The Flyers still haven’t solved their center problem, and that’s what makes the trade market so interesting for them right now.
Philadelphia has already taken swings this offseason, including the Leo Carlsson offer sheet, which made it clear what kind of player the Flyers are chasing. Carlsson, 21, is already almost a point-per-game center and would have been well beyond 30 goals and 70 points if he had played in more than 70 regular-season games for Anaheim last year. The message there was obvious: the Flyers want a young center with real talent, not just a stopgap.
But that kind of player is hard to find. And the fact that the Flyers apparently aren’t viewing Columbus center Adam Fantilli as being in that same tier only sharpens the picture. Fantilli is also eligible to sign and receive an offer sheet, but the Flyers have already struck out in free agency, in the draft, and with the offer-sheet route.
That leaves the trade market.
One name worth circling is San Jose Sharks center Filip Bystedt.
The Sharks’ center depth is getting crowded fast. Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Michael Misa are all part of the picture, and San Jose also has veteran Alex Wennberg in the mix. With those top-three centers and much of the top nine more or less accounted for, it’s getting tougher to see where Bystedt fits.
The 22-year-old, taken 27th overall in 2022, had a big season for the AHL San Jose Barracuda. In 65 games, the 6-foot-4 Swede put up 22 goals, 38 assists, and 60 points.
Even with that breakout, the path in San Jose looks narrow. He’s heading into a contract year, and it’s hard to picture him jumping over someone like Wennberg given his inexperience and defensive issues. At the same time, he doesn’t look like a clean fit for a fourth-line role either.
Sharks Hockey Digest beat reporter Max Miller didn’t have Bystedt in his top-10 Sharks prospects heading into training camp, with Cam Lund ranked ahead of him as an honorable mention.
For the Flyers, though, the appeal is obvious. Bystedt would get the kind of runway he probably won’t get in San Jose, along with time to sharpen both his offensive and defensive reads.
His game has some real tools. For a player his size, he skates well enough, and he can pass and shoot with equal comfort. In the AHL, he spent more time in a supporting role, helping skilled wingers like Quentin Musty and Igor Chernyshov, and Philadelphia has enough wing talent in its system to imagine a similar setup at the NHL level.
The tricky part is the price.
San Jose already brought in Michael Kesselring, Jacob Trouba, and Darnell Nurse to shore up a defense that was thin on NHL-caliber players, so it’s hard to know exactly what kind of return the Sharks would want. One useful comparison is the Amadeus Lombardi deal from the end of June, when the Detroit Red Wings sent the 23-year-old restricted free agent to the New Jersey Devils for a fourth-round pick, 108th overall.
Lombardi has 82 points in his last 91 AHL games and, like Bystedt, is looking for an NHL opportunity after a strong run in the minors.
Any deal would still have to make sense for both sides, but on paper at least, Bystedt looks like a player the Flyers should be considering.
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Zary has shown enough in his past work to suggest there could still be another level to unlock, which is exactly why he is drawing trade buzz. For a Flyers team trying to map out its future down the middle, a player like that makes sense as a candidate to watch, even if the fit and the cost end up determining whether the idea goes any further. [Read more 🡒]
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