PhHN Daily: Flyers RFA Update; Laughton Notes; Chatter Around the NHL

The March 7th NHL trade deadline is drawing closer and closer. The Flyers still have two players that could be right in the mix.

Trades and rumors are starting to pick up, and conversation around the league is heating up.

Today’s edition of the PhHN Daily: an update on Cam York’s contract situation, more notes on the ever evolving Scott Laughton situation, a goalie change in Pittsburgh, a big injury in New Jersey, and an update on a Metropolitan division foe.

Flyers Talk

On 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliote Friedman offered his notes on Cam York’s current contract situation. York is a RFA at the end of the season.

“All of a sudden Philly has a bunch of D, and people have kind of wondered what does this mean for the future of all of this. They talked to Cam York about extension and it didn’t go anywhere so we will see where that goes.” Friedman said.

Just over a month ago, during his mid-season press conference, Flyers’ GM Daniel Briere said he had not yet engaged in contract talks with any of the Flyers’ pending RFAs. Since then, Briere has traded one of the pending RFAs, Morgan Frost, to Calgary. He gained another pending RFA in Jakob Pelletier in that same trade.

Using deduction, contract talks have taken place within the last month, so a lack of progress should not be worrisome… yet.

According to Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects, there are teams in the Eastern Conference that are seriously considering meeting the Flyers’ high asking price on Scott Laughton.

It has been said for some time that the Flyers’ asking price for Laughton starts at a first-round pick. However, it’ll likely require more to lure Laughton away from the Flyers, who have expressed his desire to remain in Philadelphia.

In that same 32 Thoughts: The Podcast episode mentioned earlier, Friedman noted that the Flyers have received an offer including a first-round pick for Laughton before, to which the Flyers opted to keep him around.

With the Flyers sneaking back into the race, they may choose to keep their team together unless the price is absolutely right.

Around the NHL

The Penguins have recalled goaltender Tristan Jarry from AHL Scranton Wilkes-Barre, and loaned 23-year-old netminder Joel Blomqvist back to the SWB Penguins.

There hasn’t been much consistency in net for the Penguins this season. Pittsburgh waived Jarry earlier in the season with the intent of sending him down to the AHL, where he has been since. Between Blomqvist and Alex Nedelijkovic, Blomqvist has certainly been better. However, with his young age, it made more sense to send him down to play meaningful minutes in the AHL and continue his development.

Maybe we could see the Flyers do something similar with Aleksei Kolosov in the near future.

In their 2-0 loss to Vegas last night, Devils’ star Jack Hughes exited the game with an apparent shoulder injury. After a collision in the boards with Vegas star Jack Eichel, Hughes skated to the bench with his shoulder hanging. As James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now said, if it is a shoulder injury, it is the same shoulder Hughes had surgically repaired last spring.

If Hughes is out long-term, it is a devastating blow to the Devils, as they are still right in the middle of the cup hunt. They were just getting back at full strength, too, with recent returns from Jacob Markstrom and Nico Hischier.

The Devils still have plenty of star power in their top-six. Maybe this will make them even more aggressive in their search for a center at the deadline–maybe Scott Laughton could find himself remaining in the Metropolitan Division.

Darren Dreger of TSN reported that the Sabres have fielded “strong offers for futures on a myriad of players.” He noted that Buffalo does not need prospects or draft picks; it needs right-now players.

That said, Dreger said he expects things to be quiet for Buffalo this trade deadline.

You have to wonder, with players like Bowen Bryam, Dylan Cozens, Alex Tuch, and JJ Peterka drawing interest around the league, if the Flyers are one of the teams considering making a move for one of Buffalo’s young players. Especially given Dreger’s expectation of it being a quiet deadline for Buffalo, it makes sense that the Flyers could be in on one of these guys, given that their only trade assets are draft picks and prospects.

The long drawn out Buffalo rebuild looks like it will continue.