It is officially the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for 16 teams. But for the other 16 teams, the offseason has begun. That includes the Philadelphia Flyers, who were eliminated from playoff contention in Game 82.
After wrapping up his rookie year as Flyers GM, Danny Briere stuck to his word. The focus has been on the long-term, and Briere has repeatedly stated that the Flyers are open for business and will consider anything that makes sense.
“That doesn’t mean there won’t be some changes,” Briere said at his exit interview last week. “We’re open for business. If there are hockey trades that make sense, we will. But we aren’t looking to move people for the sake of moving them.”
With that in mind, to make a hockey trade, you have to give to get. Could certain Flyers be on the way out? Here are five potential trade candidates.
Joel Farabee
During a recent 32 Thoughts from SportsNet’s Elliotte Friedman, it was discussed that one of those players could, in fact, be Joel Farabee.
“A lot of their young players, from Cam York to Morgan Frost to [Tyson] Foerster, improved their standing. Cam Atkinson made it sound like he will start anew in 2024-25, and the other one I wonder about is Joel Farabee.”
Despite setting career-high marks with 22 goals, 28 assists, and 50 points in 82 games, a struggle to find consistency in the second half of the season made it feel like the 24-year-old had a down year.
Farabee brings a lot to the lineup, and would certainly bolster a power-play unit, but it would take quite a lot to pry him away from Briere. Farabee’s name is certainly new to this discussion, but with a message of being “open for business,” everything could certainly be on the table.
Morgan Frost
A former first-round pick, Frost has been rumored to be in the trade mix for several months at this point, and it feels like they’ll never stop. After listening to both Briere and head coach John Tortorella’s breakup days, it seems like they are on two different pages when it comes to Frost.
Briere seems to be in favor of certainly keeping Frost – especially with the praise he had during his press conference. But with how Tortorella coaches, he might not fit his scheme.
One supportive reason is in how Tortorella benched Frost for the final half of the most important game in a do-or-die situation. If Frost is indeed traded, it would be a change-of-scenery type of trade.
It’s not that Frost doesn’t like Philadelphia, he more than likely thoroughly enjoys playing with this team, but at this point it wouldn’t be a surprise if he is tired of Tortorella’s mind games.
Egor Zamula
The Flyers have several young defensemen that are looking to solidify their place in the lineup. It certainly wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities for one of those defensemen to be moved in an effort to acquire more talent up front.
One name that could be thrown around is Egor Zamula. His game has grown immensely since arriving to Philadelphia, and this is not to suggest he is available. However, perhaps he could be in the right deal. It all depends on what Briere is looking to do.
Zamula could potentially be included in a bigger package. For example, if Briere is looking to move up into the draft, or to get a potential Top-6 center, that is where Zamula’s name could be tossed around. Briere himself mentioned last week that they have some younger defensemen they are comfortable with in Adam Ginning, Ronnie Attard, and Emil Andrae; all whom could push for a starting spot in the lineup.
Travis Konecny
“I love Philly.” This is how Konecny ended his breakup day when meeting with the media and at least hinted at what his thoughts were when asked about a potential contract extension.
Let’s face it, Konecny is a prototypical Flyer, exactly the kind of player that bleeds Orange and Black. However, he is 27 years old coming off of a career year with 33 goals and 68 points in 76 games played.
Konecny is going to have one more year of his current $5.5 million AAV cap hit from a six-year, $33 million extension back in the 2019-20 season. If the Flyers are looking to lock him up to a long-term extension, he’ll be in his mid 30’s by the time the deal expires.
Briere is going to be extremely busy this offseason, and deciding whether to keep Konecny or to unload him for an excessive amount of assets in return could prove to be the most important of the offseason and the rebuild. If Briere chooses the latter, he would certainly bring back multiple assets.
Cam Atkinson
This is probably the most obvious one, but Atkinson’s recent comments after his breakup day suggests he could be playing for another organization for the 2024-25 season.
“I think starting off the season, I had a lot of juice in the tank and was playing good and scoring goals and putting up points and that sort of thing,” Atkinson said. “I think the second half kind of got away from me a little bit as far as just the wear and tear and grind, but I still feel like I have a lot of juice left in the tank.”
With that being said, the options are limited regarding Atkinson. He either returns for a final prove-it year as his contract expires or gets bought out or traded.
In this scenario, it is certainly possible he will be gone one way or the other. The easiest option is to buy him out, and let him sign where he chooses. Obviously, it is not the greatest cap hit for a player who is in the second half of his career and unfortunately trending in the wrong direction. If Atkinson were to be traded, the Flyers would certainly need to retain salary and potentially throw in another asset as a sweetener.
All eyes will be on Briere again this year as this is going to be his second offseason as Philadelphia’s GM. This is going to be another productive year for Briere who will look to impress once again. After a notable offseason last year, he will look to see what changes he will need to make to get his team one step closer to completing this rebuild.
