Minor league shuffle won’t keep Flyers dancing with contenders

Another Sunday, another flip of minor league fill-in players for the Flyers.

Not that it’s earth-shattering news, not even for Phantoms fans, but the Flyers sent David Kase back to the Lehigh Valley and

brought back fourth-line Center Connor Bunnaman.

What remains is a clear lack of forward depth on this team that should at least make the next month or so interesting. That’s because the NHL trade deadline looms Feb. 24, and as they proved yet again in a 1-0 loss Saturday to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Flyers need help both on the power play and in filling out their lines, and since they have all of a touch below $580,000 left in payroll space (according to salary cap tracking service CapFriendly.com), that doesn’t project to help arriving soon.

General manager Chuck Fletcher, never seeming at a loss for issuing bus passes to Philadelphia for his minor leaguers, might wind up head toward the deadline with no choice but trading a valuable defenseman for forward help. Or trading a valuable veteran forward for a package to get younger and perhaps help the club down the road.

While the Flyers had what for them in recent years was a good first half, the stress signs have really been showing of late, and the club has never looked like a true Cup contender this season.

The Flyers stand at 2316-6 heading into Monday night’s home game against the Atlantic Division leading Boston Bruins. The Flyers’ are tied for fifth in the Metropolitan Division with the Blue Jackets at 52 points through Saturday, which extends to a tie for eighth overall in the Eastern Conference.

The playoffs are there to be had, but they are still a long way from the pace set by such teams as the Bruins and Washington Capitals, despite the Flyers beating them last Wednesday.

While the goaltending hasn’t been consistently stellar, that and the team’s defensive play has more or less held up its respective ends of the bargain. It’s scoring and forward depth that Fletcher will likely be focused on as the trade deadline approaches.

Their top six forwards are pretty good. Their bottom six ... not so much. No matter how good two scoring lines might be, the need for support from the lower lines remains vital for a team looking to be consistently effective.

MATT SLOCUM – THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, left, snuffs a shot by Flyers’ checking line forward Michael Raffl early on in what became a 1-0Flyers loss Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.