In a perfect world, the Philadelphia Flyers will come out of the trade deadline having found suitors for James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Hayes, Justin Braun, and even Nick Seeler.
That would open up two roster spots within the forwards as well as at least one vacancy on defense. If the Flyers, and more importantly John Tortorella, want to reap the rewards of this final stretch to see what they truly possess on the NHL roster as well as down on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, now would be the time.
The NHL’s trade deadline is quickly approaching and it sounds like the only real concrete move they’ll be making is trading van Riemsdyk and while that’s a good step, it’s also nothing to pat themselves on the back for. Similar to last season, they should be using this time to assess and examine what they have in certain prospects who are currently thriving with the Phantoms.
Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, Ronnie Attard, and recently recalls Olle Lycksell and Elliot Desnoyers have played particularly well down in Lehigh Valley and deserve a shot with the big club floundering in the standings and not needing to press for more veteran leadership in their lineup. Lycksell is currently with the Flyers and has played 5 games this season – 1 in October, 2 in December, and now 2 in February – and has averaged 10:13 of ice time. I’m not entirely sure what the Flyers plan on doing with the 23-year-old Swede but if they keep him up for an extended period of time, they should look to give him more opportunities.
Desnoyers was recalled after Travis Konecny was placed on injured reserve and will make his NHL debut on Saturday night against New Jersey after an impressive season so far in Lehigh Valley.
Kieffer Bellows is also with the big club and has been sporadically called up all season, but he has sat in the press box quite a bit. He has 18 games under his belt with a goal and no assists, while averaging 11:03 of ice time. He doesn’t seem to fit into the future plans, let alone their present, so he shouldn’t provide an obstacle for the aforementioned Phantoms in the waiting.
Trading van Riemsdyk is a foregone conclusion with him having an expiring contract and plenty of teams in need of a top-9 forward with playoff experience, a nose for the net, good underlying numbers, and a big body on the wing.
Kevin Hayes is a tricky one because there is serious interest out there with marquee teams being interested, however it has been reported that Chuck Fletcher doesn’t want to retain any salary on Hayes’ remaining 3 years at $7.142 million. I’m not sure if he’s aware of it or not, but no team is taking Hayes at his full cap hit and if the Flyers are willing to retain even $2 million, the number of suitors increases, the price of acquisition increases, and most importantly it gets the rebuild rolling.
With one roster spot opening at the very least, two if they decide to send down Lycksell or scratch him for someone else, and three if they ship off Hayes as well, the future of the Flyers offense is ready and waiting. Desnoyers is at the top for the team lead in points with 36 while Lycksell sits just behind at 34 – however Lycksell did it in 34 games compared to Desnoyers’ 48 – and Desnoyers also leads the team with 19 goals. Tyson Foerster is right behind them with 17 goals and 34 points in 51 games, Ronnie Attard leads the defense with 8 goals and 23 points in 50 games, and Bobby Brink has returned from his lengthy injury and has added 6 goals and 16 points in just 20 games.
The former 5th round pick from the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Desnoyers has 3 goals and 5 points in his last 6 games and has really turned a corner after going through a stretch of 10 games where he only scored once and added 3 assists. This being his first professional season, Desnoyers did exceptionally well in his final year with the Halifax Mooseheads where he not only scored 42 goals and 88 points in just 61 games, but he was also named captain. He represented Team Canada alongside Foerster at the 2022 World Junior Championships and tallied an assist in 7 games, primarily playing a bottom-6 role en route to the gold medal.
Foerster was afforded a luxury of sorts during the COVID-interruptions because with the CHL being cancelled, he was allowed to play for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms regardless of the age restriction. He was then allowed to play again the following season because they granted him and every other CHL player who played in the AHL the year prior an exemption once again. In 2020-21, he scored 10 goals and 17 points in just 24 games, then added 2 goals and 3 points in 9 games the following year that was split between the OHL as well as being injured for 3-4 weeks with a broken tibia – 6 goals and 11 points in 13 games with the Barrie Colts – and then this season he was named an AHL All-Star and has 17 goals and 33 points in 50 games. During his time with Team Canada at the World Juniors, he scored 3 goals and 6 points in 7 games en route to the gold medal as well.
That brings us to the ultra-talented Bobby Brink, who has made really great progress since coming back from his lengthy absence after undergoing off-season hip surgery. Brink was named a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s best player last year after scoring 14 goals and 57 points in just 41 games. After his season came to an end, he signed his entry-level contract and played in 10 games with the Flyers where he recorded 4 assists. He impressed his coaching staff rather quickly but unfortunately underwent surgery in the off-season which took away any chances of playing for the Flyers to start the season.
Brink made his return and his Lehigh Valley Phantoms debut on the 6th of January and scored a goal in each of his first 2 games. He currently has 16 points in just 20 games, 10 points in his last 11, and after having a little bit of experience at the NHL level last year, there’s a good chance he might get a call-up sometime after the trade deadline, all depending on roster availability and whether or not they want to let him develop and finish off the year in the AHL after missing half the season with a hip injury.
Ronnie Attard followed the same route as Bobby Brink last season when he signed his entry-level contract after completing his collegiate season with Western Michigan University. He scored 13 goals and 36 points in 39 games for Western Michigan before playing in 15 games with the Flyers, scoring 2 goals and 4 points while averaging 16:36 of ice time, including an average of 19:52 in his final 4 games. This also being his first year with the Phantoms, Attard has done exceptionally well and was rewarded with an AHL All-Star selection and currently stands with 8 goals and 23 points in 50 games. He has 4 points in his last 5 games and 5 points in his last 10 games, and he becomes a very obvious call-up if the Flyers move on from one or two defensemen currently on the active roster and lineup – Justin Braun and/or Nick Seeler.
Here’s hoping we can see these young players don the Orange and Black this season, or at least a combination at the very least. The Flyers need to first make several moves at the trade deadline to open up roster spots and John Tortorella has been on the record countless of times stating his intent to build and play the young guys.
We’ve seen that this season with players like Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, Cam York, and Samuel Ersson, so we know that if the opportunities presents themselves for Foerster, Desnoyers, Brink, and Attard, they’ll have those opportunities with the season coming to a close.
