While the Philadelphia Flyers saw some growth in their young players in their 2023-24 season, finishing with a 38-33-11 record as a rebuilding club isn’t exactly a huge victory. They’re lucky that the 2024 NHL Draft is one with a lot of great players early on and without a steep talent decline from, say, the third-overall selection versus the 12th pick where they’re set to pick. Unfortunately, that won’t always be the case.
Probably the biggest reason why Ron Hextall failed as the Flyers’ general manager (GM) in the 2010s was because he never made any moves that put his team in one direction or the other. Philadelphia was in constant mediocrity during his tenure — that’s the direction they seem to be headed in now.
Thankfully, GM Danny Briere seems to be too smart to let the Orange and Black repeat history like this. He hasn’t revealed too much about his offseason plans, but he was also relatively bold in his first offseason in 2023. He should—and likely will—take risks in 2024, as well.
Related: Philadelphia Flyers Need to Take Risks in Their Rebuild
We can say the Flyers need to take risks, but what are they actually? What can the Flyers do to move themselves in the right direction once and for all?
A Mitch Marner Trade
If the Flyers are seriously against a “tank” of sorts and seeing some regression in 2024-25 record-wise, they have but one good alternative. They will need to make a splash to get some offensive talent in the future anyway, so they might as well get it out of the way early — the Flyers should consider trading for Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner if that’s the route they want to take.
It’s important to preface that Marner controls his own destiny with a no-movement clause (NMC), but he is also in the last season of a $10.9 million average annual value contract. After scoring just three points in his first-round series against the Boston Bruins, a series that the Maple Leafs ultimately lost, there is speculation that he could be on the way out.
There’s a certain stigma around Marner that, frankly, is pretty ridiculous. The big gripe many have with his game is his playoff performances, but he isn’t that different from star players making a similar amount of money.
Historically and in the past three seasons, he has more points per 60 (P/60), a better expected goals against per 60 (xGA/60), expected goals percentage (xGF%), and a similar average ice time as $10 million forward Aleksander Barkov of the…
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