February 29, 2016
Matt Slocum/AP
Flyers general manager Ron Hextall, right, speaks as chairman Ed Snider looks on.
The NHL trade deadline has officially passed. And the Philadelphia Flyers roster looks pretty much the same now as it did before the 3 p.m. deadline.
Currently, the Flyers (28-22-11; 67 points) are three points behind the Penguins for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race with 21 games to go. All along, general manager Ron Hextall has preached patience, saying that he wasn't going to leverage the franchise's future in order to acquire a rental player when the playoffs were anything but guaranteed.
Apparently, that wasn't just lip service, as Hextall and the Flyers maintained the status quo on Monday and neglected to make any big moves ahead of the deadline. Across the league, it was a quieter deadline than in recent years and just the first time in nearly 20 years that there weren't double-digit deals made.
The team did make one move, however, sending forward Nick Cousins to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. But that had nothing to do with making room on the roster for a new player; if anything, it was just a technicality.
ROSTER MOVE: #Flyers reassign F Nick Cousins to #LVPhantoms to make him #AHL eligible
— Tony Androckitis (@TonyAndrock) February 29, 2016
Yesterday, Androckitis wrote that he expected Cousins to be loaned to the Phantoms so that he would be AHL eligible later in the season. And you can expect him to back in Philly almost immediately. He was the only Flyers player sent down, which means Shayne Gostisbehere and Scott Laughton will be with the big club for the rest of the season.
Two players who were reportedly drawing interest from other teams -- D Mark Streit and LW Sam Gagner -- both played well in their games leading up to the deadline, but it must not have been enough to entice rival GMs into making Hextall an offer he couldn't refuse.
Another player linked to trade rumors was Michael Raffl, but after he signed a three-year extension on Sunday, it became pretty obvious that he wasn't going anywhere.
The Flyers weren't completely out of the loop on what is typically one hockey's busiest news days, but they just weren't able to get anything done. It was even reported that the team was in on Lightning prospect Jonathan Drouin, but it appears that the 20-year-old winger will be staying with Tampa.
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