Flyers able to enjoy trade deadline madness because of spot in standings

VOORHEES — Two years ago, Dale Weise was talking contract extension with the Montreal Canadiens when a halt in the discussion suggested a trade might be imminent.

Indeed, he was moved before the deadline to Chicago along with Tomas Fleischmann in return for a second-round pick and Phillip Danault. That’s how quickly things can turn and how stressful life can be at the deadline.

“You’ve got your family and you’re moving across the country or a different country,” he said. “It’s a difficult time for guys to get moved.”

This year isn’t like that, for Weise or for anyone else in orange and black.

Because the Flyers are sitting pretty in a playoff spot and are now in a race for first place in the Metropolitan Division, the whole team is enjoying the deadline rather than fearing it.

“It feels pretty good,” Jake Voracek said. “First time in a while you don’t get worried about who’s gonna be traded. I guess we’re not selling this year. It’s a pretty good sign.”

Twitter has run more amok than usual with hearsay and speculation ahead of Monday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. If anything, the Flyers will be buyers. Players in Philly can scroll through their social media timelines without much panic.

General manager Ron Hextall was forced into the market when he lost goalies Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth to injury and acquired Petr Mrazek. His new netminder has played in only one game, but if he can perform as he did Thursday night’s victory on a consistent basis the team is much closer to being contenders than sellers.

Perhaps Hextall makes another move before it’s all said and done.

“I think as a fan it’s always interesting,” Weise said. “You see teams making moves. For us it’s the most entertaining time of year. You see which teams are going for it and which teams are selling.”

The market started to form Thursday night about an hour after the Flyers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets. Michael Grabner, still speedy at age 30 and a terrific penalty killer who has fancied himself an empty-net goal specialist with seven, was traded to the New Jersey Devils.

Grabner was one of the most attractive rental forwards because he’s cheap and brings 25 goals already this season. The cost, in the first ever trade between this incarnation of the Devils and the New York Rangers, was a second-round pick and a prospect.

If prices are that low, Hextall can afford to be involved in a move that doesn’t involve a top-rate star.

But do the Flyers even want help? They emerged from a 10-game losing streak on their own and are in contention for home-ice advantage in the NHL’s second season. Mrazek was needed, but more reinforcements are far from required.

“I think we’ve got all the pieces we need, to be honest,” defenseman Radko Gudas said. “(Management) can see something else. They can see we need to improve here and there and if that’s gonna make our team better, I’m all for it. This decision is up to them, but we’ve got a lot of players who battled the whole year here and stuck with it and guys are pulling from the same side of the rope. It’s always nice to have a little more depth when the playoffs come. You never know what might happen.”

“I think you’ve got to look,” Weise added. “If you can improve your team, I think that’s something you’ve got to go about and do it. You see how well our team is playing, I think you don’t want to tamper with the chemistry, but if you can add someone that’s going to make your team better, how do you not do it?”

In the past two seasons, the expectation has been either that Hextall will stand pat or try and sell some contracts to make room for kids in the future. Friday’s roster had five rookies on it and more will be up in the top league in the coming years.

If the Flyers are in good standing and it looks like a good year to take a shot, maybe Hextall makes a low-risk, low-cost buy to add a depth defenseman or penalty-killing forward.

“For sure that’s a bit of a change from over the past two seasons,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “Hey, it’s still there. The trade deadline is a fact of the business, but what I see in our room is a real together group that’s focused on the job at hand.”

Dave Isaac; @davegisaac; 856-486-2479; disaac@gannett.com

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