Every NHL team is in the same boat today in one regard: On trade deadline day, it's a little harder for coaches to keep their players' fully focused on practice. The locker room laughter is a bit more of the nervous variety. Although most players have a good sense if they are a trade candidate, there is still that bit of uncertainty that keeps them on edge.
Historically, the Flyers tend to make their major moves (if any) ahead of the actual deadline day, although there are always a wave of rumors right up to the final minutes -- and then even for an hour or two beyond it because not all finalized deals are announced by the NHL by the 2 p.m. cutoff.
In 1999, for example, the Flyers did not announce their re-acquistion of Steve Duchesne from Los Angeles for several hours because the other party involved in the trade (veteran defenseman Dave Babych) had not yet been reached for notification.
This year, it is not expected that the Flyers will make any major moves today involving the acquisition or departure of current NHL roster players but that, of course, could change (and is part of the allure of deadline day for many people). The team is definitely in the market for a checking forward, but cap space is a problem as is the need to move someone off the reserve list to bring in another player.
The most significant Philadelphia trade deadline day acquisition of semi-recent vintage was the 2007 trade that brought goaltender Martin Biron to the Flyers in exchange for a 2nd round draft pick in that summer's draft. Here's a complete list at the team's deadline day trade moves since 1992:
1992: None
1993: None
1994: Traded Pelle Eklund to Dallas for future considerations.
1995: Acquired Petr Svoboda from Buffalo for Garry Galley.
1996: None
1997: Acquired Frantisek Kucera from Chicago for future considerations.
1998: Acquired Dan McGillis from Edmonton for Janne Niinimaa. Acquired Dave Babych from Vancouver for 1998 3rd round pick.
1999: Acquired Steve Duchesne from Los Angeles for Dave Babych and 2000 5th round pick. Acquired Craig Berube from Washington for future considerations.
2000: Acquired Kent Manderville from Carolina for Sandy McCarthy.
2001: Acquired Dean MacAmmond from Chicago for 2001 3rd round pick. Acquired Matt Herr from Washington for Dean Melanson.
2002: Acquired Adam Oates from Washington for Maxime Ouellet and 2007 1st round, 2nd round and 3rd round picks.
2003: Acquired Peter White from Chicago for future considerations.
2004: None
2005: No season (NHL lockout)
2006: Acquired Denis Gauthier from Phoenix for Josh Gratton and two 2006 2nd round picks (originally belonging to Florida and Tampa Bay). Acquired Niko Dimitrakos from San Jose for 2006 3rd round pick (later transferred to Columbus, used to select Tom Sestito).
2007: Acquired Martin Biron from Buffalo for 2007 2nd round pick.
2008: None (Acquired Vaclav Prospal from Tampa Bay the previous night for Alexandre Picard and 2009 2nd round pick).
2009: Acquired Dan Carcillo from Phoenix for Scotty Upshall and 2011 2nd round pick. Acquired Kyle McLaren from San Jose for 2009 2nd round pick (trade nullified two days later when McLaren failed his physical).
2010: None
2011: Acquired Tom Sestito from Columbus for Michael Chaput and Greg Moore.
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