Photo Credit: Derik Hamilton, AP

I think we can all agree that the Four Nations Championships far exceeded most of our expectations. But, it’s time for the Flyers General Manager Danny Briere to get back to the business at hand.

As I’m sure you remember, right before the break, Danny decided to chalk this season up as a loss and went out and finally found a buyer for both Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee when he shipped the pair off to the Calgary Flames on January 31st. But now, with the NHL’s March 7th Trade Deadline looming ever closer, he will be faced with the much more complex decision of whether he should continue with the fire sale of players from his current roster in order to gain more draft pick compensation and or cap space. Or retain them and continue to settle for their ongoing state of mediocrity.

What makes this impending decision seem like Briere will choose the latter is the fact that the players that prospecting teams are calling Danny about are ones that he is not exactly enthused to move out.

Scott Laughton

Case in point: their long-standing veteran Scott Laughton. Now, Scott, who is rapidly approaching 31 years of age, was drafted by the Flyers in the first round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and has been a consummate professional over the years. He is well known and respected around the league for always giving 110% out there, applying himself both on the forecheck and the backcheck. To add to that, Laughton has never complained over the years, despite being asked by the Flyers to play up and down the lineup and being moved from center to the wing position on a whim.

However, as good a teammate as he is both on and off the ice, Scott lacks the offensive prowess his team so desperately needs, which makes him nothing more than a depth forward. And, while every team needs a couple of those kinds of reliable players to round out their rosters. The Flyers could stand to move on from this defensively responsible forward, especially if doing so gives them the chance to draft a more dynamic one, because let’s face it, they would still have exact clones of Laughton in the form of Sean Couturier, Ryan Poehling, and Noah Cates.

What’s his worth on the open market, you might be asking? Well, I assure you it’s certainly not what the Flyers are currently asking for him, seeing that most rumor sights have confirmed that any trade involving Scott would acquire opposing teams to give Philadelphia a first-round pick and possibly an already-drafted prospect.

And I don’t know about you, but I think that price seems a little steep, considering Laughton has only managed to post an average of 8 goals and 22 points a season over his 12-year NHL career.

However, what makes him desirable to the masses is the fact that Laughton is signed for a very reasonable $ 3,000,000 through the end of next season, which would be quite the bargain compared to the other rumored centers on the market like Yanni Gourde from Seattle who makes $5,166,667 a year, Brock Nelson of the Islanders who makes $6,000,000 a season, Dylan Cozens of the Sabers who makes $7.1 million a season, or Elias Pettersson of the Canucks who rakes in a whopping $ 11,600,000 a year.

With that being said, let’s take a look at which team may be the best suitor for his services and what the Flyers should be asking from them in return.

While the Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Ottawa Senators have all at least kicked the tires on Laughton, I believe the team that has shown the most interest in his services would be:

The Toronto Maple Leafs

It has been rumored for weeks now that the Maple Leafs have been scouting Scotty, and it makes sense, seeing that he was born in nearby Oakville, Ontario, and would be a much-needed upgrade down the middle over guys like Pontus Holmberg and David Kampf who are currently taking draws for the Leafs on their bottom six.

Acquiring Laughton and slotting him in behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares would allow them to solidify three excellent lines.

But to do so, they are going to have to convince Briere to part with his beloved Laughton since he’s not really shopping Scott and is only willing to take calls for him. They better come correct, which means since the Leafs no longer have ownership of their first-round selection in this draft. I would suggest they offer up Florida’s second-round pick, which they currently possess, and throw a prospect’s name out there that Briere is going to be familiar with. And that’s Easton Cowan.

Cowan is a 19-year-old center/wing that the Leafs drafted in the 1st round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Easton, who has 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points for the London Knights of the OHL this season, is already signed to an entry-level deal and often plays on the same line as Flyers prospects Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk. So, there’s no doubt Briere is familiar with Cowan and would be at least intrigued enough to spark serious conversation to the point both teams could hopefully agree to a deal.

Rasmus Ristolainen

The next player that Danny has been receiving calls about, and with whom he will have to make a decision on whether he wants to part ways or not, is his 30-year-old right-hand shooting defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. When Risto first came to the Flyers, fans were overcome with excitement because they thought he would bring with him some much-needed grit and physicality. Like the kind, they lost when Pronger retired and Radko Gudas was traded.

But the player they got, turned out to be much different than the one fans were forced to watch destroy their orange and black for so many seasons before trading for him. He played more reserved and less on the edge, and for at least the first three seasons he was here, Rasmus showed them why he is still a career -178 defenseman.

This year, however, has been different. While still lacking the testosterone that he once played with, Rasmus has been playing more defensively responsible, to the point where, for the first time in his career, he finds himself maintaining a plus average. (+4).

And, with that being said, Briere isn’t exactly eager to move the towering Finnish blueliner, who is signed through the next two seasons at a reasonable $5.1 million a season.

As far as potential suitors, I would say it would be between Edmonton and Winnipeg.

Edmonton is probably the one in more need, but with far less to offer, considering the Flyers sent the 32nd pick in this last draft to the Oilers for the rights to their 2025 or 2026 first-round pick. The conditions are that it will most likely be the 2025 pick since it is only Top 12 protected, and the Oilers don’t look like they are going to finish in the bottom half of the league this season.

So, in my opinion, if the Flyers want to make room next season for younger, more cap-friendly options already in their system, like defensemen Emil Andrae, Adam Ginning, Helge Grans, or Oliver Bonk then I would say the better option to get more from the return would be to make a deal with…

The Winnipeg Jets

The Jets are currently leading the league in points with (81), and they still hold the rights to their first-round pick this summer. So they might be willing to give it up to obtain a solid defender with multiple years still on his contract seeing that this Manitoba providence has trouble selling themselves to free agents, barring the fact that it holds a record low temp of -54 degrees. And its “Snowy Period” has been known to last nearly seven months!

And with them now wisely locking up their now two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goalie, Connor Hellebuyck, for many years to come, they might be willing to part with more assets in order to make him happy.

So, what should the Flyers ask for the next time the Jets do come calling? Well, with Ristolainen now playing some of the best hockey of his life and not being just another rental player like others on the market, I would feel safe asking for the Jets 1st rounder this year.

If they are unwilling to do that, then seeing that they don’t have possession of their second-round pick because it now belongs to the New Jersey Devils, I would ask for one of their top-drafted prospects who are thriving right now.

Braden Yager

A bold move would be to ask for the 20-year-old center who stands at 6’0 tall and possesses an absolute cannon of a shot, who they acquired from the Penguins in exchange for the disgruntled Rutger McGroarty, but the probability of them agreeing to that trade considering they just traded for him themselves back in August is very low.

Colby Barlow

So, my ask if I were in charge would be for their 2023 first-round pick, forward Colby Barlow, who, despite only playing in 50 games last year in the OHL, he still managed to score 40 goals. Barlow is 6’1 and 194 pounds, and just like Yager, he too has an absolutely fantastic shot. He’s signed on a rookie deal until the end of the 26-27 season and would, no doubt in my mind, immediately improve the Flyers’ horrendous power play unit.

And, if this trade meant that the Flyers would need to take on a bad contract to even the books out, then they could take on 31-year-old Alex Iafallo, whose $4 million a year contract is due up at season’s end.

These are just two examples of trades that the Flyers could make if they wanted to continue to purge players in the pursuit of becoming a contender again. The question is, will Danny be daring enough to try it, or will he stand fast with the player he has now and see what he can do come draft day?