NHL Rumors: 3 Center Trade Targets Linked To Flyers

Tuesday, June 02, 2026 , ,
Seattle Kraken forward Matty Beniers shoots the puck during 2026 game.

The Philadelphia Flyers made the second round of the playoffs for the first time in years and were swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in four games.

The lesson from that series was the same lesson the regular season had been teaching all year.

Their wing depth is real and getting more crowded, but the center position is not good enough.

Flyers centers combined for four goals across ten playoff games, which shows a big structural problem.

Danny Briere was reported before the trade deadline to be absolutely looking for centers and specifically not looking for rentals, and the free agent market this summer offers almost nothing at the position worth pursuing.

That leaves the trade route, and three names have been linked to Philadelphia.

Robert Thomas - St. Louis Blues

Thomas is the name Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff confirmed has repeatedly surfaced in Flyers future offseason conversations, and the organizational fit is as clean as it gets.

He is 26 years old, posted 64 points in 64 games this season after back-to-back 80-plus-point campaigns, and is signed through 2030-31 at $8.125 million per year.

Putting Thomas alongside the Flyers' wing surplus of Konecny, Michkov, Foerster, Tippett, and Martone would give Philadelphia the first-line center they have not had since Sean Couturier's injury troubles began compounding.

The Blues want three first-half-of-the-first-round assets, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic, and the price is not dropping.

Briere has eight picks across the first three rounds in 2026 and 2027 and would need to include a winger to make the Blues seriously engage, which is exactly the surplus Philadelphia has to offer.

Matty Beniers - Seattle Kraken

Beniers is the under-the-radar name that is an attainable alternative to the blockbuster swings.

He is 23 years old, signed through 2029-30 at $7.143 million per year, and is on pace for more than 50 points this season for the first time since his sophomore campaign.

Di Marco noted the Kraken could make sense as a trade partner because Seattle has Chandler Stephenson signed long-term, 2025 first-round pick Jake O'Brien on the way at center, and Berkly Catton in the pipeline.

Elliotte Friedman also noted on 32 Thoughts in February that the Kraken were open to moving Wright for the right offensive player or young talent they really liked.

Beniers is not a true No. 1 center, but he is skilled enough to be the best center on the Flyers' roster immediately and would operate with a wing group that could elevate any pivot.

Shane Wright - Seattle Kraken

Wright is the buy-low option that has been discussed in Philadelphia circles since before the deadline, when it was reported that Seattle was open to moving him for the right offensive piece.

The fourth overall pick in 2022 dropped from 44 points last season to 27 this year and enters the final year of his entry-level deal at $886,666.

The connection to Trevor Zegras is something worth looking at.

Zegras arrived in Philadelphia as a struggling former top-ten pick who had never quite found himself in Anaheim, and the Flyers' environment and wing depth immediately unlocked production that earned him a long-term extension.

If Briere believes the Flyers' system can do the same for Wright, the cost of acquisition is modest enough that the downside risk is limited.

A surplus winger and a pick gets this conversation started.

Photo Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

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