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The St. Louis Blues reportedly wanted Porter Martone, Jack Nesbitt, and a first-round pick from the Philadelphia Flyers for center Robert Thomas.
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0:05
The St. Louis Blues reportedly wanted an
0:07
insane package for center Robert Thomas
0:09
at the trade deadline from the
0:11
Philadelphia Flyers. I am Ryan Gilbert
0:13
for Broad Street Hockey. Going to be
0:14
digging into that trade hall that the
0:16
Blues were asking for here for Robert
0:19
Thomas. Let's first start with what
0:21
Robert Thomas is. Robert Thomas has come
0:24
up in every conversation when you talk
0:26
about the Flyers needing a center. The
0:28
Blues are in a similar position to the
0:30
Flyers right now, kind of rebuilding,
0:32
kind of retooling, just missed the
0:34
playoffs last year, made the playoffs
0:36
the year before that, went seven games.
0:39
And Robert Thomas, you know, he's 26
0:41
years old, going to be 27 in July, under
0:44
a very team-friendly contract at 8.125
0:47
million through 2031.
0:49
And that's only going to look better
0:51
with the salary cap rising in coming
0:53
years. He had 64 points in 64 games this
0:57
past season and has averaged 84.7 points
1:00
per 82 games over the past five seasons.
1:03
The Blues only made the playoffs in one
1:04
of those years, taking the Winnipeg Jets
1:06
to seven games in the first round of the
1:09
2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
1:12
Uh we talked about it in the last video
1:14
that Andy Strickland reported on Friday
1:16
night that Robert Thomas would not be
1:18
traded this summer. We'll see what
1:20
happens with that as the summer unfolds
1:22
with the draft and whatnot, but for now,
1:24
it looks like Robert Thomas is not going
1:26
anywhere. And we got a report on Monday
1:29
from The Athletic's Kevin Kurz of what a
1:32
trade package may have looked like for
1:34
Robert Thomas back at the trade
1:36
deadline.
1:37
Kevin Kurz wrote that although the
1:38
Flyers checked in on Thomas before the
1:40
deadline, the ask on the 26-year-old was
1:42
a non-starter for them. One Flyers
1:44
source mentioned that in March, the
1:45
Blues wanted Martone, Nesbitt, and a
1:48
first-round pick for Thomas, which was
1:50
completely unreasonable in their view.
1:52
And as Kurz reports there, that does
1:55
sound like a completely unreasonable
1:58
trade package for Robert Thomas. Robert
2:00
Thomas is a very good first line center
2:02
in this league. He is a 1C. He There's
2:04
no caveats there. He's a first line
2:06
center, point per game player over the
2:08
past four seasons on a Blues team that
2:11
isn't necessarily have a ton of talent
2:14
around him.
2:15
And going back to the deadline, this was
2:17
early March, so before Martone joined
2:20
the Flyers, Nesbitt of course still in
2:22
the OHL, played the whole season there.
2:24
The draft pick, we don't know what what
2:27
draft pick it would have been. Let Let's
2:28
start there. The Flyers have their own
2:30
draft pick in 2026 in a few weeks here,
2:33
as well as their own pick in '27, and
2:35
the Toronto Maple Leafs pick in 2027, we
2:38
think. We're not sure exactly the
2:40
through the conditions on that, but it
2:42
does look like the Flyers have the Leafs
2:44
pick in 2027.
2:47
Back then, we did not know that the
2:48
Leafs would win the draft lottery and
2:50
the chance to draft Gavin McKenna. So,
2:52
we thought it may have been another down
2:55
year for the Leafs next season, so maybe
2:57
the Blues were looking at that pick in
3:00
case
3:01
the Leafs were bad again, more likely
3:03
looking at one of the Flyers picks,
3:05
which if it was up in this year's draft,
3:08
the Flyers definitely would have made
3:09
the playoffs with Robert Thomas,
3:11
possibly won more than one round. So, it
3:13
would have been a pick in the '21 right
3:16
now, could have been later than that.
