By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
With the Flyers schedule now featuring longer breaks between games — two days off this weekend before Sunday’s win, another two off before Wednesday night’s game and two more again before Saturday’s outdoor game in Pittsburgh — there was more time to speculate on the Flyers situation heading into next week’s trade deadline.
Yes, the NHL Trade Deadline is just one week away from today. So what do the Flyers do?
The common belief is that the rapidly sinking Flyers, who were challenging for the second spot in the Metropolitan Division and have slipped out of a playoff spot since, will be sellers at the deadline. That may still be true, especially with three games in the seven days leading to deadline day.
That said, to officially proclaim the Flyers as sellers now is a misconception. Ron Hextall is not going to give up on this season that easily. And if he does decide to make moves on deadline day, they won’t be bold and rash decisions.
Let’s start with some debunking of rumors floating around that are not even close to happening.
First off, the Flyers are not trading captain Claude Giroux. They probably won’t be listening to offers that go that far. It’s not happening. Not this year. Forget it.
The Flyers are also not going to spring for any top players available, so get Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog out of your head. That’s not happening either.
The Flyers will certainly not be buying. Aside from going directly against Hextall’s philosophy with developing prospects, the Flyers are in no position to add players for prospects at this time. At best, this team can make the playoffs as a 7-seed or 8-seed and would be facing a first-round exit. No prospect is worth that.
But the Flyers are just three points out of a playoff spot as Wednesday’s action begins. So it’s not out of the question that they could make the playoffs with the current group they have.
One thing to consider with the Flyers upcoming offseason is what selling would do for them at this point.
There are essentially two significant talents in the Draft this offseason — Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier. After that, the prospects essentially level out to the point where the team that picks fifth has just as good a chance at landing a respectable prospect as the team that picks 28th. There isn’t much difference in terms of potential and certainly nothing Earth-shattering about any of these prospects, even the top two. This isn’t a battle for McDavid or Eichel or Matthews or Laine.
Another thing to consider is the group of prospects the Flyers already have. The Flyers don’t need more goalie prospects, with six attending development camp last year, not including Anthony Stolarz, who also fits into that grouping. Defensively, the Flyers have a solid group of blue liners rapidly approaching their NHL debuts.
With eight picks already owned in the upcoming Draft, picks are not a priority either, so while it may be nice to land an additional pick for impending free agents Mark Streit, Nick Schultz or Michael Del Zotto, it is not a requirement.
Which means that the deadline of 3 p.m. next Wednesday could come and go with no news from the Flyers.
It may not be what fans want to see and hear, since the team has been difficult to watch in its current state, but the Flyers may have to sacrifice what’s left of this year. There’s no disadvantage to holding onto players who will be gone at the end of the season, especially if it means making one final push for a playoff spot. There’s also no disadvantage to finding a way to unload those potential free agents, free up cap space early and give a few kids a try.
For the Flyers, they could just as easily get a draft pick in the Top 5 as they could make the playoffs. It’s that close.
What the Flyers do will ultimately have to be seen next Wednesday, but if previous years — especially years where the playoffs are still within reach — are any indication, it’s best to have no expectations at all.
