Flyers Can Advance Rebuild by Making These 3 Bold Moves

Probably the biggest reason why Ron Hextall failed as the Flyers’ general manager (GM) in the 2010s was because he never made any moves that put his team in one direction or the other. Philadelphia was in constant mediocrity during his tenure — that’s the direction they seem to be headed in now.

Thankfully, GM Danny Briere seems to be too smart to let the Orange and Black repeat history like this. He hasn’t revealed too much about his offseason plans, but he was also relatively bold in his first offseason in 2023. He should—and likely will—take risks in 2024, as well.

We can say the Flyers need to take risks, but what are they actually? What can the Flyers do to move themselves in the right direction once and for all?

A Mitch Marner Trade

If the Flyers are seriously against a “tank” of sorts and seeing some regression in 2024-25 record-wise, they have but one good alternative. They will need to make a splash to get some offensive talent in the future anyway, so they might as well get it out of the way early — the Flyers should consider trading for Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner if that’s the route they want to take.

It’s important to preface that Marner controls his own destiny with a no-movement clause (NMC), but he is also in the last season of a $10.9 million average annual value contract. After scoring just three points in his first-round series against the Boston Bruins, a series that the Maple Leafs ultimately lost, there is speculation that he could be on the way out.

There’s a certain stigma around Marner that, frankly, is pretty ridiculous. The big gripe many have with his game is his playoff performances, but he isn’t that different from star players making a similar amount of money.

Historically and in the past three seasons, he has more points per 60 (P/60), a better expected goals against per 60 (xGA/60), expected goals percentage (xGF%), and a similar average ice time as $10 million forward Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers. The latter gets plenty of playoff praise, while Marner doesn’t get the same love. Yes, Marner’s postseason numbers are down from his regular season totals, but he is still a fantastic player at both ends of the ice. The Maple Leafs would be pretty silly to trade him for one bad series, but that’s a potential reality.

Marner, who has an 82-game point pace of 100 from his 2018-19 campaign through 2023-24, is a borderline superstar in the NHL. Seeing as he is one of the premier defensive forwards in the league, too, it should take a lot to acquire him.

Since Eric Lindros left the Flyers, there hasn’t been a player on the team that has been a tier above Marner; a deal would give the Orange and Black a massive building block that they desperately need. While he is 27 years of age, he should have enough prime years left in him to give prospect Matvei Michkov a team he can win with.

As for what an actual deal could look like, a player like Travis Konecny with salary retention would likely be appetizing to the Maple Leafs. As well, they might want a defenseman like Travis Sanheim or Rasmus Ristolainen, some future early-round draft picks, and perhaps a prospect like Denver Barkey or Oliver Bonk. That’s a pretty sizable package, so a trade would take some commitment. They need top-end players — this is just one solution.

If the Flyers keep their 12th pick for the 2024 draft in this hypothetical, they could have a pretty lethal top-six of Marner, Michkov, Owen Tippett, and Tyson Foerster on the wings, and a prospect like Konsta Helenius or Berkly Catton plus Morgan Frost down the middle. Building up the defense and some depth through future drafts, free agency, and trades would make this a seriously formidable core.

Trading up in the 2024 NHL Draft

Dealing a bunch of assets for a player like Marner would take away a lot of the Flyers’ freedoms, which is one of the major downsides of that move. If they want an alternative way to getting a star player, trading up in the 2024 NHL Draft is certainly a viable option.

The Flyers have a late first-round pick that they can use to trade up with, but they’d likely have to couple another solid draft pick or even a prospect with that. While it would help the Flyers land another potential star, that seems a bit counterintuitive. Instead, the Flyers could consider trading a roster player for an early pick.

Someone like Konecny or Sanheim could be enough fuel by themselves to land a pick around where the Flyers are picking. If they can get the 13th pick from the Minnesota Wild with one of those players, for example, then they could take someone like Helenius and defenseman Carter Yakemchuk back-to-back. If something of that nature were to happen, the Flyers’ prospect pool would officially emerge as one of the best the NHL has to offer.

Moving Other Flyer Veterans

If the Flyers want to truly embrace a rebuild that puts them at the bottom of the standings for the short term, there will be some trades that need to happen. We’ve already mentioned Konecny and Sanheim a few times, but veterans like Ristolainen, Scott Laughton, Joel Farabee, and Sean Couturier—if he is willing to waive his NMC—would all be on the block.

This wouldn’t keep the Flyers from winning in the long term, but it would free up some cap space to help them build around Michkov, return some assets, and potentially enable them to select a top-notch prospect in the 2025 NHL Draft. Philadelphia would likely not be trading these players at their absolute peak value, so the returns might not be life-changing, but there are still more positives to this than having an average season where not much other than “experience” is acquired.

The Flyers’ 2024-25 campaign might be one where they truly establish themselves as a playoff team by acquiring talent, or it could be a long one where they eagerly await the draft. Those two options are, objectively, better than the purgatory that was the Hextall era. If the Flyers want to win a championship in the future, remaining passive is probably not the way to do it. It failed once, and it will likely fail again; expect Briere to change his team’s trajectory.