The Philadelphia Flyers were supposed to be sellers at the 2023 NHL trade deadline.
And it seemed, for about 10 minutes, that their biggest asset — James van Riemsdyk — was going to be traded to the Detroit Red Wings before Friday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline. About 20 minutes before the deadline, a handful of NHL insiders reported that the Red Wings were closing in on a deal to acquire the 33-year-old Flyers forward.
Unfortunately for Flyers fans, the deal ultimately fell through moments later, as general manager Chuck Fletcher could not close out the trade as the window passed. To go from trading your most valuable asset to nothing within minutes is a rough go for the Flyers, that’s for sure.
Told James van Riemsdyk was not traded prior the #NHL trade deadline. @DailyFaceoff
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 3, 2023
It’s hard to say why the Flyers failed to trade van Riemsdyk to the Red Wings, but it seems as if Detroit was ultimately looking to flip him for draft picks then things suddenly collapsed. In the end, it seems as if the Flyers just couldn’t make the fit work by deadline’s end.
Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher says he “didn't receive a firm offer from any team'' on JVR. Says they spoke with one team about a trade concept. But it was conditional on that team making another move. And that move didn't happen. Worked the market hard past few weeks but no fit.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 3, 2023
Flyers fans, however, were stunned that Fletcher and Philadelphia’s management failed to close out a deal days after the team said they were set to sell at the deadline. In the end, the Flyers only managed to trade Patrick Brown and Zack MacEwen, two fringe players who didn’t get much in return.