The 2018-19 season is a lost cause for the Philadelphia Flyers. For a fanbase expecting to experience a step forward this year, the failure of this campaign is tough to swallow. However, it is a reality and General Manager, Chuck Fletcher, needs to shift his focus to the future.
When Flyers fans hear the phrase “focus on the future,” they cringe a bit. They’ve endured rough years patiently while the organization went through a supposed rebuild already and they are eager to witness their beloved Flyers get back to winning ways. In reality, Philadelphia does not need to go through a dramatic rebuilding phase. If the correct moves at the trade deadline and during the offseason, the Flyers could be respectable and competitive as early as next season. However, if that were to happen, Fletcher needs to be willing to trade other assets and not just expiring contracts. Some of those assets might come from the Flyers bountiful pool of prospects.
Here are three prospects that could help bring in a valuable NHL-roster piece via trade.
Matthew Strome
The former fourth-round pick continues to demonstrate an ability to produce offense in the Ontario Hockey League. However, I am not sure the Flyers view him as an intricate piece to their plans. Though his skating has improved, it’s not a place where we can confidently say it’s no longer an issue. There could be a general manager that values Strome more than Philadelphia, and he could be a valuable piece of a trade. In no way, shape, or form do I think Strome is going to bring in an NHL talent on his own. Still, I do think he could be packaged in a deal to make it happen.
Jay O’Brien
Center is a position where the Flyers are incredibly deep, in regards to prospects. The fact that O’Brien is a former first-round pick helps increase intrigue. Now, this is not a case of Philadelphia giving up on O’Brien so soon. Yes, his freshman campaign at Providence has not been ideal, but that is due to injury struggles. This is merely a situation where Fletcher takes a prospect from a position of great depth and looks to capitalize on one of his highly-regarded assets.
Samuel Ersson
Ersson is having a fantastic season in the Allsvenskan and is starting to get a lot of attention thrown his way. Though Ersson’s success is nothing but good news, the present and future of Philadelphia’s net belongs to Carter Hart. If another team is high on Ersson, Fletcher could get a nice piece in return for a package that includes the young netminder. An argument can be made that there’s no such thing as enough quality goalie depth and Hart will eventually need a capable back-up. However, I think the best back for Hart will be a seasoned veteran for the foreseeable future. The Flyers will get more value out of Ersson trading him instead of keeping him.
Former General Manager, Ron Hextall, was always against trading away future assets. For the most part, I’m okay with that mentality. Still, if the Flyers want to get better sooner rather than later, some prospects are going to need to be dealt. Strome, O’Brien, and Ersson could all bring back a decent return without the prospect pool taking a serious hit.
Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
