Bailey’s Daily: Flyers Trade Candidate; NHL Draft Pick Watch

In Wednesday’s edition of Bailey’s Daily, we’ll be talking the latest Philadelphia Flyers news, NHL news, stories, highlights, and more from the last day.

Flyers News

The Philadelphia Flyers claim to be in a rebuild, but they have not done much wheeling and dealing so far, with the exception of a few moves in 2023.

Veteran defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is one name that is still out there available on the NHL trade block, though it has been reported that Ristolainen could command a first-round pick or assets equivalent to a top draft pick like that.

Obviously, the one hurdle there is going to be Ristolainen’s $5.1 million cap hit. Yes, the salary cap is going up, but no, most teams contending for a Stanley Cup don’t have those kinds of funds laying around.

Speaking of Flyers defensemen, former top defense prospect Ronnie Attard, a right-shot defenseman, has been shipped off to Edmonton in exchange for Ben Gleason, a left-shot defenseman.

Attard, 25, gets a fresh opportunity elsewhere, though it is unclear if he will ever be able to achieve liftoff at the NHL level someday.

Gleason’s arrival likely indicates that Flyers defense prospect Emil Andrae will be staying with the big club in the NHL and graduate from prospect status in short order.

NHL News

For Flyers fans complaining about Matvei Michkov’s ice time lately, don’t worry, you’re not alone there in the Metropolitan Division.

New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe, a John Tortorella disciple, has had 2022 No. 2 overall pick Simon Nemec sitting on the bench collecting dust since Oct. 22.

Nemec, 20, has not played more than 20 minutes in any game for the Devils this season, and he probably needs to play to continue his development.

It makes for a fascinating situation, though, as the Utica Comets, the Devils’ AHL affiliate, are 0-8-1 this season and have been out-scored 16-40. Jett Luchanko and the Guelph Storm, anybody?

In other NHL news (watch this space, Flyers fans) Artturi Lehkonen made a successful return to game action for the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night, picking up one goal and one assist in his first game in nearly six months.

For draft pick reasons, we’ll have to see how long, or if at all, the Avalanche can sustain their newly found success. Goaltending continues to be a major issue, but Valeri Nichushkin is on his way back, too.

And who knows how soon Gabriel Landeskog comes back from his injury?

One last bit of NHL news for Wednesday morning as it relates to the Flyers:

The San Jose Sharks are out of the basement after picking up a 2-1 overtime win over Columbus on Tuesday night. This means that, with the help of Vitek Vanecek’s 49 saves, the Flyers are now in sole possession of last place in the NHL through 13 games.

Yikes.

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