3 early Flyers trade candidates after 2025 playoff elimination

The Flyers traded a first and second-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres for Rasmus Ristolainen before the 2021-22 season. That was seen as a dramatic overpay at the time and proved to be so in the first three years. This year, he was the best defenseman on their terrible team. He posted a positive plus/minus for the first time in his career and averaged 20 minutes per night. The Flyers should sell high now.

There may be a general manager who convinces themselves that Ristolainen is the top-pair defenseman their team is missing. That will not be the case, just ask the Flyers, but Briere doesn’t have to tell anyone that. Even if someone is looking for a second-pair defenseman, Ristolainen’s $5.1 million cap hit could be reasonable with the rising cap.

The Flyers should be calling any of the teams that slip in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Those teams will tell themselves they need to get stronger and harder to play against, which Ristolainen can provide. That may or may not be the case, depending on the team, especially if it is someone like the Oilers or Senators who have questionable postseason goaltending.

The Flyers need new goaltending

Speaking of teams that need a new goalie, the Flyers had the worst goaltending in the league over the past two seasons. Ivan Fedotov came over from Russia with a lot of hype and has been miserable so far. Samuel Ersson has not lived up to expectations either. So, the Flyers should move on from at least Fedotov this offseason.

This will not be a trade that the Flyers get a ton of assets back for. They already have two first-round picks and three second-rounders in this year’s draft, plus the 2027 first-rounder. They need to fix their goaltending, so opening up the roster spot and salary cap space is the first step. Dumping Fedotov would give them a chance to sign Jacob Markstrom after next season or Freddie Anderson this summer.

The Flyers are far away from accumulating the talent to compete for the playoffs. But without great goaltending, they are never going to even scare the postseason in a deep Eastern Conference. This can be the first step to fixing that problem.

Flip a pick for a top-end trade piece

The Flyers have seven picks in the first two rounds this year and the extra 2027 first-round pick. They may even get another high-end pick from trading Ristolainen or a similar player this offseason. They need to restock their pipeline by using those picks, but they could trade one of them for a big player on the move.

Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson has one year left on his deal and could be traded if Calgary wants to continue rebuilding. The Ducks could trade Trevor Zegras, which would be a fascinating fit with the Flyers. And the Kings may want to accumulate some picks for Adrian Kempe instead of giving him the big extension. Those are just a few of the players Philadelphia could pick up with one of its picks.

The Flyers need to change dramatically to compete for the playoffs. While their identity will always be hard-hitting and tough to play against, they need to score, too. This offseason should be about adding elite offensive talent and fixing their goaltending. These trades are the first of many moves to help that process.