DETROIT ― Detroit may be known for Motown, but on Saturday night, on national television, it was Motownphilly.
Coming off a dominating win against the Chicago Blackhawks at home, the Flyers went into Little Caesars Arena, continued the trend, and handed the Detroit Red Wings a 5-3 loss.
The Flyers have won two straight, five of their past six, and 11 of the 16 games since the Olympic break. “It’s long overdue, but now Philly is slammin’,” as Boyz II Men sing.
Philly now has 84 points and moved three points back of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who lost to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers have a game in hand on Columbus.
They are also four points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the three-seed in the Metropolitan Division and five points behind the New York Islanders for the two-seed, with a game in hand on Pittsburgh and two on New York. On Saturday, Pittsburgh lost to the Dallas Stars, and New York jumped into second with a win against the Florida Panthers.
Detroit almost staged a comeback in the final seven minutes of the game, with Mason Appleton scoring off a long dump-in, Alex DeBrincat taking a pass in the right circle and shooting it quickly, and Lucas Raymond curling and scoring from the left circle during a six-on-five.
But Sean Couturier iced it with a goal in his third straight game as he sent the puck into the empty net with just over two minutes to go.
“I loved our game for 55 minutes,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “Obviously, the five-on-six, a couple of things happened that we have to shore up. When the pressure hit us, we ran out of position, but that’s for another day. It’s a big win for us.”
Owen Tippett started things off just over four minutes into the game with his first of three goals. Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider tried to dangle through the neutral zone but had the puck slide off his stick thanks to pressure from Denver Barkey. It went right to Trevor Zegras, who sent the pass up to Tippett, and away the speedster went. He skated in, blowing past Simon Edvinsson and scoring five-hole on John Gibson.
In the second period, he extended the lead to 2-0 with another five-hole goal.
Barkey carried the puck through the neutral zone, pushing the Red Wings’ defense of Seider and Edvinsson back as he entered the zone. He dished it to Tippett on his left a few feet into the offensive zone and cut in front of Tippett as Edvinsson went down to one knee to try and block the shot. Instead, the puck went through the legs of Edvinsson and through Gibson.
“He did a really good job,” Tippett said of Barkey. “I don’t think I have that space if he doesn’t take the route he does and pick the guy he does. He does a great job wheeling it up the ice and grabbing middle and backing those two defenders off. … He opened up that ice for me the whole way.”
Later in the middle frame, the Flyers’ power play collected for the third time in 12 games and 35 opportunities.
Noah Cates won the offensive-zone faceoff, and the Flyers got to work. Eventually, Travis Konecny threw the puck on goal, and it deflected off Matvei Michkov sitting near the left post, off the pad of Gibson, and popped in front.
Cates, who was sitting on the right post, jammed it in for his seventh goal and 15 points in the 16 games since the Olympic break. He leads the Flyers in points during that stretch and has also hit a career high in goals with his 17th of the season.
The Red Wings and Flyers then traded goals; however, each was wiped away by a coach’s challenge for offside. Seider thought he scored on a power play with under two minutes to go in the second period to make it 3-1 — Tocchet gave credit to his video coach, Dylan Crawford, who told him it was one of the easier ones to call — and Christian Dvorak thought he made it 4-0 early in the third; however, Alex Bump went in a little too early.
But Tippett put the game away and completed the hat trick later in the final frame with a beauty of a power-play goal. He got the puck in the Flyers’ end, skated through the neutral zone, appeared to pass it to himself to get around Ben Chiarot, before going bar down to make it a 2-for-2 night with the man advantage for Philly.
Tippett has 27 goals on the season and 48 points — he added an assist on the Couturier goal — putting him one goal shy of his career high set in 2023-24. He has eight goals and 12 points in his past 11 games.
“He’s been an absolute game breaker for us,” said Jamie Drysdale, who had two assists and reached 100 career points. “He’s just someone that you do not want to go up against. You have to know where he is at all times on the ice, and even if you do, there’s a good chance he’s still going to burn you.”
And although he did give up three goals, Dan Vladař was once again masterful in net. In the first period, he stoned Patrick Kane, the holder of the record for the most points by a U.S.-born player in NHL history, with a left pad save off a cross-ice pass. Vladař stopped Justin Faulk and J.T. Compher on consecutive shots in the third period before the Red Wings tallied their three.
But he shut the door in the end, stopping a DeBrincat slap shot, a Dylan Larkin tip-in, and using the blocker to rob DeBrincat again after Couturier’s goal. Vladař made 30 saves and now has 24 wins on the season, almost doubling his previous career high of 14 set in 2022-23 with the Calgary Flames.
Breakaways
Defenseman Travis Sanheim made a big block on a one-timer by Raymond in the last minute of the second period during a Detroit power play. He went down in pain, stayed on until the horn, and then gingerly got off as his teammates came off the bench to check on him and tap him for the big play. Sanheim was back out there for the start of the third. … Michkov now has 39 points with six assists coming in his last six games. Konecny had two assists to give him 62 points in 68 games. … Gibson was pulled after Tippett’s third goal, and former Flyers goalie Cam Talbot entered the game. He made four saves. … Defenseman Noah Juulsen and forward Garrett Wilson were healthy scratches. They watched from the press box alongside forward Tyson Foerster, who participated in morning skate. … Defenseman Cam York played in his 300th NHL game. … Flyers prospects Porter Martone, Shane Vansaghi, and Michigan State lost to Wisconsin in the regional final on Saturday. The expectation is that Martone will sign his entry-level contract in the coming days and could make his NHL debut Tuesday in Washington, D.C. against the Capitals.
Up next
The Flyers get right back to it at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Sunday, when they host the Dallas Stars (7 p.m., NBCSP). The Stars have already clinched a playoff spot.
DETROIT ― While everyone waited with bated breath to see if there was one more move the Flyers were going to make at the buzzer of the NHL trade deadline, a tweet went out.
“Roster update: We have claimed forward Luke Glendening off waivers,” the post read.
It was a bit surprising, considering everyone was hoping for that 1C or 1D to find their way to Philly. Instead, the Flyers picked up a gritty veteran from the New Jersey Devils who can play wing and center.
The move may have appeared to be a minor one, but the 36-year-old has slotted in nicely on the fourth line with Sean Couturier and Garnet Hathaway, and on the penalty kill.
But what he has also brought is something that the Flyers were severely lacking. Entering the season, the Flyers’ five centers — Christian Dvorak, Trevor Zegras, Couturier, Noah Cates, and Rodrigo Ābols — are all left-handed. Glendening, who came to Philly with a career 55.6% winning percentage in the faceoff circle, is a righty.
“It really has added a lot to our team,” coach Rick Tocchet said of having a right-handed center whom Jon Cooper raved to him about. “Think, since I put that line together, they’re an identity line for us. But it’s also on the PK, having that right-handed shot — Coots all year has done a nice job [but] it’s hard to play both dots all the time — so it is a luxury.”
Having a righty is more important than most realize, especially in the defensive zone when the faceoff is in the right circle, which would be Couturier’s weak side, because his stick would line up angled to the net, not the boards. Teams would take advantage of that, especially on icings where the offensive team dictates the circle used; however, with Glendening, things are evened out.
“He’s a smart, reliable defensive player, really strong on faceoffs. Used to hate going against him in the draws; it was always a battle,” Couturier said. “Probably chopped your wrist off if you got too low. So it’s nice to have it on my side.”
Glendening has four points (one goal, three assists) and a 60% winning rate on faceoffs since joining the Flyers. He will suit up on Saturday for his eighth game with the Orange and Black in one of the biggest games of the season against the Detroit Red Wings (8 p.m., ABC) in an all-too-familiar place.
About 2½ hours northwest of Detroit in Grand Rapids, Glendening grew up playing hockey. He didn’t join the famous Little Caesars Hockey program, which has produced over 100 pros like former Flyers John Vanbiesbrouck, Mike Knuble, and Derian Hatcher.
Luke Glendening was acquired by the Flyers during the NHL trade deadline.
Instead, he played four years of hockey at East Grand Rapids High School and a year at The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. He spent four years at the University of Michigan, where he served as captain for two years and went to the national championship as a junior. (The Wolverines lost to Minnesota-Duluth, where Cates played, and “He’ll always have that over me,” the older Glendening joked, with the two teams meeting again in a regional final on Sunday.)
After playing three games with Providence of the American Hockey League on a tryout agreement once his college career was over, he signed a deal with his hometown Grand Rapids Griffins. Glendening spent most of the season in Michigan, but also suited up for 27 games with Toledo of the ECHL.
The next summer, he inked a deal with his childhood team, the Red Wings, and made his NHL debut, somewhat fittingly now in hindsight, against the Flyers.
“I think dream come true is probably overused, but for me, it really was,” he said. “I signed in the American League, played in the Coast [ECHL], and never thought that I was going to play in the NHL, and then to get a chance to play with my hometown team was really special.”
Glendening spent eight seasons with the Red Wings, even playing for his childhood favorite-turned-team-general-manager, Steve Yzerman, toward the end. He was with the Dallas Stars, who the Flyers see on Sunday at home (7 p.m., NBCSP) for two seasons, two seasons with Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Devils this season.
It’s always special for the Michigander to not just come back home — he’ll have a family contingent in the crowd — but to the first place he stepped onto the ice as an NHLer.
When you mention to him that he’s inching toward 1,000 NHL games, Glendening will humbly say he’s not really that close. But, if he plays the rest of the way this season and 65 the next, he’ll hit the milestone mark.
