The Philadelphia Flyers have been a surprisingly good team this season, currently sitting 15th in the NHL standings with a record of 30-22-7. As the trade deadline approaches, all eyes are on the Flyers and their two defensemen Sean Walker and Nick Seeler.
Walker has been having a career-high season, putting up 21 points on the season with 23 games left. Seeler, also having a solid year, is seen hustling every night, making crucial blocks and forcing clutch turnovers from the opposing teams.
Both players are playing well. On top of them being expiring contracts, their names have gained traction in trade talks across the league.
A Couple of Teams Have Asked Flyers About a Package Deal
Sources around the league are speculating about a package deal for both Walker and Seeler. As NHL insider Elliotte Friedman stated on the Saturday Headlines segment of Hockey Night in Canada:
“There are teams that have contacted the Flyers about both Nick Seeler and Sean Walker as a pair – they’ve been very good together this year. The Flyers are weighing whether or not to sign or trade them.”
With teams in dire need of a blue-line boost, the Flyers could very easily look into selling the defensemen. The two main teams that would be heavily interested, and who have already shown interest in Walker previously, include the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers.
Other teams that could use the defensive boost include the Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, and the New Jersey Devils.
Trading Walker and Seeler together would undoubtedly gain the Flyers valuable draft capital for the future of the team but would simultaneously sacrifice the quality of the potential playoff team’s defense.
If the Flyers decide to move on from Walker and Seeler, the team’s defensive quality drops dramatically. Unless they obtain quality players in return on top of draft capital, they most likely fall out of a playoff spot. Unfortunately, that also means landing a middle-of-the-first-round pick. It puts them seemingly back in the same rebuild mode they were just in the season previously.
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