Canadiens & Flyers Make Logical Trade Partners, Especially Now

The Philadelphia Flyers’ growing injury list could provide the Montreal Canadiens with an opportunity to solve their logjam at forward.

The Philadelphia Flyers are hurting right now, with Sean Couturier set to miss three-to-four months after a procedure on his back. Add to the fact that Ryan Ellis isn’t expected to play this season and James Van Riemsdyk is expected to miss six weeks, and the Flyers are going to have a time sustaining their early-season success if they don’t use their extra space to add to their roster, especially at centre.

In an article released earlier this year Couturier, Philly Hockey Now’s Sam Carchidi proposed three options that could make sense for the Flyers in the short and long term. One of those options was Montreal Canadiens’ centre, Christian Dvorak.

3 Players Flyers Could Pursue If Coots Is Sidelined for Long (+)

After the acquisition of Sean Monahan last, the Montreal Canadiens have a surplus of centres, while the Flyers would have Kevin Hayes as their No. 1 centre in the absence of Couturier. Monahan has proven to be an effective centre for the Canadiens during his time with them so far this season and perhaps giving him the opportunity to run his own line could further help spread the offence for the Canadiens. This could allow the Canadiens to dangle Dvorak in a trade.

Although he’s been slow to produce the offence so far this season, Dvorak continues to excel in two areas the Flyers are struggling in: penalty kill and faceoffs. As we currently speak, the Flyers are 30th in the NHL in the faceoff circle with an average of about 42%, while Dvorak continues to be his reliable self with a 53.7% success rate so far this season.

Further ailing the Flyers so far this season has been their penalty kill, which sits 20th overall wat 77.3%, while Dvorak holds down a crucial penalty-killing role for the Canadiens, a group of defensively-minded players that recently received a lot of praise from head coach Martin St. Louis.

That could be exactly what he could bring to this Flyers’ roster if the price is right.

The other aspect is that Couturier’s return to full form is currently being put in question, as this is the kind of back issue that could never go away. Thus securing their centre-ice position would be essential to ensure they stay in the hunt for a playoff spot this season and into the future.

Kent Hughes has already swooped in and taken advantage of an equally dire situation when he extracted a 1st round pick from the Calgary Flames as an incentive to take on Monahan. It wouldn’t be the least bit surprising to hear that some dialogue was had between both general managers on the subject; as the Flyers don’t want to kill the momentum of their club, which has been surprisingly good out of the gate this season.

When it comes to these deals, it’s all a question of timing, but the clock is ticking on the Philadelphia Flyers and GM Chuck Fletcher.