Quick Hits: June 22, 2023
1) Today at 11 AM, Flyers general manager Danny Briere and assistant general manager Brent Flahr will hold a press conference at the FTC in Voorhees to discuss the upcoming 2023 NHL Entry Draft in Nashville. Later today, I will have a Five Takeaways article for PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
2) Nearly as much the NHL trade deadline and the opening of free agency season, the NHL Entry Draft is silly season on steroids when it comes to trade rumors. One must separate the wheat from the chaff; and there's a whole lot of chaff and misdirection even when it originates from legitimate sources. There are at least six Flyers players tied to trade rumors, which was almost inevitable as soon as Briere said "we're open for business" at his press conference when the interim tag was officially removed from his GM title and Keith Jones was named as president of hockey operations. The Ivan Provorov trade, which went down exceptionally early in the offseason, also poured fuel on other trade rumors.
There is no doubt that Briere has fielded a higher-than-average volume of trade inquiries, and has already initiated some. But let's not get carried away here. I strongly doubt the Flyers will come home from Nashville having made anything approaching six trades or that they will end up with having made multiple top 50 picks in next week's Draft over and above the two they already hold (seventh and 22nd overall).
On the flip side, there does seem to be legitimate legs to rumors around multiple teams (Detroit being most often mentioned) pursuing Travis Konecny. Whether a trade is ultimately consummated remains to be seen but there's enough out there from legitimately connected folks to believe there is more than just routine tire kicking (in other words, at least one actual offer made and not just availability queries).
In regard to Kevin Hayes, around whom there is zero secret that the Flyers are looking to trade, Philadelphia is dealing from a position of weakness that could involve significant salary retention for three seasons and/or absorbing another team's albatross contract in return. But when there's a will, there's a way. Just don't except a "win" of a deal in terms of players and/or assets coming back.
Tony DeAngelo very much wants to stay with the Flyers and even John Tortorella indicated that he's willing to continue working together with DeAngelo despite having disciplined the player with being scratched in each of the final five games of the 2022-23 season. Could a trade go down over the next week? Yes, certainly, but I still think it's more likely that DeAngelo ultimately stay with his hometown club until close to the 2023-24 trade deadline and then is moved at that point.
Like all players who were on Team Canada at the 2017-18 World Junior Championships, I don't there is anything that is likely to happen trade-wise with Carter Hart until the investigation is officially closed and findings are publicly released. Even then, I don't know that the Flyers would get the sort of trade offer that would compel them to pull the trigger. It's notoriously tough to get full value from a goalie-centered trade. Also, by then, the 2023 Draft will be done. Unless a deal would be tied someone drafted by another club, any assets coming back would be for the 2024 or 2025 Draft.
I have no doubt of the legitimacy of rumors centering around player-caliber teams having strong interest in Scott Laughton (possibly with at least one having offered a late first-round pick). Whether or not something goes down remains to be seen. I do know that the Flyers had a conditional first-round pick offer for Laughton previously when he was coming up on potential unrestricted free agency but Laughton wanted to stay in Philly and former GM Chuck Fletcher wanted to keep him, so Philly turned down the offer and instead signed Laughton to an extension.
Briere has made clear that he'll listen to offers on anyone currently signed to an NHL contract and on most prospects (with the reported exception of 2022 first-round pick Cutter Gauther). So while the odds are against any huge volume of bonafide trades coming to fruition, there can always be surprises. Someone I consider a reliable source, for example, said there's been tire-kicking around Joel Farabee but the Flyers have no interest in selling low on the 23-year-old winger. If a team were to comes in with a serious offer to present, that could change but the same could be said about most anyone.
In other words, "open for business" is pretty much "business as usual" with a lot more talk than action. Listening to offers isn't the same as actively shopping a player and bonafide trades can either develop quickly, over a lengthy period of time with multiple stages of conversation or anywhere in between.
3) Yesterday, hockey operations advisors John LeClair and Patrick Sharp held Zoom press conferences to discuss their respective new -- and overlapping -- roles with the organization. Watch the sessions below:
JOHN LECLAIR
Watch live as Flyers Special Advisor John LeClair meets with the media. https://t.co/EdqpFLNF5i
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) June 21, 2023
PATRICK SHARP
Watch live as Flyers Special Advisor Patrick Sharp meets with the media. https://t.co/PgYlMX03X7
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) June 21, 2023
4) Congratulations to former Flyers head coach (and assistant coach during his first stint in the organization) Ken Hitchcock for his selection to the 2023 induction class of the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builders category. "Hitch" is the fourth HHOF inductee based primarily on his coaching career to have served as Flyers head coach, joining Fred Shero, Pat Quinn and Roger Nielson. Keith Allen is also a HHOF inductee in the Builders category and served as the Flyers inaugural coach for the team's first two seasons but his primary contributions were as a legendary general manager. In the early 2000s, Bill Barber became the Flyers' head coach for two seasons and won the Jack Adams Award in 2001-02 but he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player back in 1990.
5) Yesterday, the Flyers announced their 2023 preseason schedule. The schedule is as follows:
Monday, Sept. 25 New Jersey Devils Prudential Center 7PM Wednesday, Sept. 27 New York Islanders UBS Arena 7PM Friday, Sept. 29 Boston Bruins TD Garden 7PM Saturday, Sept. 30 New Jersey Devils Wells Fargo Center 7PM Monday, Oct. 2 Boston Bruins Wells Fargo Center 7PM Thursday, Oct. 5 New York Islanders Wells Fargo Center 7PM