Trade Ideas for the Flyers' Travis Konecny Amid NHL Rumors

Even with Monday night's surprising win over the Colorado Avalanche, it has not been a great start to the season for the Philadelphia Flyers. That slow start has already kick-started the rumor mill regarding one of their veteran players, forward Travis Konecny.

Even though the Flyers were a playoff team in 2025-26, there was still an expectation that they might take a step backwards this season, and general manager Danny Briere made it clear that is a possibility they were prepared for when the season began.

Even with the playoff appearance, it is still a team that is in a rebuild and looking to build something long-term. It's not necessarily just about this season.

Konecny has been a key part of the organization for a while, and one of the Flyers' best players, but given his age and the team's apparent longer-term timeline there is a chance he could get eventually get moved.

Especially if the team does not turn things around this season.

While there is no indication that is on the verge of happening anytime soon, it is still something to keep an eye on. We already looked at some teams that could have an interest should it get to that point, so let's look at some of those teams and try to take a guess at what some trade ideas might look like. Or at least try to get a sense on what the value could be.

What would Travis Konecny's trade value even look like?

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Trade values are never as simple as what a player is doing or producing right now in this moment.

You are not just trading for a player capable of scoring X number of goals this season in X number of games.

There is more to it than that. A lot more to it.

You are trading for that player's production, their all-around defensive game, their skill, their positional value, their age, their contract, their injury history, and every other variable that goes into determining a player's overall value and impact on a team.

From a production standpoint, Konecny is a steady, 25-goal, 60-point winger that always seems to be at the center of something chaotic happening on the ice. He would fit in with most contending teams in a top-six role, and in a vacuum is the type of player most general managers would love to have on their team.

The biggest issue and hurdle with a potential Konecny move is his no-movement clause that will allow him to control where he goes, and if he goes anywhere at all. So it's not only a matter of the Flyers having a willingness move him, it's having a willingness, along with getting an offer they deem to be acceptable, and it being to a team that he would be willing to play for.

You are going to have to think contending team here.

The other potential roadblock would be his contract and his age.

He is in year two of an eight-year, $70 million contract that runs through the end of the 2032-33 season. Given that Konecny is already 29 years old (and turns 30 in March of this season), that contract is going to run through his mid-30s.

While he is still a very good and very productive player right now, there is also a good chance he has already played his best, most productive hockey and would be joining a new team on the downside of his career. That has to be a consideration. It does not mean he is going to suddenly cease to be productive. It just means that what you see right now is probably the absolute best you are going to get from him, while also accepting the reality that it will eventually get worse. How much worse, and how quickly it gets worse, remains to be seen.

While the $8.5 million salary cap number is probably more than fair value right now, especially under the rising cap, NHL teams do not tend to value wingers, in their mid-30s, that still have term remaining on their contract as major trade chips. They can usually find competent scoring wingers in a lot of different ways without having to take on big money and give up big assets for a player that doesn't play a premium position and might have already played his best hockey.

Is Konecny still young enough (and productive enough) to make teams look past that? Maybe.

The Flyers don't have any pressure to move Konecny at this point and might need to be blown away to consider it, so let's take a look at what that might mean in terms of value.

Carolina Hurricanes idea

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The Trade Idea

Carolina receives: Travis Konecny

Philadelphia receives: Alexander Nikishin, prospect Charlie Cerrato, first-round pick

Trading within the division might not be something Philadelphia is very keen on doing, but the Hurricanes have salary cap space, trade assets, and are very much in a win-now mode.

Nikishin is their most obvious trade chip, especially as he remains unsigned as a restricted free agent, and they would almost certainly like to move him. The most likely trade involving Nikishin is some sort of a three-team deal involving Connor Hellebuyck going to the Hurricanes, but adding another goal-scoring option to what is already one of the deepest rosters in the NHL could be a good way to set themselves up for a repeat Stanley Cup run.

Nikishin is also at an age that would fit in well with some of the Flyers' young core group of forwards, specifically Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone.

Along with Nikishin, Carolina has four first-round picks over the next three years and there is a very good chance that at least one, and maybe more, of those picks get moved for more immediate help.

Cerrato would also be an intriguing prospect to add into the Flyers organization given his role as a center and the Flyers' long-term need for more help down the middle.

Edmonton Oilers Idea

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The Trade Idea

Edmonton receives: Travis Konecny

Philadelphia receives: Matthew Savoie, prospect Tommy Lafreniere, 2027 first-round pick

As strong as the Oilers early season record is, they have to be self-aware enough to know that is entirely due to the dominance of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard, and that the rest of the offense still has a lot of issues from a depth perspective.

They still need to worry about goaltending.

The defense still needs help.

They still need more secondary scoring.

They probably need to address all three of those issues to some degree over the next few months. Konecny would be a big addition at forward and give them another legitimate top-six winger to help round out the lineup.

The Oilers farm system and young talent is extremely weak, but Savoie has shown flashes of being a good player and could fit into the Flyers young core and timeline. Lafreniere is an intriguing prospect, but is still probably a ways off. Given the Stanley Cup-or-bust mentality the Oilers should have right now, pretty much every first-round pick should be on the table.

Montreal Canadiens idea

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The Trade Idea

Montreal gets: Travis Konecny

Philadelphia gets: Prospect Michael Hage, prospect Tyler Thorpe, future first-round pick, Philip Danault (cap dump)

The Flyers know they need help down the middle, and somebody that can be an impact player in a top-six role at the position. We know they know that because they tried to get Leo Carlsson on a restricted free agent offer sheet over the summer.

It didn't work, but it was a worthy effort.

Hage has top-six center potential and is one of the best prospects in a deep Canadiens system.

Montreal figures to be major buyers at some point this season following back-to-back playoff appearances and a run to the Eastern Conference Final, and while a second-line center should be high on their list, I'm not sure they would pass up the opportunity to add another top-six winger. This is an excellent team set up for long-term success, but it is not quite a finished product just yet.

Hage would give Philadelphia a really intriguing center prospect, while Thorpe is a big, physical prospect that would have the potential to fit in with the Flyers style of play and become a fan favorite if he panned out.

Danault is included just to help make the money work this season (he is in the final year of a $5.5 million per year contract).

Utah Mammoth idea

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The Trade Idea

Utah receives: Travis Konecny

Philadelphia receives: Tij Iginla, first-round pick, Kevin Stenlund (salary dump)

If you are not already taking Utah seriously as a potential Stanley Cup contender in the Western Conference, you need to start doing so. Their young talent is for real, and they can skate with any team in the NHL.

If they are going to make a big trade this season (and they should absolutely try to do so), Connor Hellebuyck might be the more logical target given their questions in goal. But adding a winger like Konecny could fill a potentially big stylistic need. While so much of their core is built on speed and skill, Konecny can still provide some secondary scoring and also bring a different element to their forward group with his gritty play and willingness to mix things up.

Utah has developed a strong farm system, and while Iginla is a top prospect, the Mammoth prospect pool has become deep enough they might have a willingness to part with him in the right deal. Especially given the arrival and development of players like Caleb Desnoyers, Ethan Belchetz, Thomas Lavoie and Dmitri Simashev. When you are starting to become a contender, you can't have many untouchables in your prospect pipeline.

Iginla has position flexibility at this point to play on the wing or down the middle, and is a big-time talent that could still be a long-term building block for a Flyers team that needs more gamebreakers offensively. Or at least potential gamebreakers.