New Flyers president Keith Jones joined the 94WIP Morning Show on Monday and was asked about the rampant trade rumors swirling on Twitter.
"A lot of the things that came out weren't very accurate," Jonesy said on Monday. "I don't really want to highlight which ones were and which ones weren't. The fact that we came out and made it clear that we were going to rebuild what has kind of been taking place here with the Flyers over the last few years, has really opened the door to a lot of conversations with different teams. Our phone lines have been lighting with different opportunities, some of them ridiculous and some of them intriguing. And we've got some really popular players, which in some ways is a great thing for us.
"It's not unlogical to think a couple of guys on our team are in play. There's no question that we're in a position with our team that we need to look to the future and some of those guys are in positions where, in their career, where they'd be maybe a little bit more advanced than where we're going to be when we get there."
Joe DeCamara asked Jones if the Flyers are more interested in draft picks or players who can contribute when making a trade. Jonesy sounded a little bit like former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie in his response.
"It's a little bit of both, we're trying to thread that needle," Jones admitted. "But the draft choices, the higher picks would definitely be a priority for us. There's no question that we're trying to build our draft capital and have all kinds of options as we move forward. And just because you have first round picks doesn't mean that you necessarily use them, as far as drafting them and developing them. It just gives you more options further down the road, whether it's a long way down the road or a little bit shorter distance remains to be seen. But having those options really can put you in a position to advance your team at an adequate speed that is going to keep your fans interested and get the team back on track, hopefully sooner than later."
"Are we going to be waiting until 2028?" DeCamara asked.
"No, no you're not. The plan would be to get there sooner, obviously than 2028. We have an idea where we're going to be a much more competitive team, it's not that far away."
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