The Philadelphia Flyers were at least in the mix for Kirill Marchenko before the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets completed their blockbuster swap, but they never got close to landing the 26-year-old winger.
According to Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco, the Flyers had “circled” Marchenko as a player who could push them toward real contention. That makes sense on paper. Marchenko brings speed, power, and one of the league’s best shots, which is the kind of package that’s tough to find and even tougher to buy.
The Flyers have spent the past year hunting for that kind of move. They checked in on Quinn Hughes when he was still captain of the Vancouver Canucks, and they also sent what Di Marco described as a world-changing offer sheet to Leo Carlsson. The message has been pretty clear: Philadelphia wants a headline-grabbing addition that changes the conversation around the team.
They’ve also struck out on several other big swings, including Carlsson and defenseman John Carlson, among others from this past summer. Marchenko was another attempt to land a difference-maker, even if he wouldn’t solve the Flyers’ biggest issues at center or on the blue line.
Di Marco also reported what Philadelphia would have been willing to put on the table in deeper talks. It wasn’t an official offer, but sources told him the Flyers’ ideal framework would have been a three-asset package. The example he gave included forwards Alex Bump and Noah Cates, plus a first-round pick.
“Speaking with team sources, it sounds like the Flyers’ ideal package for Marchenko was a deal that would’ve included ‘three assets’ considering that elite defenseman Quinn Hughes went for four assets less than a year ago,” Di Marco wrote. “While these players are not ones the Flyers are shopping or even have offered in proposed trades, a package involving forwards Alex Bump and Noah Cates along with a first-round draft pick is one the Flyers were willing to offer up, per sources. But with Knies ultimately being the player going the other way for Marchenko, it’s easy to see why the Flyers didn’t get a deal done.”
Even by the standards of trade chatter, that was always going to look light once Matthew Knies entered the picture. The Leafs’ side of the deal clearly came in much heavier than a package built around Cates, Bump, and a first-rounder, which helps explain why the Flyers came up short.
There was also a contract piece to all of this. Marchenko has one year left on his current deal, which pays him $3.85 million, and any team talking to Columbus would need to know he was open to signing an extension.
That mattered here, because the Leafs ended up locking him in with a six-year extension carrying a $12.5-million AAV. Even though he was set to be a restricted free agent next summer, the extension was part of the equation from the start.
That means Philadelphia’s talks may not have gone very far at all. If Marchenko wasn’t willing to extend with the Flyers, or if the price tag and contract demands shut things down early, the conversation could have ended before it really got rolling.
The Flyers are still chasing a major upgrade elsewhere, too. They’ve been linked to Dylan Larkin since he requested a trade from the Detroit Red Wings, and while he’s not viewed as a perfect No. 1 center, he would still give Philadelphia exactly the kind of top-line center help it keeps searching for.
There’s one problem: according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, after Larkin expanded his trade list to eight or nine teams, the Flyers were not among them. Di Marco reported that Philadelphia is still monitoring the situation in case that changes.
Detroit doesn’t want a return built mostly on futures, and the Flyers do have enough NHL-level talent on the wing to at least make that conversation interesting. General manager Danny Briere has reason to keep asking.
For now, though, Philadelphia is left to keep working the phones. The Flyers are still going to be in on elite players whenever they come available, especially if the target is a center or a defenseman.
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