The NHL offseason has a lot of moving parts and it can be hard to keep up, especially with a large offseason due up for the Philadelphia Flyers. There are a plethora of rumors that float around, often from both fake sources and credible sources. This is a new daily update mill that I want to start in order to provide quick updates (attached with sources/tweets) in order to address daily rumors that you might see on your twitter feed, or for those who don’t have twitter: these updates can come to your attention.
The update mill will be posted daily.
1. If the Flyers make a trade with the Nashville Predators, their target would be Ryan Ellis.
If Philly makes a play on a Nashville defenseman, it’s going to be Ryan Ellis https://t.co/jEhpVeve16
— NRD (@NHLRumorsDaily) July 13, 2021
Source: NHL Rumors Daily (they correctly predicted the recent Duncan Keith trade a few days prior and had Minnesota as potential suitors for Eichel in April)
The Flyers were linked to Ryan Ellis at the 2021 Trade Deadline, but nothing ever materialized. There has been no credible source outwardly saying that Ellis has been made available again since,
2. Chuck Fletcher more-or-less confirms that Jake Voracek ~could~ be left unprotected in the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft
Breaking: @NHLFlyers President Chuck Fletcher confirms to me and @AntSanPhilly that he's discussed leaving Jakub Voracek unprotected ahead of the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft. "There's been no ultimatums either way. It's just 'Jake, we gotta get better…' and he gets it." pic.twitter.com/Ovf8eunj2Z
— Russ Joy (@JoyOnBroad) July 13, 2021
Source: Snow the Goalie Podcast’s, Russ Joy
3. The Flyers chances for Seth Jones could be dwindling due to the fact that he will not commit to a contract extension in Philadelphia
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1415031808908046342?s=20
Source: Elliotte Friedman’s 31 Thoughts podcast @ 50:00 mark
4. The Flyers could pursue a trade for St. Louis Blues star winger Vladimir Tarasenko
Vladimir Tarasenko trade packages: What the Rangers, Islanders, Knights, Bruins and Flyers could offer the Blues. #stlblues https://t.co/9aVkmJxqm2
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) July 12, 2021
Source: The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford
In his report, Rutherford throws around the package idea of sending F Morgan Frost and D Philippe Myers in exchange for Tarasenko. Rutherford also mentions teams like the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Boston Bruins and Las Vegas Golden Knights are also in play.
5. Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher and Assistant GM Brent Flahr held a press conference about the upcoming offseason
Topics included: Expansion Draft, Entry Draft and Free Agency
Chuck Fletcher and Brent Flahr will be addressing the media shortly, discussing the expansion draft, entry draft and free agency. All things offseason, really. pic.twitter.com/WSHfOzJawb
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) July 13, 2021
Below are some highlights of the press conference:
A. Chuck Fletcher has put his protection list together (Deadline for the Protection List is July 17th) and he is open on making a side trade with the Seattle Kraken for them to take a specific player.
Fletcher on Expansion: We have our list put together. If we make moves between now and then, we'll adjust.
— Russ Joy (@JoyOnBroad) July 13, 2021
Fletcher says he's open to either just letting Seattle pick and choose from who they leave available, or potentially working out a side deal to steer them into a specific direction (read: specific player(s). So he doesn't rule the latter out.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) July 13, 2021
Fletcher says no player has been informed that will be exposed.
— Jamey Baskow (@JameyBaskow) July 13, 2021
B. In regards to trade activity, Chuck says the phones have been busy but a trade is unlikely to happen before the NHL Expansion Draft on July 21st
Fletcher says the phones have been busy. He's been making and receiving calls. Some teams are in a different position where a move wouldn't impact their list much, while others would prefer to wait (noting more teams are in the latter category).
— Russ Joy (@JoyOnBroad) July 13, 2021
Fletcher says they certainly won't be making a trade today or tomorrow, unless something unexpected breaks. But they're working the phones.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) July 13, 2021
C. In regards to the 13th Overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft, the Flyers are open to trading it. However, if they keep the pick, they will draft the best available player, despite their position. He also leaves open the possibility of taking a goaltender.
