Flyers Made Aggressive Draft Trade Offer To Leapfrog Canadiens

With the 2024 NHL Entry Draft quickly approaching, the Montreal Canadiens will have to keep an eye on teams that could potentially swing a trade to acquire a pick that takes place prior to the fifth overall selection.

According to Pierre LeBrun, the Philadelphia Flyers offered the Columbus Blue Jackets a rather rich trade package to gauge whether they’re truly willing to move outside the top five. Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell had openly admitted his team was shopping the fourth overall pick, but considering how much the Flyers offered to make a switch, the price tag for any such trade seems rather unreasonable.

The framework of the potential deal was as follows: the Flyers offered the 12th overall pick, a roster player, and a 2025 first-round pick to the Blue Jackets in exchange for the fourth overall pick. The Blue Jackets rejected the offer. Of course, there are detail that could influence how we evaluate such an offer, including the name of the roster player, and whether the 2025 first-round pick was protected or not.

As for the player the Flyers would have targeted with the fourth overall pick, the logical choice is power forward Cayden Lindstrom, as he could serve as a long-term centre for winger Matvei Michkov. The idea that the Flyers were hoping to secure Ivan Demidov’s services doesn’t hold much water when you consider Michkov is already in their system.

Regardless, given it was not accepted by the Blue Jackets, we can probably safely suggest it’s unlikely we’ll see much movement among the top 5 teams this year. That’s par for the course, as historically speaking, there have been little to no trades made involving top 5 picks in the last few decades.

MUST READ: Montreal Canadiens Analysis – Value Of Moving Down And Cost Of Moving Up At The Draft