With the Stanley Cup Final agonizingly taking forever to wrap up, other NHL teams decided they couldn’t wait and decided to start the offseason with a bang. The New Jersey Devils acquired Jacob Markström from the Calgary Flames, the Washington Capitals swapped out Darcy Kuemper for Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Los Angeles Kings, and it is now being reported that the Philadelphia Flyers and the Ottawa Senators have the framework of a deal in place ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft, according to TSN’s Travis Yost.
The Senators have a been in the ears of the Flyers for quite some time, dating back to the Chuck Fletcher era. Ottawa has had their eyes reportedly set on players like Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton in the past and the Flyers expressed interest in Jakob Chychrun and Mathieu Joseph this past season.
While the details of this possible deal are currently unknown, it has been widely believed the Senators have been looking to move on from their 7th overall pick ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft, while the Flyers have had interest in moving up from the 12th spot.
The 2024 NHL Entry Draft is already filled with a lot of intrigue and there are at least 4 teams in the top-11 that are willing to trade their picks. New Jersey has been open from the onset of the offseason that their 10th overall pick is in play for a deal that would help them immediately. Buffalo missed the playoffs for the 13th consecutive year and the pressure is mounting on the ownership group to right the ship as soon as possible, which means pick #11 is also on the table.
The newly formed Utah Hockey Club are another team looking to make a splash this summer as they try to cast away from the Coyotes’ shadow and while they could certainly use the 6th overall pick this summer to expedite their rebuild, if the right deal were in place, they wouldn’t hesitate.
The same can be said for the Senators who are also under a new ownership group that is trying to right the sinking ship as soon as possible. Both clubs have good young players either on the roster or in the pipeline but desperately want and are in need of star talent and veterans.
David Pagnotta and Anthony Di Marco from The Fourth Period all but confirmed this in their recent podcast appearance yesterday. It was also mentioned that depending on how the first four picks fall into place, the Montréal Canadiens are open to moving their first rounder, currently slated at #5. They are very interested in Ivan Demidov but the odds are currently slim that he escapes the clutches of the top-4.
As for the Flyers, Laughton could be the most obvious candidate as the veteran top-9 forward has generated a lot of interest and buzz throughout the NHL over the last few years. Teams like Toronto, Buffalo, and St. Louis among others have tried in the past to secure his services but if Ottawa is trying again, the 7th overall pick is a great start.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a one-for-one deal, there would have to be several other pieces – most likely the Flyers’ 12th overall pick as well – but it’s interesting that Daniel Brière and company want to move up this year. Macklin Celebrini is the unanimous choice for pick number one, and Anton Silayev, Artyom Levshunov, and Demidov are expected to be top-five picks, which could leave the likes of Cayden Lindstrom, Zayne Parekh, Zeev Buium, and Sam Dickinson ripe for the taking at 7 – all of whom are defensemen with the exception of Lindstrom.
This deal could also just involve players with the Flyers having talked to Ottawa about the likes of Shane Pinto, Tyler Boucher, Joseph, and Chychrun in the last year or so. Pinto is currently scheduled to be an RFA this summer, Chychrun has one year left at a cap hit of $4.6 million, Joseph is a top-9 forward with 2 years remaining with a cap hit of $2.95 million, and Boucher has 2 years remaining on his ELC.
Brière was reportedly one of many general managers who inquired about Pinto this season. The 23-year-old was suspended for the first 41 games this past season for violating the league’s gambling policy. He signed a one-year deal worth $775,000 in January of this season before making his season debut. Upon his return, he scored 9 goals and 27 points in 41 games and was +9, won 50.6% of his draws, and averaged 18:07 TOI. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and if the Flyers inquired before, there’s a good chance they’re inquiring again on the soon-to-be RFA.
With the draft just nine days away, things are starting to heat up with a lot of teams trying to take advantage of the recent spike in the projected salary cap. Brière has had a sensational first year as general manager of the Flyers, at least compared to his predecessors, and if he is able to get another deal done that not only helps the club in the future but in the present as well, he’s surely the right man for the rebuild and the “New Era of Orange.”
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