Danny Briere is operating his third NHL trade deadline as the Flyers’ general manager.<\/p>\n
For his first two, he was mostly in sell mode to facilitate the team’s rebuilding vision. He traded\u00a0Scott Laughton last season<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Sean Walker two seasons ago<\/a> to acquire first-round picks.<\/p>\n Will he part ways with more pieces by Friday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline?<\/p>\n Let’s get into what you need to know:<\/p>\n Where do Flyers stand in playoff race?<\/p>\n The Flyers are in the hunt, but not in playoff position.<\/p>\n They’re six points back of the Bruins, who hold the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. With 22 games to go, Rick Tocchet’s club is 28-21-11 and entered Wednesday with a 15.4 percent chance to make the postseason, according to\u00a0Hockey-Reference.com’s probabilities report<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Flyers have one game left \u2014 Thursday at home against the Mammoth (7 p.m. ET\/NBCSP) \u2014 before the deadline. They’ve made things interesting with a three-game winning streak<\/a> and at least a point in six of their last seven games (4-1-2).<\/p>\n But they had a damaging stretch of 12 losses in 15 games<\/a> before the Olympic break. Prior to that slide, the Flyers held a playoff spot at the season’s halfway mark<\/a> when they were in third place of the Metropolitan Division.<\/p>\n How will\u00a0Flyers approach\u00a0deadline?<\/p>\n It’s important to note that, before the season, the Flyers did not want to be aggressive sellers come the deadline. They wanted this season to be about improving \u2014 not playoffs or bust, but taking strides forward.<\/p>\n “In the previous two years, we would be quick to make changes in order to get better for the future,” president of hockey operations Keith Jones said in September<\/a>. “Now it would be about staying on course, which is advancing; it’s not about moving back.”<\/p>\n The Flyers have made progress. They’re better in net<\/a> and they’re allowing fewer goals. But have they made enough progress to refrain from making a trade for the future?<\/p>\n Last season, Briere dealt away five players in the span of five weeks<\/a>. Don’t expect that type of exodus over the next few days. But the Flyers’ GM has always been open for business in his tenure and that probably won’t change here. If the Flyers get a deal they like, they need to pull the trigger.<\/p>\n Briere has made five first-round picks over the last three drafts. He could have three first-rounders over the next two drafts. The Flyers need more talent, particularly down the middle, so they should be intrigued by potentially adding another first-round pick or a prospect if the offer is there.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Which Flyers could be moved?<\/p>\n For various reasons, Rasmus Ristolainen is the Flyers’ most clear-cut trade candidate<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 31-year-old has a lot of qualities that contending teams covet. He’s a 6-foot-4, physical, righty-shot defenseman who has cut down on his penalties and greatly improved his game.<\/p>\n After this season, Ristolainen has just one more year left on\u00a0his contract<\/a>,\u00a0which comes with a $5.1 million annual cap hit. He has battled injuries in Philadelphia, twice rupturing his triceps tendon<\/a>, so the Flyers might want to capitalize on him being healthy and his stock being high.<\/p>\n Briere, though, won’t trade Ristolainen just to trade him. The Flyers could revisit things in the summer and next season. If they move him now, one would think in return they’ll aim for a first- or second-round pick and possibly a young player with some upside.<\/p>\n Around the league Wednesday, defensemen starting going off the board<\/a>, so we’ll see if that creates some desperation from other buyers looking to add on the back end.<\/p>\n