Tim Panaccio of CSN Philly: The Flyers would gladly trade Braydon Coburn (1 year left with a $4.5 million cap hit), Luke Schenn (1 year left with a $3.6 million cap hit) and Nicklas Grossmann (1 year left with a $3.5 million cap hit). Teams are looking for rentals, unless it’s a young player who could be part of a teams future. Kimmo Timonen will return on Saturday, and it not known if teams will be willing to trade for him after one game. There have still been no takers on Vincent Lecavalier and his three years at $4.5 million. The Bruins could use a David Krejci fill in, but they aren’t touching Lecavalier. The best options for the Flyers moving a defenseman may be the Ducks and Lightning, who are both looking.
“If the right deal comes along for now and for the future, we’ll make it,” Hextall said recently. “If it doesn’t, obviously we won’t. We’ll do everything we can to get into the playoffs short of selling off younger assets.
“We have our vision for the future, so we’re not going to do anything short term that’s going to hurt us long term.”
The Flyers may be in the playoff hunt, but they need to sell on the blueline.
Sam Carchidi: The Flyers should do the right thing and trade Kimmo Timonen to a contender.
Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News: The return the Hurricanes got for Andrej Sekera, basically a first (2015) and second (2014), will only increase the value of Flyers defenseman – Braydon Coburn, Nicklas Grossmann and possibly others. The Lightning, Canadiens, Canucks, Ducks and Islanders are reportedly looking for defensemen.
DJ Bean of WEEI: The Bruins need help on the blueline and at least one forward, maybe more if they want to fill the hole that Daivd Krejci’s injury created. When looking at what teams have paid, the Bruins may be better off giving up less, to get less. The asking price for Antoine Vermette has always been sky high. Bean notes:
We sarcastically wrote about making Vermette hide Keith Yandle in his carry-on this week, but if prices are truly this high for smaller pieces, it seriously would be smarter to give up more to get some actual pieces that can help shape the roster going forward. Plus, pulling off a good blockbuster might go a long way in Chiarelli’s case to keep his job.