The Flyers spent the offseason swinging big for Leo Carlsson, only to watch the Anaheim Ducks match the offer sheet and leave Philadelphia in a strange holding pattern. Since then, the focus has shifted to smaller upgrades, key signings, and the kind of roster tinkering that usually fills the rest of summer.
But if the Flyers do decide to make another move before next season, Boston is one place to look.
The Bruins are trying to avoid taking a step back while also resisting the urge to burn assets on win-now fixes. That puts them in an awkward middle ground, especially with young players like Fraser Minten, Matthew Poitras, Dean Letourneau, and James Hagens in the mix. For a Flyers team still searching for the right next step, that creates at least a little room for a trade conversation.
One possible target is Mason Lohrei, a 25-year-old left-shot defenseman who has yet to prove he can handle his own end of the ice. His defensive numbers were rough last season, including an xGA/60 Regularized Adjusted Plus-Minus ranking of 299 out of 310 NHL defensemen. The comparison points around him are not flattering either, since his expected goals against impact sat in the same neighborhood as Luke Hughes, John Klingberg, Ben Chiarot, and David Jiricek.
The issue is that Lohrei’s offense does not quite offset the problems. He is not a shutdown defender, but he is also not producing enough to make the tradeoff feel clean.
Still, there is a reason to think Philadelphia could be interested. When the Flyers acquired Rasmus Ristolainen, he carried a similar defensive profile, only with even less offense.
Lohrei, at 6-foot-5 and 218 pounds, at least brings some size, some skating, and the ability to chip in around 30 points. He also played on Boston’s power play.
If Rick Tocchet’s system can clean up the defensive side, Lohrei could become a useful piece. He might fit next to Jamie Drysdale on the second pair, with Cam York moving up to the top pair, or he could even line up with Travis Sanheim. He is not a perfect answer, but he is a possible one.
The cost could be manageable enough to make the idea interesting. Alex Bump is one name that could head back to Boston, especially if the Flyers want to clear room on the wing. Owen Tippett feels too valuable to be included in a Lohrei deal, but Bump plus a draft pick for a 25-year-old defenseman with more NHL experience is at least a conversation worth having.
The bigger swing is Pavel Zacha.
Zacha is not the loudest name on the center market, but he has reportedly come up in trade discussions, and Boston could decide to move him while there is still value to extract. He has one year left on his contract before reaching unrestricted free agency next summer, which makes him the kind of player a team might shop if it wants to get ahead of the curve.
He would bring real production, too. The 29-year-old center put up 30 goals and 65 points last season, and since arriving in Boston four years ago, he has never finished below 47 points.
That includes the Bruins’ miserable 2024-25 season that earned them James Hagens. Zacha also wins more than 50 percent of his faceoffs, takes on difficult defensive work, and drives play at a strong rate.
For Philadelphia, he would be a clear step up from the Christian Dvorak, Noah Cates, and Sean Couturier tier of centers below Trevor Zegras. In this scenario, he could slide in as the Flyers’ first-line center, with Zegras on his wing. If Cates and Couturier handled more of the defensive burden, Zacha might have even more room to produce than he did in Boston.
This would be a one-season move unless the Flyers decided to extend him, and that is where the price starts to climb. Owen Tippett comes into the picture here, because he is 27 and could be at peak value if Philadelphia views him as a 50-point winger with speed.
Zacha is only two years older, plays a more valuable position, and is already the better player. A deal built around Tippett is not hard to imagine, and if Zacha fit well, an extension in the neighborhood of five years at an $8-million AAV was floated as a possibility.
That would leave the Flyers with an older center group that also includes Dvorak and Couturier, though a move out of one of those players could follow if Zacha arrived.
For now, though, the likeliest outcome is probably that Philadelphia stays put. Still, with the summer dragging on, it is hard not to kick around ideas like these.
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