Despite being traded to the Colorado Avalanche in early March, there have been whispers that defenseman Sean Walker could possibly make his way back to the Philadelphia Flyers in free agency.
Speaking to The Athletic, Flyers GM Danny Briere touched on the likelihood of bringing Walker back to Philadelphia, admitting that it's not a super realistic possibility due to salary cap limitations.
"Because of the cap, because of the guys we have to try and re-sign, it makes it tough," Briere said. "Obviously we think very highly of him. It hurt losing him down the stretch, there's no doubt about that. But where we're at—how we're positioned with our cap situation—it kind of makes it tough where we realize he's going to command probably more money than we have available this summer."
Walker was dealt to the Flyers from the Los Angeles Kings in a three-way trade deal also involving the Columbus Blue Jackets. In 63 games for the Flyers, he recorded six goals and 16 assists.
He was traded to Colorado in exchange for forward Ryan Johansen, along with a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
The Flyers' president of hockey operations Keith Jones also mentioned Walker during a press conference on Wednesday, admitting that the Walker trade did affect the team in the moment, but that ultimately it was a necessary business move.
"Yes, I think in trading Sean Walker, we weren't really raising the bar," he said. "Internally, you want to push your players. I don't think you ever want to send the message to guys that have fought so hard to get the position that we were sitting in to say, hey, we're not, we're not a playoff team.
"I don't think the messaging should be lost in the fact that we did trade a player for a first round pick next year in a very important draft. Had Sean Walker stayed with the team, is there three points in there for us there? Yes. We’re in the playoffs. We would have battled hard; we would have been a difficult opponent for everyone. That's kind of what we established last year."
