UPDATE [4:15 p.m.] — With the dust settling from the NHL's 3 p.m. trade deadline, a third Flyers trade has surfaced, albeit an extremely minor one. According to the team, Philadelphia swapped defenseman prospect TJ Brennan with the Blackhawks for forward Nathan Noel.

Noel is 22, is a 2016 forth round pick and has 16 points in the ECHL through 39 games played.

UPDATE [11:40 a.m.] — The Flyers added a second center Monday morning, agreeing to swap a fourth round pick for Derek Grant and prospect Kyle Criscuolo.

Grant is a former fourth-round pick and makes $700,000 a year, a small enough income to keep the team under the salary cap threshold (for now). He is 29 and has scored 14 goals and notched six assists this season in 49 games with the Anaheim Ducks.

UPDATE [11:00 a.m.] — The Penguins are the latest team to add a center, trading with the Sharks for 40-year-old veteran Patrick Marleau.

The move mirrors one made by the Flyers earlier this morning, with the Penguins adding some leadership (he has 22 years of NHL experience) and depth. Marleau has 10 goals and 10 assists in 58 games this season.

Pittsburgh is three points ahead of Philadelphia for the second seed in the Metro.

UPDATE [10:50 a.m.] — The Flyers made (their first?) move of the day after seeing two Metro teams add centers, trading a fifth-round pick (in 2021) to the Canadiens for veteran center Nate Thompson.

Thompson isn't an elite scorer — he has just 15 points this year in 63 games — but he is good on the defensive end and has 13 years of NHL experience playing for seven different teams. 

The move appears to be simply a depth acquisition and one that won't impact the Flyers' tight salary cap spot as Thompson is due just $1 million for this season. Still, it's something.

It will be interesting to see if more moves are to come, or if the team is content by adding only one marginal upgrade.

UPDATE [10:15 a.m.] — Another Flyers rival has traded for a center, as the Hurricanes are reportedly about to add Vincent Trocheck to their roster to help them try and close the three-point gap between them and Philadelphia.

Trocheck has 36 points this season, 10 of them via goal, for the Panthers. He is just 26, but is underperforming (by his standards) in 2020 — he had 75 points in his fifth NHL season two years ago.

Will the pressure to make a move force Flyers' GM Chuck Fletcher's hand? Dominoes are starting to fall pretty quickly so it looks like we'll know soon enough.

UPDATE [9:45 a.m.] — The Islanders look like they want blood. Trailing the Flyers by just one point in the Metro, it looks like they'll be welcoming a likely 30-goal scoring center after trading with the Senators on Monday morning.

Pageau is 27, has 40 points (24 goals) in 60 games in Ottawa this season as he approaches career highs in nearly all stat categories. It appears New York may have been willing to pay a higher price than Philadelphia was:

We'll see if the move puts more pressure on the Flyers to respond.

FROM EARLIER

The Flyers have made GM Chuck Fletcher's job very difficult. But that's a good thing.

The team has been playing lights out as the NHL's trade deadline quickly approaches at 3 p.m. Monday afternoon, and it has been all quiet thus far. Will it remain so?

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Of late, Philadelphia has won seven of its last 10 and has crept to just three points behind the Penguins for second in the division — and five behind the Caps for first — with three teams (the Islanders, Blue Jackets and Hurricanes) firmly on their tail, within three points of them.

What the Flyers do before Monday's trade deadline really comes down to whether the team will be happy just to be in the playoffs, or if they want to be true Stanley Cup contenders. Making a move today could put them into that echelon.

The Inquirer's Flyers' insider Sam Carchidi thinks going after a big name, like goal scoring forwards Mike Hoffman or Jeff Carter could be the difference in how expectations lie as the stretch run of the season progresses:

The Flyers have been dominating at the Wells Fargo Center (21-5-4) and not so hot on the road (14-15-3), so securing home ice is extra important this season – especially when you look at Carter Hart’s home-road splits.

If the Flyers can’t get a scorer like Hoffman or Carter, they could turn their attention toward adding Anaheim center Derek Grant or Minnesota left winger Ryan Donato. They would both fit under the Flyers’ salary-cap availability (around $2 million) and would give them some much-needed depth in case an injury occurs.

Fletcher said he is exploring the trade market and would like to add a forward if it improves the team. That’s a smart approach because you can never have enough depth if you want to make a long Stanley Cup run.  [Philadelphia Inquirer]

However, with so much youth, talent and a few key players coming back from injuries, the Flyers could also decide it makes more sense to roll the dice with what they currently have.

Ryan Gilbert, a writer at Broad Street Hockey, seems to think that there may be more than a few advantages for the Flyers keeping with the status quo.

The first option is admittedly the most boring, but perhaps also the best in the long run. The Flyers only have very limited cap space this season. They have only $70,954 of actual cap space, which can go up to $2.08 million if they max out the LTIR. 

Due to the Flyers’ salary cap situation, it will be tough for them to make a trade for an impactful player without trading a roster player of their own. This team has come together and has great chemistry – not to mention how well they know and are playing in Alain Vigneault’s system. 

Bringing in a depth addition may not be possible due to the cap, and it may not be worth it given the 12 forwards on the roster with a few more waiting in the wings. 

If the Flyers do make a trade, it puts them in a tough spot with the cap regarding a potential Nolan Patrick return. They would be forced to send down or healthy scratch two forwards in total: one at the time of the trade and one when Patrick is activated. 

Bunnaman is the obvious choice to send down if they make a trade, but then it gets tricky. Patrick getting healthy and/or recalling Morgan Frost aren’t options that would replace a deadline addition, but they’re good backup plans to have if the Flyers do need a boost in March.  [Broad Street Hockey]

Things could happen quickly today, and so we'll do out best to keep you in the loop with our live stream/open thread all day long. Follow every rumor and move across the NHL right here:

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URL: https://twitter.com/BroadStBull/status/1231935923115393024

Provider: Twitter

Author: Sam Carchidi

Ryan Gilbert, a writer at Broad Street Hockey, seems to think that there may be more than a few advantages for the Flyers keeping with the status quo.

The first option is admittedly the most boring, but perhaps also the best in the long run. The Flyers only have very limited cap space this season. They have only $70,954 of actual cap space, which can go up to $2.08 million if they max out the LTIR. 

Due to the Flyers’ salary cap situation, it will be tough for them to make a trade for an impactful player without trading a roster player of their own. This team has come together and has great chemistry – not to mention how well they know and are playing in Alain Vigneault’s system. 

Bringing in a depth addition may not be possible due to the cap, and it may not be worth it given the 12 forwards on the roster with a few more waiting in the wings. 

If the Flyers do make a trade, it puts them in a tough spot with the cap regarding a potential Nolan Patrick return. They would be forced to send down or healthy scratch two forwards in total: one at the time of the trade and one when Patrick is activated. 

Bunnaman is the obvious choice to send down if they make a trade, but then it gets tricky. Patrick getting healthy and/or recalling Morgan Frost aren’t options that would replace a deadline addition, but they’re good backup plans to have if the Flyers do need a boost in March. [Broad Street Hockey]

Things could happen quickly today, and so we'll do out best to keep you in the loop with our live stream/open thread all day long. Follow every rumor and move across the NHL right here:

Follow Evan on Twitter:@evan_macy

Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports