Could former Flyer Jeff Carter be a trade target? “I don’t want to leave L.A., I can tell you that right now,” he said.
Jeff Carter was back in Philadelphia Saturday night as his Kings played the Flyers.
After the Feb. 24 trade deadline, could he be somewhere else other than Los Angeles?
It's not outside the realm of possibility.
The Kings entered Saturday's action in the basement of the Western Conference and may be a team looking to sell some veteran parts to a contender.
Carter is 35 years old but under contract for next season and 2021-22 with a cap hit of $5,272,727, according to CapFriendly.com. The center brings a lot of pedigree as a two-time Stanley Cup champion and a four-time 30-plus goal-scorer. He can still score the puck a bit as he's projected to finish with 23 goals this season.
If Los Angeles wants to retool and shifts its focus to the future, Carter has the potential to earn it a decent return if contending teams are interested in his services.
Has he ever thought about playing in Philly again?
NHL
“I don’t want to leave L.A., I can tell you that right now," he said to NBC Sports Philadelphia's Taryn Hatcher on Saturday night's edition of Flyers Pregame Live. "But I loved playing in Philly, I had some great years here, I have a lot of friends and family. Whatever happens, happens.
"It’s been a long time since I played here but I still enjoy coming back, a lot friends here, my wife’s from here, so some family and stuff like that. Always enjoy coming back and seeing everybody.”
While the Flyers are a team that could be looking for depth and scoring down the middle, they're not exactly in position to trade for a player with the contract like Carter's deal. They would have to include players from their roster in the exchange or make other moves. Subtracting, or doing so significantly, is probably not their plan right now.
"It’s hard to trade a fourth-round pick for a $4 million player," Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said Tuesday (see story). "With our group right now, I don’t know that’s what we’re looking to do. If we can improve our team, we will."
But you never know. Carter certainly knows anything can happen in this business.
"I love playing in L.A. and being a part of this team," he said. "We’ll see where it goes.”
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