There is a solid chance the Philadephia Flyers start dumping assets this season. A team that made offseason changes to positively affect the locker room culture, things haven’t gone as the organization would have hoped and the team has struggled, coaches have been fired and injuries have hampered the team, all leading to speculation that star players might be on the move.
All that said, as per Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic, don’t expect the Flyers to write off the season just yet. While there’s talk the club might start selling off major assets, specifically someone like Claude Giroux, there is a belief that this, one, isn’t the right time, and two, the season isn’t lost.
If the Flyers do inevitably look at trading Giroux that decision could come later in the season. Even if the Flyers believe internally that things will get worse before they get better, moving Giroux now won’t fetch the best return. O’Connor notes that these types of trades typically don’t happen at this time of the season and the Flyers will want the most possible in any trade if they move the face of their franchise.
O’Connor writes:
The market isn’t exactly chock-full of buyers at the moment. Sell-offs just don’t happen in early December, for the obvious reason that it’s much harder to create the kind of bidding war necessary for a rebuilding club to receive maximum return on their assets. That won’t happen until closer to the deadline, when urgency in the form of the looming playoffs is at its peak.
When Do the Flyers Make That Deal?
Trading Giroux won’t be an easy decision if the Flyers choose to explore the option. One, he’s got a no-move clause in his contract, giving him a ton of control over what happens in the final season of his current contract. And, even if he was willing to go, the fan base won’t love the idea of moving Giroux, who has been a staple on that team for 15 seasons now.
The return has to be worth it and the player has to feel it’s time to move on. Anything less would likely be a mistake.
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