Flyers Trade Deadline Candidates: Emil Andrae
Danny Briere set expectations for the NHL Trade Deadline when he joined 97.5 The Fanatic at the Flyers Charities Carnival. “It’s probably going to be on the quieter side. We’re…
Danny Briere set expectations for the NHL Trade Deadline when he joined 97.5 The Fanatic at the Flyers Charities Carnival.
“It’s probably going to be on the quieter side. We’re not looking to unload unless something too good came to us. We’re not looking at rentals. We’re not ready for that. This is not the time to spend assets to try to just get in, to make a push for the playoffs. It might be a quieter deadline than it’s been the last couple years.”
After the deadline passes on Friday, March 6 at 3pm, the outlook on the Philadelphia Flyers and their long-term rebuild probably won’t have changed too drastically.
However, Briere and the Flyers will consider subtracting players after slipping out of the playoff race with 12 losses in their final 15 games before the Olympic break.
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- Flyers Trade Deadline Candidates: Emil Andrae
- Flyers Trade Deadline Candidates: Noah Juulsen
Emil Andrae
The Flyers generously list Emil Andrae at 5-foot-9, 189 pounds. Their 2020 second-round pick struggled during his first extended NHL action in 2024-25 to impress former head coach John Tortorella.
While he showed flashes of talent as a puck-moving defenseman, his risks too often forced the Flyers to defend in their own zone.
Andrae floated between the NHL and AHL levels with a high variance in good and bad results that kept him from earning trust as a lineup regular. The front office also has an eye on adding more size to the blue line to complement Cam York and Jamie Drysdale, two offensive-minded defensemen with more noticeable track records than Andrae who don't fit the big, physical preferences of many Stanley Cup contenders.
Danny Briere challenged Andrae during training camp to meet his ceiling.
“We saw some flashes early last year, his first recall, he really was controlling the game. You watched him play, and it felt like he was in charge out there. And then later in the season, that kind of went away. And the reality is, with his stature, we're going to need the Emil that we saw early in the season, for him to just stick around and to have an impact on the game, to stay here. That's what we're looking (for) from him.”
-Danny Briere
Emil Andrae finds himself in a similar situation under Rick Tocchet with the trade deadline quickly approaching.
He reached the Olympic break with one goal and 10 assists in 40 games played. He’s shown the same variance in performance with tendencies for mistakes in his own end. The 24-year-old has also slipped in key play-driving metrics, which was a strength of his game as a rookie last season. He also adds minimal valuie on special teams.
Veteran Noah Juulsen dressed in Philadelphia’s final five games before the Olympic break while Andrae sat as a healthy scratch. Andrae's failure to establish himself as a lineup regular under a new head coach in 2025-26 raises serious doubts about his long-term future in the organization.
Briere faces a tough decision on an impending restricted free agent. He must weigh the option of paying another undersized defenseman who falls significantly short of York or Drysdale as a future piece on the blue line.
The Flyers differ from most NHL Trade Deadline sellers, as they've taken the emphasis off collecting draft picks as a major focus of the rebuild.
“Ideally, if we do make some (trade deadline) moves, it would be more for players that can help, maybe not quite right now, but not a draft pick. Hopefully it's a prospect that's almost ready to help us. I think we're shifting away hopefully from only draft picks and looking a little bit more at prospects.”
-Danny Briere (September 16)
Briere will look to add prospects or younger players in similar situations to Emil Andrae who might benefit from a change of scenery at the trade deadline. The skilled Swedish blueliner has runway to develop at the NHL level, but it's not with the Flyers.