“I’ve just always found joy in the journey, I guess would be the best way to put it,” he said.
“It’s been a huge blessing to be around this league. There’s been many different stops along the way, and times when I didn’t know if it was going to continue, but just thankful for each and every day I get.”
Breakaways
Dan Vladař will start in goal for the Flyers. The expectation is that Sam Ersson will then tend the twine on Sunday against Dallas. Forward Tyson Foerster made the trip and participated in morning skate in a regular jersey. Per Tocchet, don’t read too much into it as morning skate prep work was not a contact-heavy skate.
The New York Sirens and Montreal Victoire of the PWHL played at 1 p.m. to a packed house at Little Caesars Arena.
Flyers management has long said that the players would dictate how the organization approached the NHL trade deadline and whether the Flyers would be sellers or buyers.
Well, when the clock struck 3 p.m. on yet another deadline for president Keith Jones and general manager Danny Brière, the Flyers were a seller of sorts as Bobby Brink was traded home to Minnesota, and Nic Deslauriers was moved to chase a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Moving Brink from a top-nine spot was necessary to create space on the wing, as the players in the system, notably Porter Martone and Alex Bump — Brière said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the latter gets called up before the end of the season, although reading the tea leaves, it could come sooner than later — are close to being NHL-ready.
But while they added David Jiříček as the return for Brink, and have Oliver Bonk, Spencer Gill, and Carter Amico in the system — all big, right-shot defensemen — Brière did not move his most exploitable trade piece, veteran right-shot defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
“You guys [the media] made a big story. I didn’t know I was trying to sell him,” Brière said on Friday after the deadline. “You guys made it sound like we were dumping Risto for next to nothing.
“Look, at the end of the day, Risto has a lot of value to our team. I wasn’t trying to dump Risto. I wasn’t trying to get rid of him. I think the media turned it into a little bit of a circus, to be honest. And that’s OK. I get it. It’s part of my job to deal with that. But the reality is, Risto is an important part of our defense.”
Unlike the winger position, Brière doesn’t think his defensemen-in-waiting are ready to slot into the top four and play the big minutes that Ristolainen has played; he played more than more than 27 minutes on Monday and 22 more on Thursday. “We need to protect them a little bit,” Brière said.
Sources have told The Inquirer that the Flyers wanted a first-round pick for Ristolainen, the physical defenseman who just had an impressive run for the bronze-medal-winning Finnish squad at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics and has been a standout since.
But while several teams did check in on the 6-foot-4 blueliner with term (he has one more year on his contract), no one matched the Flyers’ ask. And Brière would not confirm if a first-round pick was ever on the table, stating, “All I can tell you is, the value wasn’t as high as we needed for us to move forward.”
“I did get a lot of calls, and we took them seriously,” he added. “We went through all the teams that were serious, but at the end of the day, it just did not make sense value-wise. … We listened, but it made more sense to have Risto with us.”
Here are three other questions the general manager addressed.
Why did the Flyers want Jiříček?
The Flyers were in the mix to get the 6-4, 204-pound defenseman when the Columbus Blue Jackets were shopping him a year and a half ago. And Brière was a bit shocked he was available now, but Minnesota recently added Quinn Hughes, which changed the Czech native’s outlook in the State of Hockey.
Although he hasn’t had the track many expected when the 22-year-old was drafted one slot after Cutter Gauthier in 2022, the Flyers see high potential in Jiříček. Patience was asked by Brière, and while he is a different style of player from Jamie Drysdale, the GM sees similarities when it comes to their development arc.
“They both came in at 18 years old, probably a little too early to turn pro yet,” he said. “They go through some ups and downs, probably lose their confidence along the way. So he’s going to need some love. He’s going to need some reps. Especially, he needs time. He needs to play a lot of minutes and build his confidence.”
Jiříček will head to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League to start. The GM said he didn’t make any promises but said that at some point, if they have a chance, they’d like to give him a look with the big club. Jiříček has played 84 NHL games across four seasons with Columbus and Minnesota.
Why did the Flyers not trade for a center?
Another season and trade deadline came and went, and the Flyers are still without a No. 1 center. Sure, these types of players do not grow on trees, and yes, several who were expected to be available as free agents this summer have since signed extensions.
But if the Flyers want to take the next step, they need to upgrade down the middle.
“A few of the high-end centers that were in the trade market, or their name, we checked on that,” Brière said. “We had some discussions right now. It’s been tabled to closer to the draft [and then] we’ll look back into that. But we looked into it.
“We are aware; we know that it’s an area we’d like to improve. It’s all about timing, value, and when is the best time that you can get the best value for it. But, yeah, we’re aware. We’ve never hid from the fact that we’d like to improve that position.”
So the door isn’t shut, and there is some expectation that the Flyers could be busy around the draft. As Brière reiterated on Friday, it took almost two years to acquire Trevor Zegras.
Speaking of Zegras, he came to Philly excited for the opportunity to play center again, but has primarily played on the wing. The door isn’t closed on him pivoting, but it’s not as wide-open as before.
“He’s been at his best when he played the wing this year — that’s just the reality. I wish I could say the opposite,” Brière said. “I wish I could say he’s much better when he plays center, but the reality is, he’s been at his best when he plays with [Travis Konecny] and [Christian] Dvorak. So, that line has been our best line for a while now, so that’s why … when I mentioned the wingers, that [I] put his name on there, because he’s been mostly on the wing.”
What does the future now hold for the Flyers?
With the Flyers selling, the writing is all but permanently inked on the wall that they will miss the postseason for the sixth straight season. They entered Friday six points back of the Boston Bruins for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and eight points back of the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins for second and third in the Metropolitan Division.
“I think what’s unfortunate about the trade deadline is the moment you start trading players away, is the realization that, unfortunately, you’ve missed your goal in a sense,” forward Garnet Hathaway told The Inquirer on Friday. “In no way am I saying that we’re not in a position to get in, but it changes things. But we were in a spot that we put ourselves in, and I think that’s what’s frustrating, and it kind of adds on to the fact that you’re sending friends, teammates to a different organization.”
The Flyers decided to keep defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen at the trade deadline.
So what happens now?
In the short term, the general manager wants to see his team continue to play the right way, stay competitive, and play hard. Long-term, the Flyers are still a work in progress, and “the plan never changed as far as looking for the future.”
Brière thinks the difference now is that the Flyers can change that.
“Three years ago, we almost had nothing to work with as far as good young players coming,” Brière said. “So it wasn’t enticing for other teams to trade guys to us, but more and more, the way our young guys are coming along and a lot of centers, those are always a lot of value.
“We have more and more assets that are going to hopefully give us the chance to get in on a player. Or sometimes one of those players [in the organization already] is going to come and take it, kind of like [Denver] Barkey did this year.”
News and notes
Barkey and defenseman Adam Ginning were sent down to the Phantoms before 3 p.m. to make them eligible to compete in the Calder Cup playoffs. According to the AHL transactions page, Barkey has already been recalled. The new collective bargaining agreement says players must play one AHL game before being recalled but there is an exception on deadline day.
Brière said they weren’t trying to trade Deslauriers, “but if you want to have the chance to go chase a Cup, we would give you that opportunity.” Deslauriers was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2027.
Veteran forward Luke Glendening, 36, was picked up on waivers from the New Jersey Devils to stabilize the fourth line and win face-offs. He has a 55.6% career winning percentage in the circle.
Tyson Foerster is on track with his rehab after surgery to repair an upper-body injury (Brière would not disclose what the injury was). The winger has started skating and shooting pucks, and the GM said, “I know he’s going to start knocking on my door soon to get back in the lineup.” But he is not expected to play again this season unless the Flyers make the postseason.
Defenseman Nick Seeler is day to day with a lower-body injury and is not expected to play on Saturday against the Penguins (5:30 p.m., NBCSP).
The Flyers are officially in the trade column, as they started to unclog their logjam on the wing by trading Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček on Friday.
Although Rasmus Ristolainen, who ultimately was not moved, was the biggest name in play for the Flyers, many felt Brink could be moved ahead of the 3 p.m. trade deadline. Brink, who will be a restricted free agent at season’s end, also will relish the destination as he is a native of Minnetonka, Minn.
“He’s helped me a ton with my game, [and] hopefully he can say the same about me,” linemate Noah Cates said after the team’s practice in Voorhees. “Both being from Minnesota, there’s a lot of good things; it’s sad, but obviously happy. He’s going back home and going to a really good team.
“But definitely a shock, and still processing it. This still doesn’t feel too real. So, obviously, just a great kid, and [he] means a lot to me. So, hoping nothing but the best for him.”
Can confirm the reports, Bobby Brink is heading home to Minnesota. Heard this was a possibility yesterday. Defenseman David Jiricek is coming back in the deal.
The 24-year-old winger, who was a second-round pick in 2019, has 13 goals and 26 points in 55 games this season, and is on pace for a career-high 17 goals. Brink, who developed chemistry and increased his all-around effectiveness on a third line with Cates and Tyson Foerster the past few seasons, tallied 36 goals and 94 points in 201 career games with the Flyers.
It was quite a spell in Philly for Brink, who went from John Tortorella’s doghouse — the coach said two years ago that Brink couldn’t spell “check” and, interestingly enough, scratched him for what would have been his first game in Minnesota — to someone he relied on heavily.
“He’s come a long way,” captain Sean Couturier said in October. “We’ve always seen his offensive skills and his ability to make plays and create offense, but the defensive side and the reliability of him have really improved. Feels like he’s a complete player, can play in all situations, and he’s going on a nightly basis against top lines. So, credit to him for developing that side of the game.”
