Deadline Day Recap and Analysis

Sellers at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline, the Philadelphia Flyers made two deals ahead of Monday's 3 p.m. deadline.

The team sent impending unrestricted free agent defenseman Justin Braun to the New York Rangers in exchange for a 2023 third-round draft pick. Later, the Flyers traded impending unrestricted free agent center/winger Derick Brassard to the Edmonton Oilers for a fourth-round pick in 2023.
"It went exactly as we expected. We received a lot of calls on Justin Braun, and we expected to move Brauner. With Brassard, it's someone who has a lot of playoff experience (117 games played in the Stanley Cup playoffs). So we expected to move him, too," said Chuck Fletcher, the Flyers' president of hockey operations and general manager.
The return on both players -- a 35-year-old defensive defenseman who blocks shots, kills penalties and can still play up to about 20 minutes per game, and a versatile and battle tested forward who can play center or wing and who is now healthy after missing most of December to mid-February with a nagging hip issue -- was also within the ballpark of draft pick returns he Flyers expected to get when all was said and done, according to Fletcher.
There was a preference for 2023 picks if possible, because it's considered the deeper Draft crop. However, it was also based on what picks that prospective trade partners had available in 2022 and/or 2023.
The Flyers have two other impending unrestricted free agents on the NHL roster in goaltender Martin Jones and Keith Yandle. Fletcher said there had been some discussion about the players before the deadline passed but nothing that came close to being consummated as a trade.
Specific to Jones, if the veteran goalie had been dealt for a draft picl, the Flyers would have needed to replace him with a different backup for Carter Hart for the rest of the season.
Fletcher said that Felix Sandström is needed in Lehigh Valley as the Phantoms push for a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. Additionally, Sandström missed time with injuries earlier this season although he's currently healthy. Phantoms rookie goalie Samuel Ersson has missed most of the season due a recurring lower-body injury. Kirill Ustimenko, who missed the entire 2020-21 season due to hip surgery, only has 13 games of AHL experience and has primarily played in the ECHL so far in his career.
Fletcher said that he was in touch with most of the other general managers around the NHL in recent days. Apart from immediate trade possibilities, much of the discussion was geared toward discussing each other's possible offseason needs. The groundwork for off-season transactions is often begun at the trade deadline and then discussions sometimes resume a few months later.
The NHL trade deadline day is also the American Hockey League's "Clear Day", in which players much be on a Calder Cup playoff eligible roster submitted to the league on that day even if they go right back up to their NHL club to finish the season. Fletcher said that the Flyers made on-paper transactions with Cam York and Max Willman, although both players will be immediately recalled to the NHL squad.
Fletcher also provided several injury-related updates:
* Center Scott Laughton (head injury) is feeling much better and has resumed skating. He will travel with the Flyers on their five-game road trip that begins on Tuesday in Detroit. Laughton will undergo further a follow-up neurological test in about a week. Barring setbacks, he can then ramp up to rejoining the lineup.
* Center Nate Thompson (shoulder surgery rehab) could be cleared to return to the NHL team's lineup by the end of this week. For Tuesday's game in Detroit, the Flyers will go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
* Defenseman Ryan Ellis (lower-body injury) has been officially shut down for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. Fletcher said the player, who has only played in four games this season, is weighing a couple of different treatment options and a final decision will be made soon. Ellis is expected to be available for the start of next season and, while his issue ruined his season, it is nothing that would be considered career-threatening.
Fletcher said that one of his key objectives over the remainder of the season will be to see some young players the team hopes to count on moving forward step up over the rest of the current season.
York has recently played on Ivan Provorov's defensive pair and Fletcher said that he thinks York will continue to see an expanded role. Likewise, the GM praised what he saw of new acquisition Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost -- both individually and in terms of potential chemistry as linemates -- in Sunday's 2-1 win over the New York Islanders.