The “rebuilding” Philadelphia Flyers aren’t truly doing much rebuilding, in the traditional sense of the word.
They haven’t signed a notable free agent since Kevin Hayes in 2019. They haven’t made a notable trade in nearly a decade. The hoarding of draft picks with hit-or-miss development has been their lone strategy for roster change since Ron Hextall took over a decade ago, and it hasn’t exactly carried them to the promised land.
Choosing to run back the same roster in 2024-25 that underperformed in 2023-24 is having the consequences you’d expect and the pressure will be turned on high under Briere during the 2025 summer to make a drastic change to the organization’s direction. But with a weak free agent pool and a roster full of expensive, unattractive pieces, having an offseason where those blockbuster moves occur isn’t going to be easy.
But there have been some very interesting trade rumors as the 2024-25 season passes the quarter mark that should grab Danny Briere’s attention.
Marco Rossi
Rumors have come out of Minnesota that 23-year-old center Marco Rossi is on the trade block after reporter Michael Russo seemed to indicate there may be a bumpy relationship between the two sides and as a pending restricted free agent on the last year of his entry-level contract, someone the organization may not want to commit to long term.
For the Philadelphia Flyers, who are in full on crisis mode at center, it may as well be the clouds parting, angelic music playing and the hands of the hockey gods themselves coming down and pointing towards an oasis solution in what has been a barren desert of recent center markets.
Rossi is off to a hot start in Minnesota, scoring six goals and 17 points in his first 20 games, easily on pace to smash his previous career high of 21 goals and 40 points from last season. And as Russo noted, Rossi has been eager to fix aspects of his game, like his skating and overall conditioning as he battles back from a particularly difficult battle against Covid a few years ago.
For the Wild, Rossi starting the season with a near point-per-game pace could be a huge selling point if they want the best return, as the Flyers aren’t the only team desperate to add a center. If they put him on the block and sell to the highest bidder they may easily get more than the player is worth. It’s not great news for the stingy Flyers, but when you’re as backed into a corner as Briere is, negotiating isn’t going to be easy. Beggars can’t be choosers, as the saying goes.
And Rossi isn’t the only young player in the league that should be on the Flyers’ radar, they may get an opportunity to strengthen their defense corps once again.
David Jiricek
David Jiricek was the sixth overall pick in the 2022 draft has been a black sheep on the Columbus blue line since he made the North American jump three seasons ago. He’s played just 53 games in the NHL since the start of 2022-23 as the Blue Jackets haven’t seemed overly interested in working him into the main roster picture.
He has played just six games for the Blue Jackets in 2024-25, averaging 11:12 of ice time before being demoted to the AHL yet again. Jiricek has circled in trade rumors for much of the last calendar year since his short leash was first noticed.
Now, a right-handed defenseman isn’t necessarily at the top of the concern list for the Flyers, but it is a position that can be described as unnerving when it comes to their game plan. Jamie Drysdale and Oliver Bonk are the duo slated to hold down the right side for years to come, but Drysdale’s play has been suspect at best when he isn’t missing time with injury, and the soon-to-be 20-year-old Bonk hasn’t played a professional game yet, with his debut set for the 2025-26 season. He’s been posting points with the London Knights, but some prospect analysts are worried that he may not be fine tuning his defensive skills, leading to a rough transition to NHL ice, particularly with John Tortorella’s no-nonsense approach to both his rookie and defensemen in general.
Jiricek is 21 years old and still has one more year left on his entry-level contract.
Should the Flyers be Interested?
Plain and simple, the Flyers need some serious help on the main roster. Player movement in the modern day NHL is limited at best, especially the younger and more talented they are. It means when rumors like this emerge, the front office has to not only do their due diligence, but they need to be ready to put a competitive offer on the table. Maybe the rumors are nothing more than that, but it’s not going to look great for Briere, who’s working with limited options already, if he continues to sit on his thumb if either one of Rossi or Jiricek is actually traded.
Interestingly, there have been loose rumors connecting Joel Farabee to the Wild if he were to get dealt out of Philly. And Columbus has been a regular trade parter with the Flyers, so that line of communication should be open.
The Flyers are running out of options and they can’t continue to turn their noses up at everybody. Both players are young enough to fit the timeline of the rest of the younger players on the team and in short order, both could be bonafide top guys. These “rehab project” trade targets should be among the Flyers’ top priorities right now if there’s fire coming from all the smoke.
Positionally, jiricek is not as easy an accommodation as Rossi, but it may be worth the investment considering the right side of their defense is anything but a sure thing. If Jiricek gets dealt and blossoms somewhere else, and fast forward a few years in Flyerland and neither of Bonk or Drysdale are top guys, it’s going be be looked back on as a serious missed opportunity.
And Rossi would be the team’s top center by a country mile. He alone isn’t going to be enough, but it’s a better place to start that virtually anywhere else at the moment.
Danny Briere has yet to prove he can make a net-positive main roster trade, but his inactivity as GM has also put him in a situation where they may have no choice but to take a big swing on these young up-and-coming stars to balance out their shaky future. These trades won’t be easy, and certainly won’t be cheap, but it could very well be the difference between success on the horizon and another decade stuck in the mud.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
brotherlypuck.com 