likely that Brink gets moved in the offseason if this really comes to fruition, but there has been more rumors about Brink than any other player outside of Ristolainen.

Similar to Brink, the Flyers are going to have to address the need for centers and defensemen and probably use their abundance of wingers to do so. That’s where Owen Tippett’s name comes in.

Tippett is an interesting trade chip, should the Flyers go down this road. He was one of Briere’s first long-term signings, inking an eight-year contract extension in January 2024. But the clock is ticking for the Flyers to decide what his long-term future is before his modified no-trade clause kicks in after this season.

There would certainly be plenty of bidders for Tippett, but this screams offseason decision. Don’t expect a deal to come to completion on Tippett just yet.

Seeler is an interesting name. He’s on an affordable contract with a $2.7 million cap hit for another two seasons beyond 2025-26. That said, Seeler missed Thursday’s game after suffering a lower-body injury in Monday’s win in Toronto. That probably stalls any potential talks that could have been had on the veteran defenseman.

Grundstrom has had his moments this season since joining the Flyers. After being acquired from San Jose in the Ryan Ellis trade, Grundstrom spent some time int the minors before becoming a decent contributor in the bottom six. Grundstrom is on an expiring deal, and his speed and solid offensive output for a fourth-liner – eight goals in 32 games – could get the Flyers a late-round pick.

Same as Grundstrom, on an expiring contract and serviceable as a depth defenseman. Juulsen could also be the type of player you attempt to move for a late-round pick if there are any takers.

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.

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