On the Philadelphia Flyers …
John Boruk of NBC Sports Philadelphia: Source said that the Flyers were talking to the Ottawa Senators about winger Mike Hoffman before the trade deadline.
The Senators were asking the Flyers for defenseman Travis Sanheim and a first-round pick as a starting point in talks. Trade talks didn’t get much further than that.
The Flyers could have two first-round picks depending on where the Blues end up, and GM Ron Hextall may have been willing to move one. Trading Sanheim was the deal breaker for Hextall.
“We’ve got a lot of good young players and we get asked about them fairly often,” Hextall said.
Hoffman is under contract for another two years at a reasonable salary cap hit of just over $5.3 million and he fits in with what Hextall would be looking for.
Valtteri Filppula is a pending UFA and they could buy out Jori Lehtera. The Flyers would have some room to bring in a veteran forward.
Trade talks could pick up again at the draft.
On the Ottawa Senators …
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun: Bobby Ryan knew his name was out there, tied to Erik Karlsson trade rumors leading up to the trade deadline.
The Vegas Golden Knights were one of the teams that were prepared to take on Ryan’s $7.5 million per year cap hit in a Karlsson trade. Ryan thought he was heading back to the Western conference.
“I heard a couple of times it was close, so I looked at my wife (Danielle) and said, ‘It’s a very real possibility,’ ” Ryan said. “I don’t want to move. I like it here.”
Ryan was happy at the Senators didn’t trade him. The Senators took a step backward this year, but he believes they took a step forward.
“You look at that, and they kind of write each other off, and, if it’s a complete rebuild and they want me around for it, then I’m certainly doing it because I signed long-term because I want to be part of this organization.”