Cates did not see Brink before he left for Las Vegas, where the Wild play on Friday night, and hadn’t sent him a text just yet. But he will be seeing him on Thursday, when the Flyers are in Minnesota (8 p.m., NBCSP).
“He went through some tough times with Torts and being a younger player, smaller player, skilled player. And he really helped me,” Cates said. “And I think our games kind of meshed well together and found some good chemistry. … He grew a ton. And credit to him. He’s seen as a critical piece to the Wild that they want and for them to go on a playoff run. So, obviously, an awesome kid, and we’re going to miss him.”
Once known for his shot and overall offensive skills, David Jiříček has yet to fire at the NHL level.
Coming back the other way is the intriguing Jiříček, who will be joining a third team since being selected sixth overall — one pick after the Flyers selected Cutter Gauthier — in the 2022 NHL draft. The 6-foot-4, 204-pound blueliner has split time this season between Minnesota and its American Hockey League affiliate in Iowa and has no points in 25 NHL games and two goals and 10 points in 24 AHL contests.
Still just 22, Jiříček has yet to deliver on the promise that made him such a highly touted prospect in his draft year. Blessed with great range, puck skills, and a bomb of a shot, Jiříček’s combination of size, offensive ability, and edge has yet to translate since he moved over to North America.
The Flyers, who were known admirers of Jiříček in his draft year, still obviously believe he’s a worthy reclamation project, given his age and toolbox. With the Flyers likely to entertain trades this summer for Ristolainen, Jiříček, although a different player, could fill the size void and could be viewed as an heir apparent. The Flyers announced that Jiříček will report to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL to start.
The questions with Jiříček largely center on his foot speed and clunky skating. Alongside his injury history, they was the other concerns entering his draft and have only been magnified since he turned pro. He struggles to catch up when forwards get around him, and his decision-making often has gotten him in trouble in the NHL. He has bona fide power-play traits, but has yet to receive those opportunities.
It is worth noting that the Flyers are buying low on Jiříček, as Minnesota traded defenseman Daemon Hunt plus first-, second-, third- and fourth-round picks for Jiříček just 16 months ago.
Flyers make minor league swap
Forwards Massimo Rizzo and Alexis Gendron are shipping up to Boston in a swap with the Bruins that sees forward Brett Harrison and defenseman Jackson Edward heading to Philly. They will report to Lehigh Valley.
A native of London, Ontario, Harrison was a third-round pick by the Bruins in 2021 and has 19 goals and 49 points in 140 games across four seasons with the Providence Bruins. The 6-foot-3, 201-pound 22-year-old is having a career year with eight goals in 46 games and tied his career high of 17 points set last season.
Edward has spent most of the season with Maine of the ECHL, producing seven assists in 21 games. A native of Newmarket, Ontario, he was teammates with Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey, the latter of whom also hails from Newmarket, with London of the Ontario Hockey League. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound blueliner was a seventh-round pick of the Bruins in 2022 and brings a physical game to the ice. The Elite Prospects draft guide said Edward is “violent, and he uses that violence to emphatically kill plays at the blue line and end the cycle.”
The NHL trade deadline passed at 3 p.m., but Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who appeared to be player most likely to be dealt, remains with the team.
Tyson Foerster hasn’t played since injuring his arm back in December, but GM Danny Brière said Friday that if the Flyers made the playoffs, the winger would be on track to return following surgery.
“Tyson is doing really well,” Brière said. “I think when we announced he had the surgery that he was going to be out until the playoffs, or somewhere [around] the beginning of the playoffs. He’s pretty much on pace. It would be nice if we could get in the playoff hunt, but so far it’s going well.
“He’s starting to skate and shoot pucks. It’s trending in the right direction. I know he’s going to start knocking on my door soon to get back in the lineup early, he’s just that type of person. He’s going to push to get back earlier, but it’s exciting.”
Sielski: Acquiring David Jiříček is worth the risk
David Jiříček is just 22 years old.
With one trade Friday morning, the Flyers got more interesting. Not immediately. They’re still likely to miss the playoffs this season, which would be the sixth in a row that they’ve failed to qualify for the postseason. For all that time and longer, they’ve been the NHL’s version of late-career Martin Scorsese: Back in the day, they were great and fascinating, and now they’re one suspenseless snoozefest after another. (Seriously, has Killers of the Flower Moon ended yet?)
Their decision to send winger Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček was an eyebrow-raiser, though. The move in and of itself wasn’t all that surprising, in that the Flyers have a surplus of wingers both on their roster and in their farm system. They were bound to say goodbye to one of them at this trade deadline, and Brink was a prime candidate: At 24, he’s a relatively promising player on a cap-friendly contract.
No, the intrigue of the Brink trade comes from its context. It’s the latest thread in a larger pattern that general manager Danny Brière and team president Keith Jones have been weaving since they took control of the Flyers’ player-personnel department in 2023. Rather than having the team bottom out over a full season or two and ending up with a pick or picks that are at worst among the top five in their drafts, the Flyers are taking risks, some more calculated than others, by acquiring young players who were high draft picks for other clubs.
Flyers lost a ‘great teammate’ and a ‘heart and soul guy’ in Nic Deslauriers
Former Flyer Nic Deslauriers never backed down from a fight.
While the return for Nic Deslauriers isn’t much — a conditional seventh-round draft pick — the move was more about the organization doing right by a popular veteran who seemed to want a change of scenery and a chance to chase a Stanley Cup, which he certainly will get with the Metropolitan-leading Carolina Hurricanes.
“A great teammate, a great protector for our guys the last few years,” Danny Brière said of Deslauriers. “We had a discussion, him and I, Nic wasn’t looking to leave, he loves it here, I think he even said his family is not going anywhere, they’re staying in the area. But he said if you need to trade me, I’m open to it, I don’t have a problem. I said, look, we’re not trying to trade you, but if you want to have the chance to go chase a Cup, I’ll give you that opportunity.
“I had a chat with Carolina, they were interested, and Nic was interested as well. It was one of those things, Nic has earned that right, for everything that he’s done for his teammates, for our players, our organization, [I] thought it was the right thing to do for him.”
And those now-former teammates are glad to see Deslauriers get a chance to contend for a Cup.
“I’m happy for him. I think he still has gas in the tank, too,” forward Garnet Hathaway told The Inquirer on Friday after the Flyers’ practice, which Deslauriers participated in. “I see it every day. I see the work ethic, I see how much he cares, and I see the teammate he is. So Carolina has got a great player [and a ] great guy.”
Deslauriers’ time in Philly will be defined by his willingness to stand up for his teammates and take on all comers. Long one of the most feared and toughest customers in the league, the fourth-line winger managed nine goals and 20 points in 195 games with the Orange and Black. He also had 33 regular-season fights, including spirited bouts against heavyweights like Matt Rempe, Ryan Reaves, and Tanner Jeannot.
“One of the toughest guys in the league around. So we’ll definitely miss him,” center Noah Cates said.
He was also beloved by his teammates for his selflessness, toughness, leadership, and the space he created for teammates with his physicality. Whether Deslauriers will have a nightly spot in Carolina’s lineup remains to be seen, but he does bring a physicality and toughness that many have criticized the Hurricanes for lacking in recent playoff runs.
“A heart and soul guy who has your back no matter what, competes every night, and is a guy, regardless of how many minutes or how many games or how things are going, you know he’ll be a guy to support you, and will always be around to help too,” said Hathaway, who laughed when asked if he’s happy the Flyers don’t play the Hurricanes again this year.
“It’s probably tougher than most people think, to be so competitive, as I think all of us are in this league, and not have the role you want, or the ice time you want.
“And so be able to have that role, and personality-wise, not let it affect you, is special for a locker room to have and intricate for it to have, too. So I’m going to miss him.”
Briere believes Flyers have assets to go after top center in offseason
One of the things the Flyers need is a bonafide No. 1 center. They haven’t found one through the draft — but with the way some of their other young players are developing, Danny Brière believes the team may be close to having the assets to acquire one in the offseason.
“It’s all about value, and also your draft picks. As they get closer, you draft players, you get to know them, they become — they have more and more value,” Brière said. “It’s tougher to let them go, but at the same time, we have a lot of good young players who are coming. We have more and more assets. Three years ago, we almost had noithing to work with in terms of good young players coming, so it wasn’t enticing to other teams to trade young guys to us.
“But more and more with the way our young guys are coming along, and a lot of centers, those are always a lot of value, we have more and more assets. It’s going to hopefully get us a chance to get in on a player, or sometimes one of those players is just going to come and take it, like [Denver] Barkey did this year, surprised us a little bit. There’s going to be opportunities for our young guys to do that as well.”
Brière sees high potential with Jiříček, likens development to that of Jamie Drysdale
Jamie Drysdale, like Jiříček, entered the NHL at 18 years old.
Despite trading away an NHL player to acquire him, the Flyers announced that new defenseman David Jiříček will report to Lehigh Valley. The former top-10 draft pick hasn’t quite developed as quickly as some hoped — as evidenced by him joining his third team in the last four years — but general manager Danny Brière was optimistic that the 22-year-old defenseman will make an impact with the big club at some point.
Why? He pointed to the team’s development of another reclamation project: Jamie Drysdale.
