Flyers Trade Rumors: 5 Centers for Philly To Target

The Philadelphia Flyers need some help at center. That much is obvious. Morgan Frost has been a healthy scratch on numerous occasions, Scott Laughton has been moved off center to the wing, and outside of Sean Couturier (who has a modest six goals himself), they have a total of five goals out of their other three center spots combined.

With that in mind, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic has offered up five pivots for general manager Daniel Briere to target, once he's ready to make a move.

Trevor Zegras, Anaheim Ducks

Ah yes, where have we heard this one before? The Flyers were one of the teams thought to be "in" on Zegras when his name first started cropping up before last season's deadline. He seems to be heating up with six points in his last four games. But while Zegras is still buddies with current Flyers Cam York and Jamie Drysdale, one has to wonder what old-school head coach John Tortorella would think of having the creative Zegras as one of his charges.

Marco Rossi, Minnesota Wild

The former first-rounder, Rossi is off to a nice start this season, coming off his breakout 21-goal year last season. As Kurz notes, because the Wild appear to be a serious contender this season, "perhaps they’re seeking a little more veteran help at that position and would be willing to sacrifice (23-year-old) Rossi." He goes on to suggest names like Laughton and Bobby Brink as a possible return.

Dylan Cozens, Buffalo Sabres

He carries a hefty $7M cap hit for another five seasons after this one, so this seems like a stretch. Cozens has only broken through once in his previous four NHL seasons to warrant a paycheck like that, so it would take a lot of faith on the part of the Flyers to pursue this one.

Shane Pinto, Ottawa Senators

We just mentioned Pinto as one of four potential Senators trade pieces here, and with his very slow start to the season (one goal and three points in 14 games), it's possible that the Sens could be talked into giving him up. As Kurz notes, "Pinto is also a guy who would help the Flyers’ size issue, listed at 6-foot-3 and 204 pounds. He’s only one season removed from a 20-goal campaign in 2022-23, his first full NHL season, and can play on both the power play and penalty kill."

Brock Nelson, NY Islanders

This one seems like it could be out of the Flyers' wheelhouse, as the 33-year-old does not fit the Philly rebuild timeline. But he would bring the biggest immediate impact to the lineup, as he's working on his fourth straight 30-goal season, and would bring some veteran leadership and act as a mentor to Matvei Michkov. Nelson is a UFA after the season.