3:18
So, that's fine. You can get a a first
3:20
round pick plus a prospect plus a roster
3:22
player, something like that for Robert
3:24
Thomas. It is okay, but you don't see
3:27
first line centers become available very
3:29
often, so I don't blame the Blues for
3:31
asking for what they want. I don't blame
3:33
the Red Wings for asking for what they
3:35
want with Dylan Larkin, and so on and so
3:37
forth. But,
3:38
first round pick is fine. Even Jack
3:40
Nesbitt, the 12th overall pick in the
3:43
2025 NHL draft, the Flyers traded the
3:46
22nd pick and a 31st pick to to trade up
3:49
and draft the 6'5 center.
3:53
It it like there were other teams that
3:54
were looking at the potentially trade up
3:56
to take uh Nesbitt or just take Nesbitt
3:58
right after the Flyers. Steve Yzerman of
4:01
the Detroit Red Wings being one of them
4:03
at 13th overall. The Flyers went up and
4:06
grabbed Jack Nesbitt. Like I said, a
4:09
6-foot-5 center. Uh back-to-back 25-goal
4:12
seasons in the OHL. Does have a longer
4:15
runway than some of these other
4:17
prospects due to that size and skating.
4:20
Uh committed to the University of
4:22
Michigan now for this coming season.
4:25
Um so he should hopefully get some good
4:27
experience there as Cutter Gauthier did
4:29
at Michigan State. And, you know, giving
4:32
up on Nesbitt so early, what if you're
4:34
getting Robert Thomas, that's fine. If
4:36
you're getting a first-line center and
4:38
the team wants your recent 12th overall
4:40
pick in a package for that, that's okay.
4:43
If it was Nesbitt and a first-round pick
4:46
and another prospect not named Cutter
4:47
Gauthier or maybe a roster player or
4:50
something like that or you got something
4:52
else back for Robert Thomas in that
4:54
deal, that would be manageable for Danny
4:57
Briere and the Flyers. But
4:59
the the real real sticking point in this
5:01
package is Cutter Gauthier. Cutter
5:03
Gauthier fell to the Flyers at sixth
5:05
overall, which it's still very early,
5:07
but it looks like that could be a steal.
5:09
He definitely looks like one of the top
5:11
three players in last year's draft
5:13
class.
5:14
Um like I said, this was at the trade
5:17
deadline. It was before Cutter Gauthier
5:19
joined the Flyers. He was still having a
5:21
fantastic freshman season at Michigan
5:24
State. Uh he ended up with 50 points in
5:26
35 games with the Spartans. 25 goals and
5:29
25 assists there. Was robbed of of a
5:32
Hobey Baker um nomination uh in my
5:35
opinion. At the very least. And then,
5:37
you know, he joined the Flyers and we
5:39
all know what he did. 10 points, four
5:41
goals, six assists in nine regular
5:44
season games. And then five more points
5:46
in 10 playoff games, including two
5:48
goals, two back-to-back game-winning
5:51
goals
5:52
against the Penguins there. He was a big
5:53
point in that. And then he then he
5:55
trailed off a bit in the second round as
5:57
you would expect against a team like the
6:00
Carolina Hurricanes that are now in the
6:02
Stanley Cup Final.
6:03
Then Martone went to go play at the
6:05
World Championships. He played top line
6:07
some with Sidney Crosby, Macklin
6:09
Celebrini, played some fourth line there
6:11
as well. And Martone just looks like
6:13
this next franchise player. And like I
6:16
said, with the Blues asking for a
6:18
first-round pick, asking for Nesbitt, I
6:20
don't blame them for asking for Porter
6:22
Martone. You have to start the initial
6:24
offer higher than you're really willing
6:26
to go for. That's what negotiating is.
