When your favorite hockey team ices a roster that is as bad as the 2022-23 Philadelphia Flyers are expected to be, there can be very little to look forward to. The night-to-night games are going to be a grind with plenty of losing efforts expected. That means planning for the future could very well be the most exciting thing to do will be planning for the future, and with the announcement that the 2023 NHL trade deadline is on March 3, it’s never too early to take a guess as to what the flyers may do at the next big opportunity for change.
Number 5: Look for a Top Center
The Philadelphia Buyers sounds contradictory to the ultimate goal of selling, but it’s also a chance to try and pluck a top player at a position of need. More than anything, the Flyers desperately need legitimate center depth. With their current roster players older and breaking down or just flat out not good enough to build a successful team around, they need new bodies down the middle. If by chance pending free agent centers like Dylan Larkin or Bo Horvat become available by the trade deadline, the Flyers throwing their hat in the ring with the intent on re-signing them long term may be their best bet to lock up a much needed key player.
Number 4: Send off JVR
At this point, it ultimately doesn’t matter if the Flyers move the last year of James Van Riemsdyk’s contract or not. They failed to move it when it mattered most during the 2022 offseason which prevented them from making any real additions via free agency or trade, but there is still the perfunctory motion of moving an expiring contract at the deadline for anything they can get. A fourth round pick in 2025 is better than nothing for someone as dumb as JVR.
Number 3: Shedding a Contract
The Flyers having an obscene amount of money committed to the roster for years to come is ridiculous considering how bad they have been, and with the cap projected to stay flat for at least another season, there will be no easy way to deal one of their bigger contracts, but the trade deadline is a time to at least try. Players like Travis Konecny, Kevin Hayes and Ivan Provorov could all be on the chopping block be the time the trade deadline rolls around, and moving even just one of their massive deals will create some much needed breathing room heading into an offseason where they should theoretically be looking to make additions.
Number 2: Clear the Log Jam at Wing
One of the goals of the 2022-23 season is going to be finally getting some answers as to who stays on the roster and whose time is up. The log jam at wing, especially on the right side will prove the biggest test. With veterans like Travis Konecny and Cam Atkinson hoping to fend off players like Wade Allison, Tyson Foerster and Owen Tippett, there just isn’t enough room for everybody. In a perfect world, the younger guys should usurp the veterans and thus they older players should become expandable, but regardless of whoever becomes the odd men out, they must be removed to create space for the players who earned the ice time and making a bit of room for future prospects to earn their spot as well. The circle of life in the NHL, unless you’re a hoarder like the Flyers.
Number 1: Sanheim vs Provorov
Travis Sanheim’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and by all accounts the Flyers want to re-sign the soon-to-be 27-year-old. But with Ivan Provorov under contract for three more seasons and both Cam York and Egor Zamula knocking on the door for NHL ice time, the organization is going to have to eventually get rid of one of Sanheim or Provorov to prevent even more financial stress on the defense corps. Last season, Sanheim’s stock passed that of Provorov, but Sanheim has to prove he can be the bonafide top defenseman before the Flyers remove a key piece like Provorov. Hopefully the 2022-23 season can provide some clarity for their roles on the team and an easy decision can be made at the trade deadline because this game of will they or won’t they can’t go on much longer without answers.
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By:Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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