(Photo Credit/AP)
The NHL trade deadline has passed with very little action coming from any team in the league. Surprisingly, the Flyers made no moves before the deadline passed. Many fans thought the team would look to move their older players, in hopes to add-on to the already promising future for the organization. Sadly, those fans were disappointed, but was not making any moves the right move for this up-and-coming organization?
Worst NHL trade deadline I can ever recall. Likely worst one in more than 20 years.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) February 29, 2016
I would like to start off by saying, Flyers’ fans were not the only ones disappointed with how their team handled the trade deadline; deadline day had very little action as a whole for the league. As many others had hoped, I too was looking forward to seeing what the Flyers would do to improve the future. With a player like Mark Streit coming off a game where he recorded 3 assists one of which being his 400th career point, he would be the most logical player the Flyers would be looking to trade. Other players not meeting this year’s expectations Umberger, Read, and White. These players are all over 25 years old which is right around when players begin to be in their prime. Another thing they all have in common is their sub par performance this year, Umberger (33) has 10 points this season (1G, 9A) in 38 games. He may bring veteran leadership to the locker room, however 1 goal all season is not worth the presence he is bringing.
Matt Read seemed to be a young phenom, perhaps the face of the Flyers’ franchise believe it or not. In his first year with the Flyers, Read had an outstanding 47 points. His 24 goals would lead all rookies that year. He added on 5 more points in the 2011-2012 playoffs. The only thing keeping Read from winning the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to the player most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League, was his age; Read was 25 at the time. His numbers have been dwindling ever since.
Mark Streit would have been the most likely player on the Flyers roster to be dealt, many fans were surprised he wasn’t. Streit is a solid defender who knows how to jump up and join the attack making him one of the most valuable players on the Flyers roster. Coming off a career game, as mentioned earlier in this article, his value seemed to be at its peak. Whether teams were not willing to give what the Flyers were asking or simply no teams were interested in a veteran defender we will never know.
How does the future look for the Flyers? In all honesty, fans should be excited about the near future ( 3-4 years). Why? I’ll give you a few names already in the Flyers system that you may or may not have heard of: Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Robert Hagg, Samuel Morin, and Shayne Gostisbehere. I’m sure you have heard a few of those names, but others may be unfamiliar to you; those are the names of some of the highest rated prospects and they are all in the Flyers organization already. Another fact about those players is they are all defensemen. Yes, that’s right, the Flyers future defense is bright and has potential to be the best it has ever been.
Was making no move the right move for the Flyers? No, solely because they may have been able to bring in young offensive prospects if they had made a deal at the trade deadline; however, the future is bright and I mean gleaming in Philadelphia.
