June 23, 2026
Steven Bisig/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Dylan Cozens would fit right into the Flyers' top six, but it's a tough sell right now to get him away from Ottawa.
Phones are ringing across the NHL with the draft approaching this Friday, and based on the buzz going around right now, general manager Danny Brière and the Flyers are, at the least, picking up and listening.
They already made one deal to upgrade their goaltending behind Dan Vladar, trading with Toronto for Joseph Woll last week, but fans have continued to wonder if anything else might be in the cards.
The Flyers do, after all, still need a clear top-six center, and can afford to modify their defense a bit.
And now that the team has progressed to the point where it can make the playoffs and stand to make a bit of noise within the postseason, is Brière reaching the point where he's maybe ready to take a greater gamble on the trade market?
"Everything's on the table," he said last week in Voorhees. "It has to make sense. That's kind of the thing. We want to make sure that it helps us for the future, not just for one season or a few months. I don't feel we're quite there yet."
But there has been noise, and a number of notable players linked to the Flyers in the past month at various degrees of feasibility.
Here's a rundown of all the latest rumors heading toward the draft...
Cozens is 25, was just shy of being a 30-30 scorer as the Sens' second-line center in 2026 (28 goals, 31 assists), and was one of the very few guys who did anything for Ottawa in that first-round playoff sweep to Carolina (two goals and an even plus/minus rating). He's under contract for four more years at a pretty reasonable $7.1 million cap hit.
Pinto is also 25, and was a 23-goal, 23-assist scorer with a plus-6 rating as Ottawa's third-line center. His four-year extension is just kicking in at a $7.5 million cap hit.
Greig will turn 24 in August. He's listed as center, but kicks out to wing, and just finished his third straight season with 13 goals, which went along with a career-best 22 assists and plus-12 rating. He's under contract for three more years at a low $3.25 million per, with an argument there that he's still awaiting his true breakout.
Either of the three would fit right in with the Flyers' current roster as a collectively young and developing group, and the Flyers have been recently reported to have interest in all three, per the Daily Faceoff's Anthony Di Marco.
Clearly, Cozens and Pinto are the more appealing targets as more clear-cut and established top-six centers, with the Senators maybe willing to move one for a blue-line upgrade (like Rasmus Ristolainen).
Thing is, this hit the rumor mill before the now former Sens captain and star winger Brady Tkachuk was dealt to the Florida Panthers.
That move might push Ottawa general manager Steve Staios to hold his current offensive talent much closer, or in much higher value, since they'll need to compensate if the Senators intend to stay in the playoff picture.
Said Staios on Monday after the Tkachuk trade: “I have no intention of this team taking a step back. My intention is to be active in the market, continue to add to already a very strong group, a committed group, a team that continues to move in the right direction."
But maybe in a direction that cuts the Flyers off from a potential deal for now, or if it doesn't, in a direction that will cost them more, because it's going to be pretty tough to get a team to part with talented and favorably cost-controlled centers who still haven't even reached their prime yet.
Shane Pinto is another young and productive center for the Sens who isn't a stranger to Flyers trade rumors.
There's conflicting buzz going around about Wright and the Flyers' rumored interest in him as the draft approaches, but his name and Philadelphia have overlapped going back to the trade deadline, so it can't be outright dismissed.
Wright is 22, has the pedigree of the fourth overall pick from the 2022 draft, and is entering the last year of his entry-level deal.
He's shown flashes of the star he was once projected to be, but he only scored 12 goals and 27 points this past season, and if Seattle does flip him, it would be more of a reclamation project and a gamble than a surefire bet that the Flyers would be getting a top-six center back.
Maybe it's a smokescreen for Beniers, who is the Kraken's top center at 23 years old and after back-to-back 20-goal seasons.
However, the Kraken were rumored to be looking for help on the wing, and they did just make a deal with Florida for Mackie Samoskevich at the cost of their late first-round pick and a conditional second-rounder in 2027.
That might have settled Seattle for a bit.
Shane Wright hasn't yet lived up to his billing as a fourth overall draft pick.
Another struggling Duck who has had rumors around him overlap with the Flyers over the past couple of months, the latest is that Philadelphia is keeping tabs on the former third overall pick, again per the Daily Faceoff's Anthony Di Marco.
Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras were both acquired from Anaheim, and both revitalized their careers in Philly to become key parts of the Flyers' developing team. So it stands to reason that maybe the Flyers could do it again with McTavish, but as covered earlier this month, he's in a bit of a different situation that's tougher to swing.
To start, he's already on his big contract, going into the second of a six-year deal at $7 million per.
Then there's the part where, at age 23, he was a young center within a high-flying Ducks offense this past season that lived and died on trying to win 6-4 every night. But instead of piling up the stats, he managed just 17 goals and 41 points, then got scratched in the playoffs, which brought on the idea that Anaheim is already trying to get out from his long-term contract, which isn't a good sign.
McTavish isn't a particularly great skater right now for a potential top-six role.
Really, his name is probably catching eyes because he's a young and somewhat recognizable center in an otherwise pretty barren market for them.
MORE: Six prospects the Flyers could draft at No. 21, Version 4.0
Larkin is a 30-30 scorer who wants out of Detroit, which set the NHL rumor mill ablaze when word broke a few weeks back.
Given his body of work, he would go right to the top of a lot of lineups right now, the Flyers included.
Problem is, he has a full no-trade clause, and his reported list of teams that he's OK to go to, at least for right now, consists of just Vegas, Florida, and Minnesota – all win-now teams, and all teams that have a buddy or two of Larkin's from the Team USA Olympic run.
He's a real long shot for the Flyers, but they are keeping an eye out, per The Athletic's Kevin Kurz.
In all likelihood, though, if Larkin does get traded, it won't be during the draft. The situation seems a little too fractured between Larkin's camp and the Red Wings right now for anything to immediately happen. Neither side wants to be the first to cave.
Dylan Larkin wants out of Detroit, but probably won't get his trade for a while.
Barzal's name popped up on the potential block earlier in the month, but that appears to have cooled down a bit, at least as it concerns the Flyers.
Barzal posted 19 goals and 53 assists (72 points) with a plus-10 rating for an Islanders playoff push that stalled out down the stretch this past season.
He's a good player, but probably not for the Flyers right now, considering that he's 29 and relies on his speed to produce.
The Barzal of 2021 would've been a fit for a relatively young group, but maybe not the Barzal of right now.
Nurse requested a trade from the Oilers around the same time his name was linked to the Flyers.
He's a good defenseman, but being 31 and under a $9.25 million cap hit for four more years distorts his perception.
And really, a move for him by the Flyers would feel like a lateral one if he's to replace Rasmus Ristolainen or Nick Seeler, at a presumably higher cost – even if Edmonton retains salary – and at a potential block for incoming prospects like Oliver Bonk or Hunter McDonald, who seems close to earning a spot.
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