There are few things more fascinating in this world than Flyers fans suggesting trades. Thanks to CapFriendly’s Armchair GM tool, fans can make make roster moves and trade scenarios and share them with the world. So I dug through some of the suggested trades and found some absolute gold. Below are some of the best, worst, and funniest trades I could scrounge up.
The Good
Re-Tooled by Dmh1055
I really like this idea. Don’t know if Arizona would throw in a third round pick, but dealing JVR, who has one year left at $7 million, for Andrew Ladd, who has one year left at $5.5 million, is a way for the Flyers to save a few bucks without buying him out.
Buying out JVR would cost the Flyers $4.3 million next season and $1.3 million in 2023-24. At least this way they get $1.5 million in savings next season and can still wash their hands clean during the summer of 2023 regardless. Arizona gets the more expensive, slightly better player and the Flyers get the much worse, but cheaper player. Win-win.
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Necessary Changes by sk540
It’s becoming pretty clear that Travis Konecny may be the odd man out on the Flyers, especially with a wing-heavy free agency ahead. His value has dropped quite a bit from just a few seasons ago, but he’s not totally worthless. If the Flyers are in on Johnny Gaudreau or Filip Forsberg, moving TK may be the most sense both financially and roster wise.
The Flyers adding a left-handed defenseman doesn’t make a ton of sense considering they have too many already, but a player like Vince Dunn is probably closer to the value the Flyers could ask for. Dunn has one year left on his current deal at a $4 million cap hit.
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TDL and Offseason by Squid17
This is probably the most realistic offer the Flyers could put together for Chychrun in terms of pure value, but would it be enough? More than likely the Coyotes would want draft picks and a top prospect too, but the Flyers really can’t afford to give either of those up. Provorov is probably a step down from Chychrun, Konecny would probably be one of the top forwards on the Coyotes, and who knows how Morgan Frost is viewed from a trade value perspective these days.
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Flyers TDL Retool by LorneyHockey
A few weeks back, we looked at possible landing spots for Ristolainen at the trade deadline, and determined Nashville would probably be one of the various teams as a realistic option. The Flyers will probably try to snag a first rounder for the 27-year-old, but if they can’t, a second and third might be the next best option. Given Nashville is one of those teams who may or may not be super competitive next season, maybe trying to secure a 2023 second rounder would be more ideal to get the most value back.
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Deals with COL and NYR by Hammerwise
There’s an old theory in hockey that if you trade with a team within the division, they better pay out the wazoo to make it happen, and this fits that bill perfectly. Realistically, the Flyers could probably ask for a first, second and Chytil, but if they’re going to trade someone the caliber of Claude Giroux to their biggest rival, securing Vitali Kravtsov’s rights should be part of the deal too. Overall, that’s a pretty decent package for Giroux, and expecting a return like this shouldn’t be off the table, be it from the Rangers or someone else.
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Fly Baby Fly by eVANder
Wanted to include this one because it is a realistic Giroux-to-Colorado trade. Fans seem to be hellbent of getting Alex Newhook, a theory the fans themselves cooked up, but this is a much more reasonable deal for Colorado.
Helleson is an up-and-coming, soon-to-be 21-year-old defenseman at Boston College and was drafted 47th overall in 2019. He is currently representing Team USA at the Winter Olympics. Martin Kaut is a 22-year-old forward and former first round pick in 2018. He’s currently bouncing back and forth between the AHL and NHL.
Two youngsters with potential and a pair of draft picks, with the second rounder coming in 2023. It’s a pretty solid return for Giroux, and a more realistic path for Colorado to take, too.
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The Bad
TDL and Offseason by Squid17
Martin Jones will more than likely get traded at the deadline, but I’d be pretty disappointed with just a sixth round pick, especially from a team as desperate as the Maple Leafs. Jones really had a career renaissance this year that was partially snuffed out thanks to the Flyers being awful, but if any team has done their due diligence, giving up at least third round pick shouldn’t be out of the question.
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TDL and Offseason by Squid17
This feels a bit too light for both of Giroux and Braun. If this was just for Giroux, this trade may be spot on, but with Braun involved, a pair of early-round draft picks or another prospect need to be added in. These will be two critical trades for the Flyers and they can’t afford to screw them up by going light on the returns by combining them.
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flyers retool by Vinny82
Didn’t know where to put this one, but I knew I wanted to include it in the piece because it’s… insane? The Flyers should absolutely consider trading Sean Couturier at the trade deadline, and if the Rangers wanted to give up a package like this, Chuck Fletcher probably yells “Deal! No givesies backsies” before hanging up the phone and cackling maniacally.
Reality is, though, assessing Couturier’s value is pretty difficult right now. He was struggling through the season before a battle with covid and finally admitting he was playing injured seems to have put him on the shelf long-term. At his peak, he’s still a very good defensive forward, but isn’t really an offensive producer and at 29 years old, just signed an eight-year, $62 million extension, something that most teams probably have little interest in touching. If some team out there wants to give up a king’s ransom for the guy, great! But it’s a move that probably isn’t going to happen.
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Going full rebuild by justaBoss
I don’t think you’re completely barking up the wrong tree here, but it is a tad underwhelming. Obviously the crown jewel of this trade would be Jake DeBrusk and the first round pick, but adding in a pair of 30-year-old defensemen, who are both left shots, doesn’t make much sense.
The Flyers could probably get a first round pick for Sanheim, and possibly DeBrusk’s negotiating rights, too, which would essentially mean they’re trading Hayes for Forbort and Moore, which seems a bit light, but maybe not too far off given Hayes’ recent on-ice struggles. It’s definitely an odd deal that if it got re-worked with an extra forward instead of two defensemen, may come across as more appealing, but if that trade went down today, I’d feel disappointed in the return.
Fun fact: John Moore was drafted by one of the pick the Flyers gave up in the Chris Pronger deal, so his career would’ve gone full circle.
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The Ugly
Dream Deadline and Off-season by Grebby14
To be fair, this guy’s scheme was rather grandiose, so this seems like the salary dump trade to make everything else work, but boy oh boy is that brutal. Anderson is 27 with five years left at a $5.5 million cap hit and Petry is 34 with three years left at $6.25 million per season. The Flyers dump a combined $16.7 million in salary between the three roster players.
The Flyers would only gain $5 million in space while giving up their top defenseman and top prospect Elliot Desnoyers. Provorov probably should at least be dangled in a trade this summer, but, uh, not like this.
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flyers – leafs by HollywoodHudson
Don’t really hate any of the Leafs pieces individually, but this trade is absolutely insane all together. The Flyers would be giving up all three of their trade deadline pieces for two depth forwards, a second pair defenseman and a streaky goaltender. The two first round picks are nice, but they don’t make up the lost value from the lackluster player return. The Flyers need to get max value for all three players, not combine them for one underwhelming return.
Also, nothing like a part two of Petr Mrazek in Philly, eh?
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Overhaul by flyers_succ
Flyers got swindled by the Coyotes once, so let’s do it again! It may be a realistic option if the Flyers are desperate to move JVR, but giving the Coyotes another bundle of goodies to eat a contract doesn’t seem like the way to go.
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Fix this mess by Grebby14
It’s insane how much value people think Travis Konecny has. He was by far the most consistently overvalued player whilst digging through all these proposals, but this may be the best of the worst.
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By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: capfriendly.com
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