The Flyers could take advantage of a desperate rebuilder.
Heading into the 2026 offseason, the Philadelphia Flyers are equipped with a ton of draft capital and assets, with various paths to explore to make good use of them.
And, although they just made the playoffs, it might be wise to continue to invest via the NHL draft.
As things currently stand, the Flyers won't be able to make too much happen with the No. 21 overall pick they own, but they could package that to acquire something greater, whether it be a player or another draft pick higher in the order.
If the Flyers opt to go for the latter, they won't have to look much further than the Chicago Blackhawks, who are picking fourth overall in the 2026 draft.
Despite landing young talents like Anton Frondell, Connor Bedard, Artyom Levshunov, Spencer Knight, and Frank Nazar, the Blackhawks remain in the NHL's doldrums, mired in mediocrity.
According to NHL insider David Pagnotta via the "Morning Cuppa Hockey" show, the Blackhawks would consider parting ways with that No. 4 pick if it brought them a young player who can contribute now and comes with team control.
Now, the Flyers wouldn't offer Matvei Michkov or Porter Martone for an unknown commodity draft pick that, like a car, becomes less valuable as soon as it is used.
They can however, take from their glut of wingers and defensemen to help make a useful trade package by means of diminishing returns, helping the Blackhawks put a more competent supporting cast around Bedard.
That might have to come at the cost of Tyson Foerster and/or Owen Tippett, the Flyers' own first-round pick, and someone like Emil Andrae or Oliver Bonk.
Those are the talents and ages that Chicago will need to make such a trade worthwhile from their perspective.
As for the Flyers, trading for the No. 4 pick would certainly come with its benefits.
Assuming Gavin McKenna, Chase Reid, and Caleb Malhotra are the first three players off the board, the Flyers can ease the losses of Foerster and/or Tippett with the selection of Swedish starlet Ivar Stenberg, who has a real case to go No. 1 ahead of McKenna.
Or, if the Flyers opt to go off the board a bit, they can get their top-six center in Tynan Lawrence or Viggo Bjorck, or get a blue-chip defenseman like Carson Carels, Alberts Smits, or Keaton Verhoeff.
They aren't NHL-proven talents, to be clear, but they are the high-end talents the Flyers are looking for and crave with a reasonable path to getting them.
Stenberg is the obvious cream of the crop among all those alternative names, and the Flyers having a long-term core of Stenberg, Martone, and Michkov on the wings would be absurd, to say the least.