“I think a little bit about Jamie Drysdale, totally different style of players, but I think about the development of Jamie Drysdale, where they both came in [to the NHL] at 18 years old, probably a bit too early to turn pro yet, go through some ups and downs, probably lose their confidence along the way,” Brière said. “He’s going to need some love, he’s going to need some reps, especially. He needs time, he needs to play a lot of minutes and build his confidence. The talent is there, it’s working with him.
“Defenseman, it seems, they need time. We saw it with Jamie, to see him kind of come into his own this year is really exciting, but we went through a learning curve with Jamie. I expect the same thing with David, we’re going to give him the chance to build his game, we’re going to work with him, I really like what Todd Reirden and Rick Tocchet’s staff has done with a lot of our young guys, especially Jamie, and I hope the same kind of wave can be on for David.”
As for whether or not he can make an impact this season, Brière said that remains to be seen. More important, he explained, is making sure Jiříček is ready to roll next season.
“I didn’t make him any promises [about NHL playing time], but yeah, at some point, if we have the chance I’d like to give him a look, give him a few games,” Brière added. “The most important, we felt, is for him to start in Lehigh, give him high minutes and lots of reps, and if things go well, I’d like to see him play a few games here, and get him ready for next season would be the ideal part.”
Once he does make the jump back to the NHL, the team thinks he could play a key role, especially if he’s able to return to the top-4 defenseman potential the Flyers saw when they considered drafting him with the fifth pick.
“The potential is high,” Briere said. “Yeah, he hasn’t maybe come out of his draft year as high as people expected, and look, that’s why he’s available as well. If he was playing like Matthew Schaefer we wouldn’t be talking about him. But we still see a high potential. You know, 21-22 year old, 6-foot-4 defensemen of his caliber are tough to find. We know we have to work with him, we need to be patient, we need to give him a bit of rope to develop him, but that’s why I go back to the Jamie Drysdale learning curve. [It] gives us hope that he can get on the same track and eventually become a difference maker for us.”
David Jiříček will hope the third home is a charm as he joins the Flyers after stops in Columbus and Minnesota.
It’s no secret that the Flyers have previously shown interest in defenseman David Jiříček, whom they acquired Friday for Bobby Brink. Chuck Fletcher nearly drafted him over Cutter Gauthier with the fifth pick in 2022. Then, last deadline, they were reported to be one of the teams interested in him when he was traded from Columbus to Minnesota.
“We inquired about him, we were in the mix before, when he was traded to Minnesota we were very interested,” GM Danny Brière admitted during his post-deadline press conference. “I didn’t think he was going to be available, all of a sudden we started talking to Minnesota, they liked Bobby, he’s from there too, so there’s something special. They knew Bobby very well because of him being from Minnesota, and all of a sudden the conversation turned to that.
“They paid a huge price for David when they acquired him — I think he was supposed to be part of their future, and then all of a sudden, they resigned [Kirill] Kaprizov, traded for Quinn Hughes, and everything opens up for them and they become contenders this year.
“David was a piece for them, because they thought he was not ready to play a big, heavy role that we just talked about yet, so he became a piece they could use to acquire someone who could help them. That’s kind of how it came around, and the price was reasonable at this point since we had so many wingers.”
Why did the Flyers keep Ristolainen? Brière explains.
The Flyers are keeping defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was considered to be the Flyer most likely on the move ahead of Friday’s deadline, but when the deadline passed, he was still with the team.
After practice, GM Danny Brière explained why the team stuck by their reportedly high asking price and ultimately didn’t move him.
“You guys made a big story, I didn’t know I was trying to sell him, but you guys made it sound like we were dumping Risto for next to nothing,” Briere said. “At the end of the day, Risto has a lot of value to our team. I wasn’t trying to dump Risto. I wasn’t trying to get rid of him. I think the media turned it into a little bit of a circus to be honest, and that’s OK. I get it’s part of the job, part of my job to deal with that.
“But the reality is, Risto is an important part of our defense. He’s still under contract next season, so we weren’t looking to dump him. Where do you find 6-foot-4, physical, top-4, right-shot defenseman? There’s not a lot [of them]. We saw it on the market, and when that came out, we did get a lot of calls. We took them seriously, and we went through all the teams that were serious, but at the end of the day it just did not make sense value-wise. There’s nothing that made more sense to trade him.
“Risto’s an important leader in our room. I can promise you that our guys prefer having him on their side than playing against him. He’s the type of defenseman that brings guys to the fight, he runs around, he hits guys, he pisses off the opponents, there’s a lot of value to that. At the end of the day, it made more sense, we listened, but it made more sense to have Risto with us.”
When asked if a first-round pick was ever on the table, Brière declined to comment, only saying that “the value wasn’t as high as we needed for us moving forward.”
As for whether or not keeping the 31-year-old blue-liner, who could still be dealt around the NHL draft in June, creates a logjam for the organization’s defensive prospects, Briere said they’ll worry about that when the time comes.
“When they’re ready, we’re going to make room for them, a little bit like the Bobby Brink trade,” he said, referring to the team’s other log jam at left wing. “We feel like guys are almost there and we’re trying to make a little bit of room. It’s the same thing, I can’t say that David [Jiříček] and Oliver Bonk are ready to come in today, especially in a top-4 position. It’s one thing to come in and play in a bottom pairing as they start, but they haven’t even done that yet. I think they need a little bit more time, and we need to protect them a little bit. You ask those two guys to come in and play — Risto’s playing top pairing with Sanheim right now. I don’t think it would be fair to ask David or Oliver to come in and play those minutes yet.
“We hope that at one point it comes to that, but I don’t think they’re ready for that role yet. Risto has shown since he’s come back that he can handle those minutes, he’s shown at the Olympics as well how valuable he can be for a team. We hope they get there, but we want to protect them.”
Danny Brière on Bobby Brink trade: ‘Not an easy one’
Flyers GM Danny Brière made a couple of moves ahead of Friday’s deadline.
Following the passing of the NHL trade deadline, Flyers general manager Danny Briere spoke to reporters at the team’s practice facility in Vorhees.
Here are this thoughts on the biggest deal the Flyers actually made on deadline day, trading Bobby Brink to Minnesota for defenseman David Jiříček …
“Not an easy one. I was part of the development staff when Bobby came along. We had some long discussions about his future and his career, so having been part of that, and seeing him blossom into the player he has become, selfishly there’s a lot of pride in that, so he wasn’t an easy one to let go of,” Briere said. “But when you look at the way our team is coming along, you look at the depth that we’re building on the wings — [Travis] Konecny, [Matvei] Michkov, [Owen] Tippett, [Trevor] Zegras; Tyson [Foerster], who’s going to come back next season; [Porter] Martone that’s getting close; [Denver] Barkey, who surprised us this year in how well he’s played; you have Alex Bump; and then other guys behind that who are also pushing.
“It’s tough, at some point we were going to have to make a change or trade some wingers for other positions. When that came in yesterday, we started thinking it’s a chance to add a big, young, strong defenseman like David, we felt that’s a good opportunity to look toward the future and add another hopefully big piece down the road to our D-core, adding the size.”
Right wing Bobby Brink (right) celebrates a goal with former teammate Noah Cates. Brink was traded to Minnesota on Friday.
Bobby Brink’s former linemate Noah Cates discussed the departure of the winger, who was traded to the Wild on Friday, after the team’s practice in Vorhees.
“He’s helped me a ton with my game [and] hopefully he can say the same about me. Both being from Minnesota, there’s a lot of good things; it’s sad, but obviously happy, he’s going back home and going to a really good team. But definitely a shock, and still processing it. This still doesn’t feel too real. So, obviously, just a great kid, and [he] means a lot to me. So, hoping nothing but the best for him.”
Cates did not see Brink before he left for Las Vegas, where the Wild play on Friday night, and hadn’t sent him a text just yet. But he will be seeing him next Thursday, when the Flyers are in Minnesota (8 p.m., NBCSP).
“He went through some tough times with Torts and being a younger player, smaller player, skilled player. And he really helped me,” Cates said. “And I think our games kind of meshed well together and found some good chemistry. … He grew a ton. And credit to him. He’s seen as a critical piece to the Wild that they want, and for them to go on a playoff run. So obviously, an awesome kid, and we’re going to miss him.”
The team’s captain, Sean Couturier, also saw considerable growth from Brink during his time with the Flyers.
“He’s come a long way,” Couturier said back in October. “We’ve always seen his offensive skills and his ability to make plays and create offense, but the defensive side and the reliability of him have really improved. Feels like he’s a complete player, can play in all situations, and he’s going on a nightly basis against top lines. So, credit to him for developing that side of the game.”
A year after the Flyers traded Scott Laughton to the Maple Leafs, the forward is on the move again. According to Elliotte Friedman, Toronto is sending Laughton to the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round draft pick. That pick can become a second-rounder if the Kings make the playoffs, according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was not moved at the deadline as the team couldn’t find someone to match their asking price.
It’s after 3 p.m., and Rasmus Ristolainen is still a Flyer. The team elected to hold onto the right-handed defenseman at the deadline, after it was reported that no team met the high price the Flyers were looking for in a deal, which was reportedly at least a first round pick and a prospect. This is the third straight year that Ristolainen has been the subject of trade talks, and the third time the team opted not to move him.
Ristolainen still has one more year on his contract at an affordable $5.1 million a season, and could be a trade piece in the offseason or at next year’s deadline. He played in 24 games this year and has been regularly hurt during his five-season tenure with the Flyers, including an upper body injury that sidelined him for the first 31 games this season.
General manager Danny Brière will speak shortly on the deadline and why the team decided to hang on to Ristolainen.
