The trade deadline is coming up Friday, and it\u2019s challenging to figure what the Flyers are going to do with their roster.<\/p>\n
Will they be buyers? Sellers? Or simply do nothing at all?<\/p>\n
Several factors impact the answer.\u00a0First, are the Flyers legitimate contenders for a playoff spot? Right now, they\u2019re long shots, six points out of the final playoff spot entering Monday with three teams between them and Boston.<\/p>\n
Plus, there\u2019s the Flyers\u2019 rebuild to consider. Do general manager Daniel Briere and president Keith Jones want to risk quick fixes to try and make the playoffs this year or remain patient, even if it means settling for a franchise-record sixth straight season out of the playoffs?<\/p>\n
This much we do know. Unless a player has a no-movement clause written into his contract, there are going to be some butterflies floating around a number of players\u2019 stomachs these final few days.<\/p>\n
Prior to last Thursday\u2019s game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, coach Rick Tocchet acknowledged this can be an emotionally trying time for players.<\/p>\n
Tocchet had been away at the Winter Olympics in Italy for the better part of three weeks, so he had just reopened the lines of communication prior to action in the Big Apple.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been gone so I haven\u2019t had a chance,\u201d Tocchet said of possible discussions. \u201cBut there will be time the next few days where we try to talk to certain guys about it. It\u2019s the world we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n
One player whose name has come up in trade rumors is defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. He just finished playing some of his best hockey at the Olympics for Finland and, with the remainder of this season and next on his contract, could attract a trade for draft picks or prospects.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s just a question of whether the Flyers want to dismiss a player so key to a playoff push.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of speculation,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cThis is where social media can screw with guys\u2019 heads. You know, 90% of it is rumors but things could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
One position where the Flyers could use help is at center.<\/p>\n
Sean Couturier, 33, is in his 14th season and the senior statesman of all Philadelphia pro athletes. But he has a no-trade clause at least through 2028-29 and would have to waive it for any sort of deal to take place.<\/p>\n
After that, it\u2019s Christian Dvorak and Noah Cates, both solid two-way players but not the sort of star scoring threat the Flyers could use.<\/p>\n
Briere has made it known he\u2019s not going to part ways with an up-and-coming star such as Matvei Michkov, who showed why he\u2019s considered a franchise mainstay with his two-goal performance in the overtime win against the Rangers.<\/p>\n
There are only a few games left until the March 6 cutoff. Is there anything a player can do in terms of performance to change minds if he\u2019s already been ticketed for another team?<\/p>\n
Tocchet referenced Wednesday night\u2019s game in Washington where the Flyers were tied with the Capitals heading into the final minutes. That\u2019s where the Flyers could have used a hero. It didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a 1-1 game and I felt that was a game we could at least get to overtime,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cWe talked to players today (Thursday). We want to give people reasons to keep people together, stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tocchet was traded four times around the deadline during his playing career, so he knows the drill. He knows players on the roster believe they\u2019re in a good place. They want to stop the turnstile of players that has churned for the past few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in the game 40 years,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cIf you want to be together, play hard, things like that. I mean that\u2019s the message. Every coach gives his team that message.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hopefully the players are listening.<\/p>\n
Wayne Fish is a freelance writer. Follow his coverage at www.flyingfishhockey.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The trade deadline is coming up Friday, and it\u2019s challenging to figure what the Flyers are going to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5112],"tags":[1468,5,4,1467,56,5205,43,5095],"class_list":{"0":"post-481773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-flyers","8":"tag-flyers","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","13":"tag-philadelphiaflyers","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-top-stories-tmc"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116162365769078597","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}