Fletcher says their first round pick is in play for a trade. Flahr jokes that it depends who you ask — as the person who runs the scouting department, he'd love to keep it. Fletcher says you usually keep 1sts, but this offseason he's more willing to move it.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) July 13, 2021
Answering @BroadStBull, BF says that there aren't any generational players in this draft but still has some quality players. Says there is some depth through the 2nd and 3rd round.
Also notes there are some quality Cs and D at the top of the draft.
— Anthony Di Marco (@ADiMarco25) July 13, 2021
Flahr says that the presence of Carter Hart and other goalie prospects won't necessarily prevent them from taking a goalie at No. 13 (Wallstedt and Cossa are the top ones) if they keep the pick. Stresses that they'll stick to the "best player available" philosophy.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) July 13, 2021
D. The Flyers’ primary objective this offseason seems to be the defense. Chuck Fletcher also doubled down and defended young players who had down years last season, saying not to over-react. You can assume that he still may be reluctant to part with their younger players via trade.
Answering @edbarkowitz, CF says that the pandemic is one of the logical reasons as to why so many young players struggled last year. Should be careful overreacting to one year.
— Anthony Di Marco (@ADiMarco25) July 13, 2021
Fletcher said he is not about trading good young players, especially those that struggled last year. He says they have to stay the course with the youth and find a way to make them better "Especially after last year."
— Jamey Baskow (@JameyBaskow) July 13, 2021
Fletcher notes that the organization's philosophy going back to 2014 was to build and develop young players. Can't drastically go the other way in one offseason.
— Russ Joy (@JoyOnBroad) July 13, 2021
E. Chuck says that they will announce coaching additions for the Flyers NHL Coaching Staff and Phantoms AHL Coaching Staff soon.
Chuck Fletcher said the Flyers have worked a lot on their system and the way they'll do things from a staff and development perspective. They're going to announce staff changes soon. He said they've worked the last two months on piecing it all together.
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) July 13, 2021
F. Chuck Fletcher didn’t give much acknowledgement to the Duncan Keith trade or any affects it may have in the Seth Jones sweepstakes. But, however, at least we know that he knows it happened.
Fletcher on if the Duncan Keith move gets the ball rolling on the offseason: I think that move is a bit different. The player had reasons he wanted to go and a number of teams (he'd be willing to go to).
— Russ Joy (@JoyOnBroad) July 13, 2021
G. The Flyers RFA’s (Travis Sanheim, Carter Hart and Nolan Patrick) are not a priority now and will be extended qualifying offers after the NHL Entry Draft and NHL Expansion Draft towards the end of July.
Fletcher says that re-signing the RFAs (Hart, Sanheim, Patrick) hasn't been a "front-burner" issue. Says there's plenty of time, they'll be qualified and then negotiations will go from there.
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) July 13, 2021
If you want the TLDR: Chuck didn’t say much and didn’t give any real tangible specifics. What I’ve gathered is no moves or trades will be made before the Expansion Draft on July 21st and the RFA’s (Travis Sanheim, Carter Hart and Nolan Patrick) will be handled towards the end of July. The Flyers will pick best player available in the Entry Draft on July 23rd, despite any position, at 13th overall, if they decide to keep the pick.
6. Minnesota Wild have bought out F Zach Parise and D Ryan Suter
BREAKING NEWS: #mnwild buying out Zach Parise and Ryan Suter: Sourceshttps://t.co/ScfiN7urSl
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) July 13, 2021
Chuck Fletcher has ties to both, Suter and Parise, as he was the General Manager of the Minnesota Wild when they each signed their 13 year/$98 million contracts with the Wild in 2013. Suter, 36, and Parise, 36, will both effectively become UFA’s this offseason. There are no news updates as to whether the Flyers are interested.
7. Gabriel Landeskog could potentially test free agency
Dreger on Insider Trading says the Avalanche and Gabriel Landeskog or not even close to an extension. The position of the Colorado Avalanche has to change significantly or else Landeskog will go to market. #GoAvsGo
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) July 13, 2021
Source: Darren Dreger, TSN
There has been no linkage to Landeskog from the Philadelphia Flyers perspective, as of right now, but that could change once and if Landeskog decides to pursue free agency.
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