6:29
So, if this was the first offer from the
6:31
Blues, they were like, all right,
6:33
Martone, Nesbitt, and a first-round
6:35
pick. That is what people reported
6:37
around the deadline. Was that the Blues
6:39
wanted three top 15 picks for
6:43
uh Robert Thomas or the equivalent of
6:45
them. And we were thinking, okay, maybe
6:47
Luchentko uh a 14th overall pick. If he
6:50
wasn't the deal instead of Martone, if
6:52
it was Luchentko, Nesbitt, and a
6:54
first-round pick, that gives the Blues
6:56
two center prospects that have a chance
6:58
of becoming top six, middle six guys,
7:01
even though a lot of people are down on
7:03
Luchentko right now. And it would give
7:06
them a first-round pick or it would give
7:07
them a roster player. But Porter Martone
7:10
really in any trade package is a
7:12
non-starter for the Flyers right now.
7:15
Unless it's
7:16
even Auston Matthews. I think a guy like
7:18
that I would not want to trade Porter
7:20
Martone for. Connor McDavid, Auston
7:22
Matthews, these you really need one of
7:24
these elite Heart Trophy contenders
7:28
every year after year, a guy that can
7:30
really take you to the next level.
7:33
And that's the next thing about this
7:34
package for the Blues and the Flyers is
7:36
that the Flyers just aren't quite ready
7:39
to take that next step yet. Even if they
7:41
made this deal, they got Thomas for
7:43
let's say it was LuΔenko and Nesbitt and
7:45
a first round pick. No roster players,
7:47
you add Robert Thomas, you add Porter
7:49
Martone for the stretch run, you get
7:51
Foerster back, you're still not winning
7:53
more than you're beating the Penguins,
7:55
maybe you win a game or two against the
7:57
Hurricanes instead of getting swept, but
8:00
you're not making the Eastern Conference
8:01
Final, you're not winning the Cup. And
8:04
you're sacrificing potential trade
8:05
pieces pieces for the future and seeing
8:08
what Nesbitt, LuΔenko and whatever that
8:10
first round pick comes to. And the Blues
8:14
are also really in no rush to trade
8:16
Robert Thomas. They had all the leverage
8:18
at the trade deadline. There weren't
8:20
many players available, especially top
8:22
line centers like that. So, they were
8:24
able to ask for what they wanted and if
8:26
not, they would keep him as they did and
8:29
nearly made a playoff push. They missed
8:30
the playoffs by four points, but
8:33
focusing on the Flyers here, the Flyers
8:35
just aren't ready to take that big swing
8:38
quite yet for for Robert Thomas,
8:40
especially at this past trade deadline.
8:41
This summer, it is a bit different with
8:43
Dylan Larkin becoming available, Robert
8:45
Thomas, if he might be available, maybe
8:48
you look at that. But, I'm not taking a
8:50
big swing with Porter Martone, Jack
8:52
Nesbitt and a first round pick for
8:55
Robert Thomas. I don't even know if I
8:56
would do that for Dylan Larkin or
8:59
a first line center like that. The
9:01
Flyers do seem to really like Jack
9:03
Nesbitt.
9:04
Porter Martone, obviously, Flyers fans
9:07
and the Flyers front office like a lot.
9:09
They like what they saw
9:11
at Michigan State, like what they saw in
9:13
the regular season and the playoffs
9:15
here.
9:16
But, if you know, if this was two, three
9:18
years down the road here, the Flyers
9:20
have comparable prospects to Martone and
9:22
Nesbitt and this is over first round
9:24
pick and someone like Robert Thomas
9:26
becomes available,
9:28
the Flyers are not on the playoff
9:30
bubble, but on the bubble of being a a
9:32
true contender in that bucket of teams
9:34
that have a chance to win the Stanley
9:36
Cup, you can go get a Robert Thomas type
9:38
center to add to this team that has so
9:41
many great wingers, you go and do it.
9:43
But, you don't do that right now for
9:45
Robert Thomas. And you got to respect
9:48
the Blues, their front office for for
9:50
trying, but it's just way too much to
9:53
ask for Robert Thomas. And the Flyers
9:55
were right to to balk at that price. So,
9:58
um yeah, Robert Thomas apparently off
10:00
the trade uh boards right now. Dylan
10:03
Larkin doesn't want to come to
10:04
Philadelphia. Uh you can read more about
10:06
that at broadstreetbuzz.com. Check out
10:09
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