While some deals could trickle in in the next few minutes — assuming they were made before 3 p.m. — it appears the Flyers are done for the day.
Gone are Bobby Brink and Nic Deslauriers, while the Flyers added David Jiricek and a conditional seventh-round pick. The Flyers also traded minor leaguers Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo for Bruins minor leaguers Brett Harrison and Jackson Edward, and reportedly picked up forward Luke Glendening off waivers from the Devils.
With Bobby Brink and Nic Deslauriers both on the way out at the trade deadline, the Flyers reportedly picked up forward Luke Glendening off waivers from the Devils.
Glendening is a 36-year-old center known for being elite at the face-off dot, with a career 55.5% win percentage, and good on the penalty kill. He’s a depth center option for the fourth line, which as of late has been centered by winger Carl Grundstrom.
The Flyers have dealt Nic Deslauriers to the Carolina Hurricanes ahead of the deadline for a conditional pick.
Can confirm the reports, #Flyers forward Nic Deslauriers has been traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for a conditional pick. As Deslauriers told me the other day, he thinks he still has some gas in the tank.https://t.co/3T9dl2YaeZ
Just 16 months ago, the Wild traded a player and four draft picks (one from each of the first four rounds) to the Blue Jackets for David Jiříček.
While David Jiříček is the newest Flyer, the defenseman is a familiar figure to many holdovers from the Chuck Fletcher era that remain in the Flyers’ front office, including general manager Danny Brière and assistant GM and head of scouting Brent Flahr.
Why? The Flyers were high on Jiříček entering the 2022 NHL draft, with many believing that the decision at Pick No. 5 ultimately came down to Cutter Gauthier and Jiříček, with the Flyers selecting Gauthier and Jiříček going a pick later to Columbus. Fast forward nearly four years and the roles are reversed, as Gauthier is gone and Jiříček is a Flyer.
There were also reports that the Flyers kicked the tires on acquiring Jiříček in 2024 when he was traded to Minnesota for a massive haul that included defenseman Daemon Hunt and first-, second-, third-, and fourth-round picks. While some more of the luster has worn off Jiříček now that he’s flopped with a second organization, from an assets management standpoint, the Flyers acquiring him for just Brink seems like a win considering what he cost the Wild just 16 months ago.
The Flyers are big on reclamation projects — Owen Tippett, Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale — and they obviously believe Jiříček, 22, has the offensive tools to still reach his potential as a top-four NHL defenseman.
Nick Sirianni doppelganger, Nick Foligno, is on the move
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, left, and Chicago Blackhawks left wing Nick Foligno, right, look so similar that they went as each other for Halloween.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is staying put, but Nick Foligno, the man who dressed like the Eagles coach for Halloween — and who Sirianni returned the favor by dressing like during his own trick or treating — is headed to a new city.
NEWS: The Blackhawks have traded forward Nick Foligno to the Wild, a source tells The Athletic.
“I had a good laugh,” Foligno said of his reaction to seeing the Eagles coach dressed as him. “He was a great sport about it. I give him credit, especially in the Philly sports market, to rip a Chicago Blackhawks [jersey]. But I think it shows his personality. He gained a lot of points in my eyes just for the fun of it.”
Foligno was scheduled to come to Philly later this month with the Blackhawks and hoped to meet Sirianni in person. While the Flyers head to Minnesota next week, the Wild aren’t scheduled to play in Philly again this season. So it appears a meeting of between the two Nicks will have to wait.
The Flyers traded minor leaguers Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo for Brett Harrison and Jackson Edward from the Bruins. Harrison was a third-round pick in 2021, and spent most of his career with the Providence Bruins. Edward was drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 draft, and has bounced between the ECHL Maine Mariners and Providence.
Gendron has spent three seasons playing with Lehigh Valley, and Rizzo, who was acquired from Carolina in 2023, has played for both Lehigh and the ECHL Reading Royals.
TRADE ALERT: We’ve acquired forward Brett Harrison & defenseman Jackson Edward from the Boston Bruins in exchange for forwards Alexis Gendron & Massimo Rizzo.
The Flyers traded right wing Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild on Friday.
The Flyers traded Bobby Brink to Minnesota in exchange for defenseman David Jiříček, swinging a middle-six winger for a high-upside defenseman who hasn’t found his footing yet in the NHL. So, who actually won the trade?
For a team with a glut of winger prospects coming up — most notably last year’s No. 6 overall pick Porter Martone — Brink became expendable to acquire players in positions of weakness, like defense. At this stage, Jiříček is more of a reclamation project than a top prospect, but the Flyers swung on Trevor Zegras and he’s bounced back into an elite player. Could the same happen with Jiříček?
Here’s what a few hockey analysts had to say about Jiříček and the deal …
David Jiricek, acquired by PHI, is a developing offensive defenceman. Legit puck skill but defensive awareness, risk management, and especially skating have held him back from carving out more than a sheltered depth role. pic.twitter.com/4m2D09wet7
Love this trade for Minnesota. Bobby Brink is a sneaky good add that fits their ever-present defensive identity. Not a Jiricek believer pic.twitter.com/F7rN0GDf9S
David Jiricek, acquired by the Flyers, was my third-ranked Wild prospect in my upcoming pool rankings.
He's a big right-shot D with a big point shot and a desire to play a commanding game, but bad feet and inconsistent reads have limited his ability to do it at the NHL level.
Meanwhile, Erik Johnson, who spent parts of the past two seasons with the Flyers before retiring and joining ESPN as an analyst, thinks the Wild made out in the deal to acquire the Minnesota native.
Great move by the Wild. I played with Bobby and he is underrated. Defensive game has improved a ton. Can trust him on both ends of the rink. Great kid.
The Flyers acquired Minnesota Wild defenseman David Jiricek ahead of the trade deadline.
The Flyers have traded Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček. So who did they get back?
Jiříček was drafted sixth overall in the 2022 NHL draft by Columbus, but has struggled to stick in the NHL. He was traded to Minnesota in November 2024. In 2025-26, he has played 25 games with the Wild, scoring no points, and 24 games with the AHL Iowa Wild, with two goals and eight assists.
During his draft year, Jiříček, a righty, was praised for his offensive skills, especially his hard shot, but he’s struggled to establish those tools at the NHL level.
The Flyers are officially in the trade column, as the team started to unclog its logjam on the wing by trading Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček, a source confirmed to The Inquirer on Friday morning.
While Rasmus Ristolainen was the biggest name in play for the Flyers heading into Friday, Brink was another player that many felt could be moved ahead of the 3 p.m. trade deadline. Brink, who was set to be a restricted free agent at season’s end, will also relish the destination as he is a native of Minnetonka, Minn.
The 24-year-old winger, who was a second-round pick in 2019, has 13 goals and 26 points in 55 games this season, and was on pace for a career-high 17 goals. Brink, who really developed chemistry and increased his all-around effectiveness on a third line with Noah Cates and Tyson Foerster the past few seasons, tallied 36 goals and 94 points in 201 career games with the Orange and Black.
Nic Deslauriers has been a good soldier since signing a four-year, $7 million deal in July or 2022. One of the league’s toughest and most feared customers, the 35-year-old has played a hard and physical game and has fought 33 times as a Flyer, many of which were in defense of or to stand up for fallen teammates.
The Flyers could look to do right by the popular veteran and trade him to a team where he can get more ice time and play a regular role. Deslauriers, who has only played in 24 of the Flyers’ 61 games this season, would be a particularly good fit for a team looking for someone to protect their youngsters and help mentor them off the ice.
Deslauriers told Jackie Spiegel recently he still thinks “I have some in the gas tank” and hopes to play a few more years. But with the Flyers upgrading American Hockey League tough guy Garrett Wilson’s contract to an NHL one on Thursday, it looks like his time with the Flyers is coming to an end.
Was Thursday night’s loss to the Mammoth the final game in a Flyers jersey for defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen?
The list of potential landing spots for Rasmus Ristolainen, the Flyers’ rugged right-shot defenseman, shrunk overnight. With Buffalo adding a pair of big blueliners in Logan Stanley and righty Luke Schenn, and Anaheim making a surprising move for veteran righty John Carlson, you can cross two more potential suitors off the list. This came after Dallas, Edmonton, and Utah, three other clubs that had been linked with Ristolainen, made moves for defensemen in recent days.
Detroit and Boston now seem to be the two most likely trade partners for Danny Brière. The Red Wings and Bruins are both well-stocked when it comes to future first-round picks and young centers and defensemen. Detroit center prospect Nate Danielson would be an intriguing name for the Flyers, as would 6-foot-7, 230-pound Bruins pivot Dean Letourneau. The Bruins, who have four first-rounders over the next two years, are also dangling 21-year-old center Matthew Poitras and 25-year-old offensive defenseman Mason Lohrei in potential trades.
The Flyers are still holding out for a first-rounder plus an A- or B-level prospect in return for the Finnish defenseman. Ristolainen, 31, has one more year remaining on his contract and carries a $5.1 million cap hit. The Flyers could offer to retain 50% of Ristolainen’s deal to sweeten the pot as well.
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen could be on the move ahead of the trade deadline.
It’s deadline day.
The Flyers, six points out of the last wild card spot, are expected to be sellers, and the loudest rumors have surrounded defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who has another year on his contract at $5.1 million after this one. That extra year could keep him in Philadelphia past the deadline if Danny Brière doesn’t get the offer he wants.
