The Philadelphia Flyers may have been thinking of trades at the draft and not the deadline for some players
Sportsnet: Jeff Marek on 32 Thoughts on the Philadelphia Flyers.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
And the Philadelphia Flyers, Chuck Fletcher, people are kind of going at Philadelphia and thinking, what happened there? Kevin Hayes was a possibility. Travis Konecny might have been a possibility. You don’t think so Elliotte.
Friedman: “No.
MacLean: “And Ivan Provorov might be a possibility. So, why don’t you take us through those.”
Marek: “… You mentioned the Philadelphia Flyers as well. And listen, Chuck Fletcher kind of got beaten up a little bit at the Philadelphia Flyers town hall, I know the (inaudible) cry out was about James van Riemsdyk and the inability to make trades.
But the Flyers have a lot of players that have term attached to them, and while there were conversations between Philadelphia and Columbus over players like Kevin Hayes. It sounds like any deal the Philadelphia Flyers are going to make, will happen around the draft and wasn’t going to happen at the trade deadline.”
John Tortorella doesn’t agree with some of the Chuck Fletcher criticism
Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia: Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella sicks up for GM Chuck Fletcher for the criticism he’s been talking for not moving James van Riemsdyk.
“Do you not think he tried to move him? Are you guys kidding me? He tried like hell to move him,” Tortorella said Saturday following practice. “There are so many different scenarios that went on. I just don’t get the criticism of James still being here, like Chuck held onto him; $7 million , we’ve got to eat some of the money, probably half of it, as I’m sure you guys know.
“Chuck tried. But everybody wants to pile on.”
van Riemsdyk had been one of the bigger names that was still available of Friday, and even he was a little surprised he wasn’t moved.
“Definitely, based on what I was hearing, a little bit surprised,” van Riemsdyk said at his locker stall. “But you ultimately realize, being around long enough, that things go the way they’re going to go. … Nothing’s ever certain until it’s done.”