VOORHEES, N.J. \u2014 Right around this time in the 2023-24 season, a trade and an injury hit the Flyers simultaneously, depleting their defense for an important stretch run.<\/p>\n
The Flyers parted ways with Sean Walker to acquire a first-round pick for their rebuild<\/a>. On the same day, Nick Seeler was placed on injured reserve<\/a>. Just like that, the Flyers lost arguably their most effective defensive pair<\/a>.<\/p>\n Danny Briere finds himself in a similar spot this season. Will the general manager hand the Flyers’ locker room another difficult move?<\/p>\n “We still believe in our group and we think we can make a push here for the playoffs,” Sean Couturier said Tuesday. … “As it comes to trades, we don’t control that. It’s not something we try to focus too much on; we try to focus on what we can control.”<\/p>\n The Flyers have one more game to go before Friday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline. They’ll head into Thursday’s matchup with the Mammoth on a three-game winning streak (7 p.m. ET\/NBCSP), which has made things interesting<\/a>. The Flyers are 28-21-11 and in the hunt with 22 games remaining.<\/p>\n But in their 3-2 shootout win Monday night over the Maple Leafs, they saw Seeler exit with a lower-body injury. He didn’t practice Tuesday and head coach Rick Tocchet considered him a game-time decision for Thursday.<\/p>\n “He’s definitely a heart-and-soul guy, plays hard, blocks shots, sacrifices himself for the team,” Couturier said. “He’s willing to do anything to help win. We’ll see with his situation, hopefully he’s all right.”<\/p>\n The Flyers are going to hold Rasmus Ristolainen, their biggest trade chip<\/a>, in high regard. They won’t sell him short. If Seeler has to miss time, subtracting Ristolainen would then be a serious gut punch to the locker room. The Flyers would be losing two of their more experienced, physical, defensive-minded players on the back end.<\/p>\n