“I can’t really control that,” Ristolainen said after Thursday’s loss to the Mammoth. “I just try to come in here every day, and obviously tomorrow, we’ll see what happens.”
The d-market has been moving in the lead-up to 3 p.m., with the Capitals trading John Carlson to Anaheim in the dead of night for a conditional first-round pick. The Sabres acquired Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn after striking out with Colton Parayko, and the Stars acquired Tyler Myers earlier in the week.
Other Flyers who could potentially be moved are wingers Bobby Brink and Owen Tippett, and pending free agents Garnet Hathaway and Nic Deslauriers.
Capitals trade John Carlson to the Ducks in ‘jaw-dropping’ move
The Washington Capitals traded defenseman John Carlson to the Anaheim Ducks early Friday morning.
John Carlson is going to the Anaheim Ducks as part of a surprising deal from the Washington Capitals agreed to just after midnight on NHL trade deadline day.
Anaheim sent a conditional first-round pick in either this or next year’s draft plus a 2027 third-rounder to Washington for Carlson, a 36-year-old defenseman who has only played in the league for the Capitals since 2009 and helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Longtime hockey insider and former Daily News reporter Frank Seravalli called the move “jaw-on-the-floor shocking,” describing it as the “end of an era in Washington.”
“John Carlson brings leadership, character, a high hockey IQ and a presence to our lineup,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. “We are very excited to add a Stanley Cup winner to complement our group and make a big push down the stretch.”
Carlson is a pending free agent without a contract beyond this year but was not expected to get moved before the deadline. He joins the Ducks as they look to end a seven-year playoff drought.
With a surplus of wings, the Flyers could move Owen Tippett ahead of the trade deadline.
The Flyers aren’t moving Dan Vladař, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Matvei Michkov, Trevor Zegras, or top prospect Porter Martone, but everyone else would seem to be — and should be — in play.
Topping that list is rugged but oft-injured defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who has been on the trade block each of the past two seasons but has so far stayed put. The 31-year-old doesn’t fit the team’s timeline, has a year remaining on his contract, and is exactly the type of player that contenders tend to overpay for due to his physicality and “playoff brand of hockey.”
Trading him at this deadline would at minimum land a second-rounder and a legit prospect, and potentially a first-rounder. The Flyers should look to cash in on the 6-foot-4, 208-pound Finn on the heels of his eye-catching Olympics and should be seeking a first-round pick or a high-end center or blueline prospect in return.
The Flyers also have a surplus of wings with Konecny, Michkov, Zegras, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, Bobby Brink, Denver Barkey, and Nikita Grebenkin, and more on the way, headlined by Martone and Alex Bump. Sooner or later the Flyers are going to have to make room for guys, and parting with Tippett or Brink would start that process and recoup the Flyers something in return, potentially at a position of need.
With teams always looking for a scoring punch this time of year, trading the 27-year-old Tippett, who is cost-controlled for the next six seasons and on his way to a third 25-plus-goal season in four years, would yield the largest return, assuming Konecny and Zegras are off limits. The Flyers reportedly have a high ask on the speedy Tippett, including a first-round pick, but could a package that includes a center be enticing? The Flyers could opt to hold fast for a better return at the draft, when this type of trade may be easier to complete, but trading a winger or two before next season seems inevitable.
The Flyers don’t seem willing to meet the high price for St. Louis Blues All-Star Robert Thomas, but Detroit’s Nate Danielson, Minnesota’s Danila Yurov and Charlie Stramel, Buffalo’s Noah Ostlund, Tampa Bay’s Conor Geekie, and Seattle’s Shane Wright are some younger center prospects who could be available in a package involving Ristolainen, Tippett, or someone else.
In addition to trying to move pending unrestricted free agents Nic Deslauriers, Noah Juulsen, and Carl Grundström, the Flyers could explore trading depth center Noah Cates or restricted free agent defensemen Jamie Drysdale and Emil Andrae, all young players with runways to improve who would generate some interest around the league. Like Ristolainen, Cates is a player that contending teams could view as a final piece due to his versatility, penalty killing, and two-way play. Andrae looks to be in need of a change of scenery and could be swapped for a player in a similar boat.
Nick Seeler would have some value as a steady, stay-at-home defenseman, but the 32-year-old, who is currently nicked up, would have to waive his no-move clause. Maligned backup goalie Sam Ersson also could be offloaded for a mid-round pick, especially if the team has already decided it won’t extend a qualifying offer to the pending free agent.
Flyers trade talk: Rasmus Ristolainen, Bobby Brink, and others
There’s a good chance the Flyers trade away defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
The NHL trade deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. and there are plenty of questions on how the Flyers will approach it. Ahead of the deadline, Inquirer reporter Jackie Spiegel took to Reddit to answer fans’ questions ahead of the deadline. Here are some highlights from her Reddit AMA — “Ask Me Anything” — on Wednesday.
Q: There’s been a lot of talk about selling at the deadline, with guys like Owen Tippett and Rasmus Ristolainen as top candidates. Is there anyone else who might be on the block and could be a ‘surprise’ player dealt at the deadline?
A. It’s a good chance that Ristolainen is gone with how he’s been playing, his friendly contract, the farm system, and that he’s a right-shot defenseman. Tippett is less of a sure bet as he brings elements — size, speed, goal-scoring ability — that any team, including the Flyers, would want. However, Tippett does have a modified no-trade clause that begins on July 1, so if they’re going to do it, time is ticking.
The Flyers do have a logjam on the wings, and one surprise, at least for this week, could be Bobby Brink, who has long been rumored to be on the way out because of who is waiting in the wings. There’s always a chance Danny Brière could do right by some veterans like Noah Juulsen and Nic Deslauriers, each on expiring contracts, and trade them to a contender looking for depth.
Q. Where do you see us getting an actual top-line center option from and what would it realistically take?
A. This is a great question. I think part of the issue for the Flyers is that they were banking on this upcoming offseason to get that No. 1 center and all those guys inked extensions. Could Trevor Zegras be that guy? Maybe. Could they swing for a Robert Thomas? Maybe, but from what I’ve been told, that deal would require sending at least one of the Flyers’ young centers in the system the other way. I’m starting to wonder if a true No. 1 center is needed, because if you have enough talented high-end wingers — like Tyson Foerster, Martone, Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, Tippett — maybe a less elite center works too?
Q. What do the Flyers plan to do about Sean Couturier?
A. From what I can tell, there are zero plans for Couturier. From the outside, yes, his production is down, but a lot of that, in my opinion, has to do with his focus on defense as he lets his younger, more skilled wingers take charge offensively. And heading into the return from the Olympic break, his analytics were actually some of the best on the team. There’s also the leadership in the room that fans do not see. As assistant coach Todd Reirden mentioned, while he was taking over media responsibilities with Rick Tocchet at the Olympics, Couturier’s “voice carries a lot of weight. He’s not [a captain] that’s rah rah, but when he does talk, no one’s not listening. I can tell you that much. So he’s the leader of our team for a reason.”
The Flyers’ chances ending their five-season playoff drought became a bit slimmer Thursday night after their 3-0 loss to the Utah Mammoth.
Eight teams in the Eastern Conference will move forward to the NHL playoffs – the top three teams in each division, plus two wild cards.
The Flyers currently sit in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division 6 points out of a playoff spot. But with 21 games remaining on their schedule, the odds of making the playoffs are slim but not impossible. The New York Times currently pegs the Flyers’ chances of a postseason berth at 14%.
Metropolitan Division
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Eastern Conference
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There were two things hanging over the Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday night: the impending NHL trade deadline and extending their winning streak.
But as the minutes continued to tick off until Friday’s 3 p.m. deadline, the Flyers’ inability to win four straight kept on going with a 3-0 loss to the Utah Mammoth.
It is the third time this season the Flyers have been shut out, and it’s been more than two years since the Flyers strung together a four-game winning streak. The last ended with a 5-3 win against the Arizona Coyotes, who are now the Mammoth, on Feb. 12, 2024.
From the drop of the puck on Thursday, it was a lackadaisical effort by the Flyers that saw them muster just 44 shot attempts and 16 shots on goal, tying the season low set on Feb. 5 in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators. It is the 10th time this season that they have not put at least 20 shots on goal.
“I think we’ve got to simplify our game, go to the net hard, drive to the net hard, get some bodies there, bring pucks to the net,” captain Sean Couturier said. “It almost feels like we’re trying to play on the outside and find a backdoor tap-in, which is hard to do in this league.
“I think if we simplify things, eventually things will open up. But I think we’re too content on playing a little bit on the outside at times.”
In the first period, the Flyers had four shots on goal, despite having a power-play opportunity.
“I think the first 10 [minutes] kind of dictated [play]. We were soft; execution was tough,” said coach Rick Tocchet, who also said the Flyers didn’t push back.
Added defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen: “I feel like at times we might have got a little bit outworked and outbattled, and I think that’s where we should start every game, and obviously we didn’t do that enough tonight.”
To be fair, Utah also had only four shots in the first period, but in the second, the Mammoth broke through on two of their 14 shots.
Lou Nolan didn’t even have time to announce the penalty before Nick Schmaltz found the back of the net to give Utah a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the frame. Eight seconds after Noah Cates was called for holding the stick, Dylan Guenther curled off the boards and into the high slot before going against the grain to Schmaltz on the goal line for the shot.
“Just didn’t play hard enough tonight,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “They’re a tough team to play against. They battle hard, hard on the walls, and make it tough on you. And we weren’t willing to play that style so hard to win when you don’t dig in and win those battles.”
