With a number of coveted players and assets in their possession, the Philadelphia Flyers are all the rage in the rampant trade rumors taking over the hockey world in the last few days.
While most are expecting the Flyers to part ways with struggling players or veterans who would be most useful for Stanley Cup contenders, there is also the possibility that one of their key young players is moved to address a need elsewhere.
In Tuesday’s “Daily Faceoff Live”, NHL insider Frank Seravalli reported that the Ottawa Senators are open for business, seeking reinforcements on defense in the wake of Artem Zub’s broken foot and harboring some interest in swapping forwards with another NHL team.
One of those teams the Senators are likely to have talked to, according to Seravalli, is the Philadelphia Flyers.
“I think one of the teams they’ve been in dialogue with has been the Philadelphia Flyers,” Seravalli said of the Senators. “There’s a bunch of guys I think are up for a change of scenery for the Flyers. I think Morgan Frost, Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee… to a lesser extent, Tyson Foerster. They’re all guys you could see on the move at some point in time.”
Why Flyers could trade Tyson Foerster
By now, we all know that Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee are Flyers players who have drawn varying amounts of trade interest over the last two offseasons. And given that Frost has been a healthy scratch for a good chunk of the month, there is probably a level of inevitability with him in that regard.
The one name that might surprise fans, though, is Tyson Foerster.
Foerster, 22, broke onto the scene as a 21-year-old rookie last season, finishing his first full NHL campaign with 20 goals, 13 assists, and 33 points in 77 games. As was expected from a player with his inexperience, Foerster was up and down and struggled to score consistently for swaths of the season.
The Flyers could have inked Foerster to a contract extension starting on July 1, but general manager Danny Briere hinted that, sometimes, it is better to let players play out the final years of their contracts before jumping into the next one.
Foerster hasn’t really improved from Year 1 to Year 2; so far, he has four goals, two assists, and six points in 21 games, has already served as a healthy inactive once, and is averaging 2:07 less ice time (15:09) from last season (17:16).
Aside from Foerster’s contractual situation and apparent regression, he is also not a very fast skater. Head coach John Tortorella previously commented the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes as being fast teams and used the Hurricanes as an example of the team the Flyers aspire to be in the future.
Unless Foerster settles into a bottom-six checking role, he doesn’t have the speed to play higher in the lineup and be a featured player on a team like those.
And if Foerster is forced to become a checker with the Flyers, his potential could be wasted compared to getting an opportunity with a team that plays a different style of hockey.
From a Flyers perspective, it seems they have more than their fair share of options when it comes to evaluating and making moves for the future. Let’s see where this one goes.
