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Flyers-Blackhawks talk on DeBrincat may not have gotten serious
Pierre LeBrun: Don’t believe the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers have held any serious talks about forward Alex DeBrincat.
Things can obviously change, but likely more tire-kicking than serious discussions.
NHL Watcher: Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thought podcast: “What I think happened is that CHI asked Philly for the 5th OA pick & I don’t think Philly wants to do that. I think PHI has decided, at least at this time, that does not make sense for them and they’re better off keeping the pick than trading it for DeBrincat.”
- Charlie O’Connor: “If this is how it plays out, it all makes sense to me. DeBrincat is exactly the type of impact player the Flyers should be pursuing, and I’d be willing to give up a lot for him. But hitting with No. 5 is crucial for a rebuild, and I’d be loath to part with it, even for DBC.”
Tiering off potential Flyers free agent targets
Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic: Free agent tiers for the Philadelphia Flyers.
The high-end talent tier – Johnny Gaudreau, Nazem Kadri, Filip Forsberg, and Evgeni Malkin.
The Claude Giroux tier – Claude Giroux.
The “high-risk, high-reward” options – Valeri Nichushkin and Mason Marchment.
The traditional depth options – Nino Niederreiter, Andrew Copp, Vincent Trocheck, Ondrej Palat and Johan Larsson.
The “actually fills a glaring need” players – Ian Cole, Josh Manson, Jan Rutta, Ilya Lyubushkin, Matt Benning, and Martin Jones.
RFAs this year and next for the Lightning
Joe Smith of The Athletic: (mailbag) Don’t expect the Tampa Bay Lightning to be big players in free agency. They’ll continue to try and re-sign Ondrej Palat and Jan Rutta. If they can’t re-sign those two, they could see what is available.
Palat will need to take a bit of discount to remain in Tampa.
The Lightning will have five main RFAs after next season – Anthony Cirelli, Ross Colton, Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak and Cal Foote – and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they reach out this offseason. Cirelli, Cernak and Sergachev will be arbitration-eligible.
