Friday Forecheck: Longest Day of the Hockey Calendar

March 3 at 3:00 p.m. ET is the NHL trade deadline. Actually, "trade deadline" is a misnomer. The deadline is for clubs to file their Stanley Cup playoff eligible rosters with the league. Trades are still permitted post-deadline but are uncommon because they serve little to no practical purpose for clubs headed to the playoffs.

Periodically, post-deadline trades or free agent signing happen or are at least discussed. A Flyers example: Back in March 2, 2010, which was after the NHL trade deadline for the 2009-10 season, the Flyers offered a contract for the rest of the regular season to Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg. Forsberg, who by that point had unofficially retired due to the congenital foot issues that curtailed his career in Philadelphia and ultimately made 2006-07 his last full NHL season (he had two brief subsequent comebacks with Colorado), would not have been eligible for the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs.
However, with the Flyers in a stretch drive dogfight to get into the playoffs, the hope was that Forsberg could help the effort even if he only played fourth-line and power play duties. Feeling he was not in game shape and recognizing that his foot issues no longer permitted him to play close to his famously perfectionist self-standards, "Foppa" ultimately declined the offer. The Flyers still went on not only to make the playoffs but to reach the Stanley Cup Final.
Nonetheless, the near-signing of Forsberg in 2010 is a good example of how there still can be a certain amount of in-season roster jockeying after the trade deadline passes.
In recent years, there have been fewer trades made on deadline day than in the past. The trend has been for the most coveted players -- primarily but not exclusively impending unrestricted free agents on expiring deals -- to get dealt ahead of deadline day itself. For example, that was the case a year ago with Claude Giroux being traded to the Florida Panthers in a trade that brought Owen Tippett and a conditional 2024 first-round pick as the primary components to the Flyers.
That is not to say, however, that deadline day itself no longer brings about a flurry of last-minute moves and the occasional surprise tade. The Flyers, who are in seller mode for the third straight season, may deal up to three players who are impending UFAs -- left winger James van Riemsdyk, penalty killing and right circle faceoff specialist Patrick Brown, and/or defenseman Justin Braun -- by 3:00 p.m.
For players who are potentially on the move -- all players to some degree but especially ones with wives and children -- deadline day is especially stressful. Even players who are not widely rumored to be dealt immediately are a little on edge, and all can empathise with their teammates who may soon become ex-teammates.
Inevitably, the same scene plays out leaguewide: Players have the national deadline day TV programs on throughout the day -- whether at home or at the team rink -- and they make sure they are accessible to calls from their agents and texts from those close to them.
As deadline day approaches, teammates often try to help one another cope with the stress by joking around or simply hanging out together off the ice. For example, Scott Laughton is close friends with van Riemsdyk and has been doing what he can to keep his long time friend's mind off the multitude of emotions and off-ice details that surround first the lead-up and then the potential aftermath of a trade. Laughton himself went through it a couple seasons ago before ultimately signing a contract extension to remain with the Flyers.
For his part, JVR is well aware of all the implications, but he's trying to mentally take things as they come and being prepared for any possible outcome.
"We all know and understand that it's a business. I haven't been traded at the deadline but I've been traded before [in the 2012 offseason from the Flyers to Toronto]. And, obviously, I've seen teammates traded. So it is what it is. You never want to get too far ahead of yourself. Staying in the moment is important," van Riemsdyk said.
He added, "Realistically, I'm not naive, I've been around, I've played for a few years now. You know when you're in the last year of your deal and you're kind of in the situation as we're at as a team right now, that things can happen."
Ultimately, van Riemsdyk said that, whatever the outcome of the trade deadine and the offseason to follow in terms of his next hockey destination, the central New Jersey native (now a Minnesota resident in the offseason) will always carry fond memories of being drafted by the Flyers, playing in the Stanley Cup Final as a Flyer in his rookie year and choosing to come back to his home region as a free agent in the summer of 2018.
"Being so close to home and being able to share a lot of this experience with my parents has ... it's going to be a special thing looking back on that," van Riemsdyk said earlier this week.
The most emotional recent trade deadline day in Voorhees was the 2019 deadline. One night earlier, after the Flyers capped off a dramatic comeback win in overtime against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stadium Series game at rain-soaked Lincoln Financial Field, teammates embraced Wayne Simmonds in the locker room because everyone knew their longtime friend had almost certainly just played his last game as a Flyer. On deadline day, Simmonds was traded to the Nashville Predators. The deal came right down to the wire, being announced less than five minutes before the 3-o'clock deadline.
Meanwhile, another longtime Flyer on an expiring deal, Michael Raffl, had a sleepless night and admitted he was on edge throughout deadline day itself. He and longtime friend Simmonds tried to keep one another entertained before and after practice. Because deals are sometimes announced after 3 p.m. because the trade has been reported in time to the NHL but the completed paperwork was not yet filed by 3, the tension is prolonged for a little longer.
That year, in Raffl's case, the player was not traded. He didn't want to be traded, either, but it was beyond his control. He breathed a huge sigh of relief when he was still a Flyer after the deadline.
"It's like in school," Raffl said. "You wait for class to be over. It takes forever, you know? This is not in my control. It's weird. It's not, like, nervous. It's a different feeling when you're in that situation. It's torturous."
In 2019, Raffl ultimately re-signed with the Flyers for two more seasons. Finally, with his deal out to expire in the summer of 2021, the Flyers traded Raffl -- on deadline day -- he was traded to the Washington Capitals.
Among current Flyers, Brown's situation is the most similar to Raffl's circa 2019 and 2021. He's a role player and may or may not get traded on Deadline Day. As with Raffl, his preference is to stay put but he knows it's out of his control.
"I love it here," Brown said on Feb. 24. "The Flyers took a chance on me on waivers (shortly before the start of the 2021-22 season). They went out of their way to say we want this guy. I've tried to do everything I can to prove that I want to be here and be a good player for this team."
Braun's situation shows how much things can change from year to year for the same player. A season ago, the Flyers dealt the veteran "steady Eddie" defenseman to the New York Rangers at the deadline. He returned to the Flyers in the offseason and has played a reduced role compared to his 2019-20 to 2022 trade deadline placement on the depth chart. This time around at the deadline, there may or may not be a chance for him to go to a playoff club and pursue the Stanley Cup. A veteran of 119 Stanley Cup playoff games including a trip to the 2016 Stanley Cup Final and 2019 Western Conference Final while a member of the San Jose Sharks, there may be a team interested in Braun for depth come playoff time even if he's longer a likely starting-six option come the postseason.
For his part, the 36-year-old Braun as well as the 33-year-old van Riemsdyk, are trying to relish their opportunities on off-days to spend a little extra time with their families and enjoy just being dads to their kids. It's a way to stay grounded and keep their minds off the trade deadline while at home. However, if a trade does come down, Braun openly admits that he would be excited to take one more shot at the Cup that eluded him in San Jose, the first year of his first Flyers stint (when the team fell a win short of the Eastern Conference Final), and last year in New York. There are only so many kicks at the can in a career.