4 Trade Targets Named For Flyers at Center

The Philadelphia Flyers are loaded on the wing, but have a lack of center depth at the NHL level. They have several pivots occupying their top 10 prospects list, but for immediate help at the NHL level, the team will have to look elsewhere. That has prompted Philly insider and Daily Faceoff writer Anthony Di Marco to propose four trade targets for the team to go after this summer.

Robert Thomas, St. Louis Blues

Thomas was the biggest name out there at the trade deadline, but the Blues never got an offer good enough to even take to Thomas to consider. And while the 26-year-old says he has never asked for a trade, we can expect the Blues, either under outgoing GM Doug Armstrong or his incoming replacement, Alex Steen, to continue those talks. The Blues want to re-make their roster, and nobody would bring back a bigger return than the 26-year-old star center.

He has five more years to run on his contract, at a reasonable $8.125M cap hit.

But with the extremely high asking price (as it was at the deadline), Di Marco theorizes that one of Porter Martone, Matvei Michkov, and/or Jett Luchanko would have to be part of the deal, plus an additional prospect and a first-round pick. He feels that's too high a sacrifice for the Flyers to make.

"But if the price were to come down even a little bit, I would fully expect the Flyers to be at the front of the line in the Thomas sweepstakes."

Matty Beniers, Seattle Kraken

The former No. 2 overall pick (2021 NHL Draft) hasn't had a straight line to NHL stardom since winning the Calder Trophy back in 2022-23. That rookie year is still his best in the league in this, his fourth season. Although he wouldn't yet be considered a legit top-line center outside of Seattle, Di Marco figures he would be that in Philly.

"The Flyers have interest in Beniers," writes Di Marco, though he does wonder if they would balk at the five years at a $7.142M cap hit remaining on his deal.

Matthew Poitras, Boston Bruins

Di Marco reports that not only do the Bruins have "some interest" in Poitras, but they may have made a trade offer at the deadline. The 22-year-old was a second-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, and has gotten into 69 games over the past three seasons with the Bruins, registering seven goals and 27 points. His play there and at the AHL level with Providence seems to be indicative of a middle-six projection in the NHL.

Dean Letourneau, Boston Bruins

Ditto on Letourneau on all of the above from Poitras. The Bruins showed some interest at the deadline, and a "middle six ceiling" seems to be the projection. Except that Letourneau is two years younger, and brings incredible size to the center position, at 6'7", 220 lbs, and was a first-round pick (25th overall) in the 2024 Draft. He's just wrapping up his second year at Boston College, which saw him score 20 goals with 37 points in 35 games.