The 2022 NHL Trade Deadline is now less than a week away and who could have predicted back in July that the Philadelphia Flyers would be sellers this March. Not me, that is for sure.
I will spare you the pain and will NOT remind you how excited Flyers fans were after Chuck Fletcher acquired Ryan Ellis and soon after flipped Jake Voracek for Cam Atkinson. Surely the future was supposed to be brighter than this.
Yet here we are, a mere 6 days from the deadline and 2 days away from Claude Giroux’s potentially last home game ever as a Philadelphia Flyer. If you are a fan of the Philadelphia Flyers, chances are you are if you are reading this, this is going to be a tough week.
This season’s trade deadline was supposed to be an exciting one for the Flyers and their fans and as if this turd of a season was not bad enough, we will be forced to say goodbye to our beloved Captain after 15 long years in orange and black.
Claude Giroux
Let’s start out trade list with the aforementioned Captain.
When talking about Claude Giroux it seems the same handful of teams continue to come up in Colorado, Florida, St. Louis, Minnesota, Carolina, and I even hate to type this but will do so just because I have to, the New York Rangers.
Colorado made a move Monday as they traded away defensive prospect Drew Helleson and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft for Josh Manson.
At first glance this trade looks like it would cancel out Colorado as a potential landing spot for Giroux as even though Anaheim agreed to keep half of Manson’s cap hit on the books for the rest of the season, Colorado has just $1,287,370 in cap space left according to Cap Friendly.
Having said that, it is known that if a 3rd team needs to be included in a deal, Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher has a team standing by. So theoretically the Flyers could retain 4 million and the team on “stand-by” could also retain enough to fit Giroux under Colorado’s salary cap.
Justin Braun
The next most valuable player the Flyers will likely move is Justin Braun, who is garnering league wide interest as a 3rd pair defenseman.
At 35 years old, Justin Braun is the ideal 3rd pairing defenseman for teams planning on making a serious run for Lord Stanley’s Cup and with a cap hit of just $1.8m, Braun comes at a bargain price.
Teams interested in Braun include Toronto, Carolina and according to The Fourth Period, Calgary, Boston and Nashville.
“Several contending teams are believed to have some level of interest in Braun, including the Calgary Flames, Boston Bruins, Nashville Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs – though with the Leafs acquiring Ilya Lyubushkin from the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday, they might now be out of the mix.”
The likely return for Justin Braun will be draft compensation which, if you’re a Flyers fan, that is just fine these days.
Personally I am a huge fan of Justin Braun’s game and will be slightly sad to see him go as he has done everything asked of him and more as he has mostly played top line minutes the last 2 seasons despite being brought in to play on the bottom defensive pair.
Derick Brassard
The 3rd player on our shortlist is Derick Brassard who signed in Philadelphia on a 1 year deal over the summer. I am not sure if there is a market for Brassard as he has been hurt for long stretches of the season but the thought is he could bring draft compensation back in a return.
According to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall, Brassard would likely fetch a 4th or 5th round pick as compensation.
Obviously Claude Giroux is the big fish of the 3 and should fetch a hefty return for the Flyers and while it will be a sad day for most fans, hopefully the return can be some consolation during arguably the worst season in Flyers history.
Jim Iacovone is the Site Manager for HW Hockey
Photo Credit: Heather Barry ©
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