Ahead of the March 6 NHL trade deadline, one Eastern Conference team has been blowing up the Philadelphia Flyers' phones more than others.
As it turns out, Flyers forward Owen Tippett, who will have minor trade protection kick in on his contract this summer, has a group of admirers in the northeast.
On Friday, Daily Faceoff's Anthony Di Marco reported that the Boston Bruins are a team that has called about Tippett "several times this season."
"One name the Bruins have checked in on several times this season is winger Owen Tippett, who is under contract for six seasons beyond this one at an AAV of $6.2 million," Di Marco wrote.
"The Flyers aren’t looking to move the 27-year-old winger by any means but are open to discussions, though the price to get him out of Philadelphia would have to be significant. The Bruins feel like Tippett brings a different style of game and a versatility that they are lacking."
On the other side of the equation, Di Marco mentioned Bruins center prospects Matt Poitras and Dean Letourneau as players of interest to the Flyers, as well as left-shot defenseman Mason Lohrei.
Given the Flyers' logjam at the winger position, it would appear, on the surface, to be a no-brainer to move someone with Tippett's value to acquire players at other positions of need.
Letourneau, a 6-foot-7 center and 2024 first-round pick, was absolutely awful for Boston College last season, scoring just three assists in 26 games.
This year, however, has been a completely different story, and the 20-year-old has exploded for 19 goals, 15 assists, and 34 points in only 31 games.
It's been well-documented how the Flyers have loved to draft for size over the last two drafts, and Letourneau would certainly fit right in. Size aside, he's also a decent skater and has real puck skills to boot.
As for Poitras, the 22-year-old former second-round pick already has 69 games of NHL experience with the Bruins, scoring seven goals, 20 assists, and 27 points.
He's the least attractive option of the two centers, but Poitras does have the skill the Flyers need down the middle.
Lohrei, 25, was notably selected by the Bruins (58th) after the Flyers had selected Emil Andrae (54th) in the 2020 NHL Draft, and now the American blueliner could very well find himself tapped to replace his Swedish draft classmate.
Andrae's 5-foot-9 size does not appear to jive with what the Flyers are trying to do with their defense corps in the long-term, while Lohrei, who is 6-foot-5 and has 69 points in 171 games, can move the puck equally well while being capable of doing more physically.
As Di Marco noted, Lohrei carries a $3.2 million cap hit and could be jettisoned in an effort to create further cap space for the Bruins.
From the Flyers' perspective, Lohrei is an RFA again in the 2027 offseason, so there aren't going to be any significant financial or long-term commitments they're bound by if things don't work out in Philadelphia.
If the Flyers can swap Tippett for any combination of these players, especially given that Porter Martone will arrive soon and Tyson Foerster will eventually return from injury, the organization will be setting themselves up nicely to ice a much more well-rounded and competitive roster in the near future.