When the Flyers dealt away Ivan Provorov on June 6 for a haul of picks and a prospect, it ignited a sense that the rebuild Danny Briere and Keith Jones have preached is actually going to happen. All corners of the fanbase put forth their ideas and imaginations are running wild, and there’s been some brainstorming of a blockbuster potentially building, and that’s the Flyers crafting a package for the first overall selection in the entry draft and taking phenom Connor Bedard.
The Chicago Blackhawks won the draft lottery last month, much to literally everyone’s chagrin and Gary Bettman’s delight. Their stealth tank paid off just as they intended and they’re “rewarded” with the first overall pick.
The Flyers won too many games for their own good and finished with the seventh overall pick. The new front office regime has stated they’re ready to consider all options this summer, including moving up in the draft. Their options to move up seem rather limited, especially considering the cost of doing business with most teams for only moving up a few spots, but what if they shoot for the top… literally?
Crafting a deal for the first overall pick and potential-generational talent Connor Bedard is reminiscent of the 1992 entry draft where the Flyers acquired the rights to forward Eric Lindros, who was drafted first overall by the Quebec Nordiques a year earlier and refused to play for the team. The Flyers gave a king’s ransom for the forward, and they ended up with one of the best players of his generation.
For a refresher, The Eric Lindros trade in 1992 went as followed-
(D) Steve Duchesne, (F) Peter Forsberg, (G) Ron Hextall, (D) Kerry Huffman, (F) Mike Ricci, (F) Chris Simon, 1993 first round pick, 1994 first round pick and $15 million in cash for Eric Lindros.
It’s a unique deal that’s a magnitude you just don’t see in the modern day NHL. Replicating it, or even coming close to reproducing it, is no easy task; and insanely unlikely. Team’s don’t freely move copious assets like they used to because of the salary cap making it nearly impossible to replenish their internal stock in an easy, timely fashion.
So where do the Flyers even start?
Well, the seventh overall pick in 2023 is a no-brainer. The 22nd overall in 2023 would also go thrown in. Chicago already has an extra first round pick in 2023 originally belonging to the Lightning, so that’d be the 7th overall, 19th overall and 22nd overall in total.
The Flyers would also have to add 19-year-old forward 2022 fifth overall pick Cutter Gauthier, who scored 37 points in 32 games during his freshman season at Boston College.
24-year-old goaltender Carter Hart would be the diamond of the deal as the young player with copious NHL experience. The 24-year-old already has 201 games under his belt and possesses a significantly higher ceiling than the last couple seasons suggest.
22-year-old left-handed defenseman Cam York could be Chicago’s main roster help on D. They’re current core leans very old and a majority of RHD. York gives them a young, up-and-coming option to lead the way for their own rebuild.
There would also need to be a bit of main roster forward help, and that could come in the form of 23-year-old Joel Farabee. Farabee, entering his fifth NHL season, has struggled with various injuries over the last few seasons and threw his once-high potential into question. He has yet to his the 40-point plateau in his career, but could be a breakout star if partnered with the proper forward unit.
One top forward prospect, two first round picks in a deep draft (one being seventh overall), and three young main roster players scattered at all three positions.
Would Chicago consider this package if presented? It’s a pure battle of quantity versus quality. Does one potential-generational star hold more value than six mid-to-high caliber main roster talents?
Though, if you look back on the Lindros trade, the Nordiques relocated to Colorado in 1995-96 and immediately won a Stanley Cap in big part to the players the received in the trade, then won again in 2001 from players acquired in multiple trade lineages from the original Lindros deal.
Injecting multiple talented players could exceed the value Bedard could bring as a single player, something both teams would have to consider when making the deal.
It’s a major ding to the Flyers’ prospect pool, but there’s still quite a few names left within the system to develop. Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, Elliot Desnoyers, Sam Ersson and Ronnie Attard are still here to play alongside Bedard. It may not quite be the highest caliber of names like Gauthier and 7OA will more than likely be, but it’s not nothing.
In conclusion, it seems worth noting that this isn’t going to happen. There’s been no indication the Blackhawks are interested in moving the pick and it would take an ungodly haul for the Flyers to even hold a candle to its value. That being said- everyone has a price. The Flyers can craft a package that would far exceed the value of Bedard himself, it’s just a matter of whether A) The Blackhawks would even consider moving him or B) The Flyers would be willing to go that level of “all in” in the first place?
Chances are we’ll never see another trade of Eric Lindros’ enormity in the NHL ever again. But, in fantasy land, it’d be a hell of a swing for rookie GM Danny Briere. At the end of the day, they’d be losing more hopes and dreams of the potential of the assets versus any actual pain of the rostered players. 7OA, 22OA and Cutter Gauthier probably won’t play an NHL game for at least another year. For all we know they could all be relatively underwhelming busts. Farabee hasn’t even hit the 40-point mark once in his career, York seems to be a good player but maybe not great, and all the rumors lately have indicated Carter Hart may get dealt away this summer anyway, may as well make that trade count.
It’s a massive risk that could pay off in spades for the Flyers. There’s still quite a few young players and prospects both on the roster and in the system that would benefit from Bedard. The one piece the Flyers need more than anything is a bona fide, franchise-altering, dynamic top young center, and that’s exactly what Bedard is. The organization hasn’t seen this level of star power since… well… Eric Lindros. Maybe it’s time, almost 31 years to the day later, that history repeats itself.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: leaderpost.com / hockeyfeed.com
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