Less than seven minutes later, it was 2-0 on a goal by Clayton Keller, who just helped the United States win gold at the Winter Olympics.
Off a faceoff, Sanheim got the puck from Matvei Michkov, who took his spot at the left point and carried the puck down and around the net, trying a wrap-around. The puck slid off his stick, and while he tried to regroup, he eventually lost the puck to Guenther.
Utah’s speedy forward chipped the puck around Ristolainen, and as Sanheim backchecked and tried to cut off Guenther, Keller split through a hole with Michkov too far over.
“What do you want me to say?” Tocchet retorted when asked about the play.
“Yeah, I tried to make a play at the net,” Sanheim said. “And then as it came up, Risto goes to step up on, I think it was on Guenther, and I saw that we had an F3, so I thought I could play Guenther on the wall. Obviously misread it with Mich, and obviously don’t want to give up a breakaway at that time of the game.”
Michael Carcone added an empty-netter for Utah in the third period.
Now the question is, who will be here after the trade deadline at 3 p.m. on Friday?
Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has been a hot name in trade deadline rumors.
Ristolainen, whose name is swirling as someone more than likely getting traded, suited up and skated more than 22 minutes in his 800th NHL game.
“I can’t really control that,” Ristolainen said. “So I just try to come in every day, and obviously [Friday], we’ll see what happens.”
Did the pending trade deadline impact the team?
“Hard to say, maybe for some guys, I guess,” Sanheim said. “But we’re in the thick of it and just trying to win every hockey game and take it day by day and deal with it as it comes.”
Breakaways
Forward Travis Konecny missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury, and defenseman Nick Seeler, who sustained a lower-body injury in Monday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, did not play. … On Thursday, the Flyers signed forward Garrett Wilson to an NHL contract to finish the 2025-26 season. A member of Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League since 2019, a team source has also confirmed the captain inked a new AHL contract for next season. Wilson, a native of Barrie, Ontario, has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 51 games this season and leads the team in penalty minutes (99), which enters Thursday tied for 11th overall in the AHL. Wilson, who turns 35 on March 16, has played 751 AHL games for San Antonio, Portland, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Toronto, and Lehigh Valley. He is Lehigh Valley’s all-time leader in games played (338) and ranks fourth in goals (62) and points (148). A rugged 6-foot-3, 218-pound winger, Wilson was drafted in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL draft by the Florida Panthers and has 84 regular-season and 10 playoff games at the NHL level. His last NHL game was a playoff game on April 16, 2019, for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Up next
On Saturday, the Flyers will be in Pittsburgh taking on the Penguins (5:30 p.m., NBCSP).
Although Flyers general manager Danny Brière has the experience of just two NHL trade deadlines in his pocket, if this year is anything like the previous two, expect the Flyers to make some noise.
The buzzer will go off on the wheelin’ and dealin’ at 3 p.m. on Friday, and Brière has already made one deal this week, sending Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League defenseman Roman Schmidt to Minnesota for NHL/AHL forward Boris Katchoul.
Is it the start of something? Potentially, with players such as Rasmus Ristolainen rumored to be on the move.
Here’s a look back at what Brière did in the week leading up to the previous trade deadlines.
What did the Flyers do at the 2024 NHL trade deadline?
The 2024 trade deadline was at 3 p.m. March 8.
March 6 at 3:48 p.m.
Brière was patient, waiting weeks before finally accepting an offer for defenseman Sean Walker. Two days before the deadline, he acquired a 2025 first-round pick and center Ryan Johansen from the Colorado Avalanche for Walker and a 2026 fifth-round selection.
The Flyers initially agreed to retain 50% of the final year and a half of Johansen’s contract as a trade sweetener, but he was immediately placed on waivers for assignment to the AHL. The forward, citing a hip injury, refused to report to Lehigh Valley and never played for the Flyers and was placed on unconditional waivers Aug. 20, 2024, “for the purpose of terminating his contract due to a material breach.”
Walker played 18 regular-season and 11 playoff games for the Avalanche before signing with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 1, 2024. The 2025 first-round pick was packaged in the first-round swap at the draft that helped the Flyers snag Jack Nesbitt at No. 12.
Erik Johnson played just 39 games for the Flyers after getting acquired from Buffalo at the 2024 trade deadline.
March 8 at 2:12 p.m.
In a bit of a surprise move, the Flyers acquired Brière’s old teammate Erik Johnson, a defenseman, from the Buffalo Sabres for a 2024 fourth-round pick.
Johnson played 39 games for the Flyers. Eventually, the Sabres traded the pick to the Winnipeg Jets, who took Kevin He, the highest-drafted player born in China in NHL history at the time.
March 8 at 2:47 p.m.
The Flyers acquired forward Denis Gurianov from the Nashville Predators for Wade Allison.
A second-rounder in 2016, Allison played 75 games across three seasons for the Flyers but never really stuck at the NHL level. Gurianov played four games in Philly and, as an unrestricted free agent, opted to sign with the Kontinental Hockey League that summer.
What did the Flyers do at the 2025 NHL trade deadline?
The 2025 trade deadline was at 3 p.m. March 7.
March 7 at 12:45 p.m.
The Flyers acquired a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL draft from the Los Angeles Kings for forward Andrei Kuzmenko and a 2025 seventh-round pick. Philly retained 50% of his salary.
Kuzmenko was acquired by the Flyers at the end of January of that season from the Calgary Flames with Jakob Pelletier for Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. He played in seven games, registering five points, and the pending unrestricted free agent looked like someone the Flyers could re-sign.
Instead, he was shipped out weeks later and signed a one-year deal on June 30, 2024, to stay in Hollywood. He has 18 goals and 42 points in 74 regular-season games and three goals and six points in six playoff games across his tenure with the Kings.
March 7 at 4 p.m.
Although the trade had to be registered with league by 3 p.m. the Flyers officially announced at 4 p.m. that they acquired forward Nikita Grebenkin and a first-round pick in the 2027 NHL draft from the Toronto Maple Leafs for Ontario native Scott Laughton, a 2025 fourth-round pick, and a 2027 sixth-round pick.
In the deal, the Flyers retained 50% of Laughton’s salary, which comes off the books after this season. Toronto’s first-round pick is Top 10 protected; however, the Leafs are in a free fall, so, because they owe the Boston Bruins their 2026 pick from the Brandon Carlo deal, it could slide to 2027, as the 2026 pick is top-five protected.
Scott Laughton (center) has 16 points in 63 regular-season games with the Maple Leafs since being traded by the Flyers at last year’s trade deadline.
Even before the trade was announced, the team was taking down banners at the Flyers Training Center with Laughton on them. A depth center, Laughton is rumored to be on the trade block now in Toronto — he was held out of the lineup on Wednesday for roster management — and has 16 points in 63 regular-season games and two assists in 13 playoff games with the Maple Leafs since being acquired.
Grebenkin played in the minors last season after being acquired, collecting seven points in 11 regular-season games and four points in seven playoff games for the Phantoms. He has spent the entire 2025-26 season with the Flyers and has 12 points in 46 games, including his first NHL goal, which tied the game at 4 in a 5-4 shootout win against the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 4.
Smith, who was a pending unrestricted free agent, played 10 regular-season games for Lehigh Valley last season, registering a goal and an assist, and played in seven playoff games. He signed a professional tryout agreement with the Carolina Hurricanes for the 2025-26 training camp, earning a two-way deal in early October.
This time of year, fans, reporters, and insiders’ phones will be dinging constantly with notifications, but there’s a good chance several phones in hockey will be off.
“I’d say most guys probably stay off their phones around this time. You don’t want to see any tweets from guys that are breaking stuff,” forward Garnet Hathaway said with a bit of a grin, a laugh, and a glance as Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman was in earshot in the Flyers locker room in Toronto on Monday.
The NHL trade deadline is fast approaching, with the final horn sounding on Friday at 3 p.m. But while everyone speculates and debates what Flyers general manager Danny Brière and management will do, the players are trying to stay in the moment.
“Focus on what we do on the ice and play some good hockey, try to win some games. Those are things that we don’t control,” captain Sean Couturier said. “It’s more you guys [the media] that talk about it and make big stories out of it. In the locker room, it’s not something we really talk about. We’ve got other things to focus on.”
It’s totally fair for Couturier to say the media makes it a big deal. After all, is it not entertaining when the wheelin’ and dealin’ can come fast and furious? But what we all don’t see is the toll it can take.
Last season, several players acknowledged that the trade of Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee in January to the Calgary Flames and Scott Laughton at the deadline to the Maple Leafs impacted the room. Two seasons ago, it was Sean Walker being dealt to the Colorado Avalanche that sent the defense into a tailspin, leading to a team looking at a playoff spot finding itself on the outside at the end.
General manager Danny Brière could move a couple of Flyers players by Friday’s trade deadline.
“One day you’re in one place, and the next morning you’re in a different place, getting ready to play a game,” recalled Owen Tippett, who was acquired by the Flyers in the Claude Giroux trade two days before the 2022 deadline. “I think I was traded at 6 o’clock at night and played the next day at 2 o’clock. So, pretty quick turnaround [after] you pretty much lift up your whole life and move. For me, I kind of had an idea it was coming. But it all happened so fast, so you don’t really have time to think until everything dies down.”
“So, it’s a tough time of year,” he added. “Obviously, you don’t want to see anyone go, and you never know who could be on the move or, if it’s you, then you just have no choice but to roll with it and deal with it and settle things down as quick as you can.”
