ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The Philadelphia Flyers likely will need a superstar if they’re going to take the next step in their rebuild after a surprisingly successful season.Turns out, one could be available.Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported on Friday that the Columbus Blue Jackets have “started listening to teams calling on Zach Werenski,” who is coming off of his first career Norris Trophy win as the league’s top defenseman.It would be entirely surprising if the Flyers weren’t one of those teams. In fact, LeBrun named Philadelphia as one of the “early teams” with interest in a trade for Werenski, who also won an Olympic gold medal representing the United States this year.
There will be at least a dozen teams who will inquire over time but some early teams to monitor with interest in Zach Werenski: Dallas, Carolina and Philadelphia. https://t.co/mE0h0Pa2T0
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 27, 2026While general manager Daniel Briere has stressed that he will remain patient if nothing comes along that he believes makes sense now and for the future, Werenski is the kind of star-level player that the Flyers need if they are to become legitimate contenders. Werenski would immediately slot in as the Flyers’ top-unit power-play quarterback — a position of need, after the Flyers finished in the league basement in power-play percentage this past season — and at just 28 years old (as of July 17), he should have plenty of in-his-prime seasons ahead.Something to keep in mind is that the Flyers were willing to get into the bidding for Quinn Hughes last December, before he was traded from the Vancouver Canucks to the Minnesota Wild. While it’s unlikely the Flyers would have been able to put together a package as strong as Minnesota’s, a Flyers team source said then that the Canucks were never interested in moving Hughes to Philadelphia, where he would have reunited with former coach Rick Tocchet.The Flyers also remain interested in the Edmonton Oilers’ Darnell Nurse, but he has a no-move clause and would have to approve a move to Philadelphia. But also, the Flyers likely will want to see what happens with Werenski before they potentially move on Nurse.While top-line center remains a position of need, too, it seems as if the Flyers may attempt to address their blue line first. One reason? A team source suggested that after Trevor Zegras played well in the middle over the final two months of the season, he deserves a chance to remain at center — where he prefers to play — when the 2026-27 season begins.Briere touched on the overall state of the Flyers’ defense on Friday, including the status of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who has one year left on his contract and has been part of trade chatter for some time.
