According to the latest NHL trade rumors, the Philadelphia Flyers desperately want to fix their goaltending issues. They’ve even had discussions with the Los Angeles Kings about Jonathan Quick.
The Philadelphia Flyers are hoping to turn around their season. Though they came into the 2018-19 season with high hopes, the Flyers will enter the holiday break with at best the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference. Since hiring Chuck Fletcher as their general manager, they’ve been active in the NHL trade rumors market. Their goaltending problems have led them to have discussions with the Los Angeles Kings about acquiring goaltender Jonathan Quick.
On Sportsnet’s Saturday Headlines segment on Dec. 22, Nick Kypreos reported the Flyers interest in the two-time Stanley Cup champion.
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“The Flyers are certainly looking for a veteran goaltender,” Kypreos said. “And there is some link between Quick and the LA Kings and the Flyers.”
Now, Philadelphia hasn’t had any deep discussions, such as contract talks, but the two sides have apparently had discussions. It isn’t known if these talks have continued since the Flyers called up top goaltending prospect Carter Hart. Hart has two wins in his first three NHL starts.
Acquiring Quick would be an interesting venture for the Flyers. They already have their future in Hart. And he might well be their present too.
However, Fletcher was brought in to be different from the conservative Ron Hextall, who was fired earlier this season. He’s determined to fix the Flyers goaltending and Quick would be one way to do it.
His contract would make it a bit difficult. Quick has a $5.8 million cap hit and is under contract for the next four seasons after the 2018-19 season. He turns 33 in January as well. The Flyers have the cap space to afford him, as they have over $13 million of deadline cap space.
However, they would likely have to trade Brian Elliott and/or Michal Neuvirth for it to make sense. Both are scheduled to become free agents after this season.
That said, there is at least a shred of logic in the Flyers showing interest in Quick. He would allow Philly to have a veteran goaltender to help mentor Hart. Quick has won two Stanley Cups, so he’d help there as well.
Still, the Flyers interest in him, if they are truly interested in him, is a bit odd. Quick is no longer among the league’s best goaltenders. Though he posted a .921 save percentage last season, it has fallen to .900 this season. Quick has also been injury prone, missing a good portion of two of his last three seasons due to injuries.
The Kings would likely love to move him for the right price. However, the Flyers don’t appear to be a very good fit. It’ll be hard for the Kings to move an aging goaltender who has always been questionable as far as durability.
For more NHL trade rumors, be sure to check out our Rumors page.