If the Flyers do make moves — and rumors continue to swirl around defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen being one such player expected to find himself in a new jersey — the player they get in return will be facing an interesting time in Philly. Because the “other things” the captain alluded to are that the Flyers are not just focusing on their first four-game winning streak in over two years when they take on the Utah Mammoth on Thursday (7 p.m., NBCSP), but a playoff spot.
Entering Wednesday, they were eight back of second and third in the Metropolitan Division, held by the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Islanders, respectively, and six back of the Boston Bruins, who hold the last wild card in the Eastern Conference.
“We’re in the thick of it. We’re fighting for a playoff spot,” defenseman Nick Seeler said. “So that’s where our heads are at, and that’s what guys are focusing on, getting wins here, and that’s the most important thing.”
With just over 48 hours remaining until the 2026 NHL trade deadline, Inquirer Flyers reporter Jackie Spiegel hopped on r/Flyers to field some fan questions in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) Wednesday afternoon. Here are a few highlights …
(Questions have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.)
Q. There’s been a lot of talk about selling at the deadline, with guys like Owen Tippett and Rasmus Ristolainen as top candidates. Is there anyone else who might be on the block and could be a ‘surprise’ player dealt at the deadline?
A. It’s a good chance that Ristolainen is gone with how he’s been playing, his friendly contract, the farm system, and that he’s a right-shot defenseman. Tippett is less of a sure bet as he brings elements — size, speed, goal-scoring ability — that any team, including the Flyers, would want. However, Tippett does have a modified no-trade clause that begins on July 1, so if they’re going to do it, time is ticking.
The Flyers do have a logjam on the wings, and one surprise, at least for this week, could be Bobby Brink, who has long been rumored to be on the way out because of who is waiting in the wings. There’s always a chance Danny Brière could do right by some veterans like Noah Juulsen and Nic Deslauriers, each on expiring contracts, and trade them to a contender looking for depth.
Owen Tippett is a potential trade candidate for the Flyers
Q. At what point do we finally trade away some of our right wings to fix the log jam we have? And why is it taking so long?
A. The expectation was always that this process would begin over the summer, but it could come sooner. Names like Brink and Tippett have popped up in recent trade-deadline chatter. The only crux of trading Brink now is his size, as playoff teams are always looking to get bigger this time of year, but he is a pending restricted free agent. … But there is no denying that the Flyers need to make room for right winger Porter Martone.
As to why it has taken this long — you can’t trade someone if you don’t have someone ready to take the spot. Some of the wait was the hope of reeling in a big fish during this summer’s free agency — that is gone — but more recently, the wait has been on Martone, with all signs pointing to him inking his entry-level contract once Michigan State’s season is over.
Q. Where do you see us getting an actual top-line center option from and what would it realistically take?
A. This is a great question. I think part of the issue for the Flyers is that they were banking on this upcoming offseason to get that No. 1 center and all those guys inked extensions. Could Trevor Zegras be that guy? Maybe. Could they swing for a Robert Thomas? Maybe, but from what I’ve been told, that deal would require sending at least one of the Flyers’ young centers in the system the other way. I’m starting to wonder if a true No. 1 center is needed, because if you have enough talented high-end wingers — like Tyson Foerster, Martone, Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, Tippett — maybe a less elite center works too?
Sean Couturier has been the Flyers captain for a little over two years.
Q. What do the Flyers plan to do about Sean Couturier? Having the captain of the team be the guy farthest from living up to his contract and visibly frustrated seems like a less-than-ideal leadership situation. Not to mention he’s signed for four more seasons after this one and his contract is buyout proof.
A. From what I can tell, there are zero plans for Couturier. From the outside, yes, his production is down, but a lot of that, in my opinion, has to do with his focus on defense as he lets his younger, more skilled wingers take charge offensively. And heading into the return from the Olympic break, his analytics were actually some of the best on the team. There’s also the leadership in the room that fans do not see. As assistant coach Todd Reirden mentioned, while he was taking over media responsibilities with Rick Tocchet at the Olympics, Couturier’s “voice carries a lot of weight. He’s not [a captain] that’s rah rah, but when he does talk, no one’s not listening. I can tell you that much. So he’s the leader of our team for a reason.”
Q. If you had to look for a funny quote for a story after a win who would be your best bet on the team this year?
A. This is a great question. Funny is good, but what we call money bites (at least that was the term when I worked in TV) are always better. Dan Vladař is always good for that and usually has a funny quote or two. Zegras is always on with a quick, funny response. And Garnet Hathaway is always insightful, but brings a good quote too.
Owen Tippett isn’t on Twitter these days. He has dropped some social media platforms that he didn’t feel were necessary or healthy for his mental space.
But he had heard through the grapevine about the artwork; he just hadn’t seen it yet.
“That’s unreal,” he said, almost in shock when shown the drawing of himself from the weekend. “Unreal,” he said, covering his agape mouth with his hand, still in shock. “Wow. That’s sick.”
On Saturday, the Flyers’ social media accounts had a picture of Tippett in his game-day fit, sporting a Kith sweater, baggy black jeans, and sunglasses. Local sports artist Dhwani Saraiya, who designed the Flyers’ opening night T-shirt, tweeted, “fit was so fire I had to draw it.” And the Edison, N.J., native did.
Tippett, who has popped up in Annie O’Donnell’s rapid-fire NHL fit reviews on Instagram for his style, followed that up with a Canadian tuxedo, fittingly in Toronto, on Monday. The two-piece set, also from Kith, was ordered just a few days earlier and arrived on his doorstep on Saturday before making the round on social media, notably on the NHL’s platforms.
(Editor’s note: The Canadian tuxedo ended up in O’Donnell’s latest fit review that dropped right after this story was published, stating: “This is the coolest Canadian tuxedo I have ever seen in my life.”)
This is the first year the players are not required to wear suits or business attire.
“I think when we found out we weren’t going to have a dress code, I think my wife had a little bit more fun with it than I did,” Ontario native Tippett said of his wife, Taylor. “Kind of got me out of my comfort zone a little bit, which is fine, from what I’m used to wearing, but yeah, I’ve had fun with it.”
Now, this isn’t a fashion story, but it’s about the old-fashioned mantra: “If you look good, you feel good.”
It’s about goalie Dan Vladař noting that the Flyers had swagger in the room on Saturday.
It’s about the Flyers feeling good on the ice, having won three straight for the first time since around Thanksgiving, and back in the playoff picture.
And it’s about the forwards, notably Tippett, who was promoted to the top line on Monday, needing to step up with Travis Konecny’s status up in the air. Konecny, who leads the team in goals (23), assists (34), and points (57), missed his second game of the season on Monday with an upper-body injury.
“Yeah, he’s a huge part of our team, both on the ice and in the locker room,” Tippett said. “Obviously, it’s a big, big role to fill. But I think I’ve said it a couple of times this year with [Tyson Foerster] going down and [Rodrigo Ābols] going down, and there’s been a few guys in here who have kind of missed games or missed some time.
“We all have to step up collectively.”
Coach Rick Tocchet said on Tuesday that he is hopeful Konecny can play Thursday when the Utah Mammoth visit Xfinity Mobile Arena (7 p.m., NBCSP). But if not, his absence will test the team’s depth. The expectation is that Tippett will remain on the top line with Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak.
According to Natural Stat Trick, in the Flyers’ 3-2 shootout win against the Maple Leafs, when the trio was on the ice at five-on-five, the Flyers had 10 shot attempts, five shots on goal, two scoring chances, and 57.15% of the expected goal share.
Owen Tippett has discussed the need to complement Flyers center Trevor Zegras (46).
“Obviously, it’s different with everyone you play with,” Tippett said of his game style. “I think the biggest thing [Monday] night was, obviously, making the simple plays and not trying to overcomplicate things. I know they play an offensive line, and when Trevor has the puck, he can create a lot, so it’s more just kind of give him space, but also support him at the same time.”
Tippett, Dvorak, and Zegras also played together at the beginning of the season, beginning in Game 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes, and Tippett has spent the second-most time with Zegras and Dvorak this season, trailing only Konecny.
Among the Flyers’ seven line combinations that have played at least 100 minutes together, Money Puck has the line ranked No. 2 in minutes (196.5), expected goals for (8.8), and expected goals against (8.7). Although shot attempts, shots on goal, scoring chances, and high-danger chances are almost even with what they give up — but above 50% — according to Natural Stat Trick, when they are on the ice at five-on-five, the Flyers have outscored the opposition 13-8. That’s the number that counts.
“Played with them a little bit at the start of the year,” Tippett said, “but it’s been a decent stretch since I’ve played with them. So, a little bit of chemistry was already there, but just trying to keep things simple and communicate as much as we can on the bench and on the ice.”
Tippett is sitting on 19 goals for the season, one shy of reaching the 20-goal mark for the fourth straight year.
“Yeah, I did,” Tocchet said when asked if he liked Tippett with that pair. “He had some speed. I thought there were some moments there [that if he had] one inch or two inches, he would have been gone. So he had a game where I thought he could add to that line.”
Breakaways
Defenseman Nick Seeler did not participate in practice on Tuesday after leaving Monday’s game late in the second period with a lower-body injury. Seen limping after the game, Tocchet said he is also a game-time decision. … Dvorak and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen also did not skate, but Tocchet said they had maintenance days. Ristolainen’s name has been prominent in trade chatter, but there is currently nothing imminent, The Inquirer has learned. Offers should start picking up soon with the trade deadline on Friday at 3 p.m.
