We are just 9 days away from the NHL Trade Deadline and things are starting to heat up. According to Elliott Friedman of Sportsnet, he confirmed on a recent episode of his 31 thoughts podcast he confirmed two things involving the Philadelphia Flyers.
He confirmed that Scott Laughton is drawing a lot of interest from around the league which I touched on in my blog from yesterday. The second thing he confirmed was a tad bit more interesting…
Friedman confirmed that the Flyers have been getting a few calls from teams on forwards Nolan Patrick and Travis Konecny.
Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard those guys names in trade rumors. During the off-season there was plenty of talk about Patrick and Konecny being involved in a potential trade for Patrik Laine. Obviously that didn’t happen as he was dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
So hearing Patrick and Konecny names being mentioned in trade rumors isn’t all that shocking. Friedman confirmed that after Nolan Patrick was benched during the third period of Monday’s game against Buffalo and scratched for Wednesdays game, the Flyers received a few calls about what the price could be for Patrick.
It’s no secret the Flyers have been disappointing this season and guys like Patrick and Konecny haven’t preformed up to their potential. However, if Fletcher is going to make a deadline move neither one of these guys should be involved unless you’re getting something major in return. Patrick is only 22 and is coming off a migraine issue that kept him out all of last season. No his game isn’t where it should be but from what I was seeing out of him he was starting to get going. Maybe not so much on the scoresheet but he was playing physical and you could see the effort being there.
As for Konecny, is only 24 and led the Flyers in goals last season. Has this season been disappointing for TK? Yes of course it has been but it’s not just one player that’s the problem it’s the whole team.
As much as I want Fletcher to make a move I don’t think it’s a smart idea to give up one or two of your top young talent. There’s deals out there that he can make without Patrick or Konecny. We will know by early next week if the Flyers will be buyers or sellers come the deadline based on how there next three games go.
-Walsh
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