It’s December, Nobody’s Going Anywhere Just Yet
I swear to god everyday I log onto Twitter all I’m seeing is Flyers fans arguing about who they should trade. “Oh we can get a first round pick for…”blah blah blah enough already.
We’re not even midway through December yet and the Flyers are currently sitting in 2nd place in the Metro division. Not a single person is getting traded yet.
The trade deadline isn’t until March 8th that’s still 90 days away, three full months. If the Flyers were a free falling team and sitting in last place knowing they were gonna be a lottery pick then sure I’d get it but that’s not the case.
Yes, getting a first round pick for a guy like Sean Walker would be great. But can we talk about how great he’s been for the Flyers defense? He’s been rock solid and is giving me Matt Niskanen like vibes for this team. Niskanen was great in his short time here and look what happened after he retired. The Flyers defense went to shit. I’m not saying lock him up for a boatload of money and too many years I’m just saying we have some time to really see his true value.
That’s the annoying part about our fan base, so many people think stockpiling draft picks is all of a sudden going to make this team a Stanley Cup contender for the next 20 years. That’s not the case, the draft picks still need to pan out and we’ve been down this road before. Robert Hagg, Sam Morin, Isaac Ratcliffe, German Rubtsov, Nolan Patrick, Pascal Leberge, Jay O’Brien. How many of those guys who by the way were all chosen in the first or second round are still around today? I’ll wait.
It’s about having flexibility whether it’s draft capital, expiring contracts, or cap space. Right now the Flyers have all of that and are in a pretty good position when it comes time for wheeling and dealing.
The team is playing well and Walker has been a big part of that. Let’s pump the brakes on all of these trade rumors. Danny Briere is a smart man and yes the asking price should start at a first round pick. But, holding out until closer to the deadline is the right thing to do based on where this team is right now.
If the right deal comes along I’m fully confident that Briere will make the right decision on who we should move on from and who we should keep.
Follow us on Twitter @FlyersFanLife
-Walsh