Philippe Myers is the newest name floating in Philadelphia's endless search for another defenseman.
This week, reports connected the Flyers to Myers as Toronto looks to move on from the pending free agent depth blueliner.
It's just the latest name in a search that's dragged through the entire summer. Darnell Nurse was a real target before he landed in San Jose instead.
Arber Xhekaj kept getting mentioned too, and so did Zach Werenski and Alexander Romanov, names that never actually turned into a deal.
Myers is a much smaller swing than any of those. At $850,000 for one more season, he's pure low cost depth, not a difference maker.
The 6-foot-6 defenseman managed just 2 points over 39 games with Toronto last season, finishing at a minus-10 rating in a diminished role.
Why Philadelphia keeps circling back to defense
Over 233 NHL games across his career, he has posted 10 goals and 43 points, tools that have always left teams wanting a little more.
General manager Daniel Briere has made adding to the back end a stated priority all summer, and Myers fits the profile of an easy, cheap add.
Toronto's own depth chart pushed him out. Darren Raddysh and Emil Andrae arrived, Chris Tanev returned, and Morgan Rielly stayed put, leaving no room for Myers at all.
For Philadelphia, that's a team simply looking for size and term flexibility, not a franchise defenseman to build around.
After a summer chasing bigger names and coming up empty, settling for a depth piece like Myers would be a quiet, unglamorous way to close this search.
Philadelphia finished last season 43-27-12 with 98 points, good for 11th overall, the kind of team that can afford to add pure depth instead of a big swing.
Whether Myers actually ends up in Philadelphia, or the Flyers keep chasing a bigger name before camp opens, is still very much unresolved.
Should the Flyers settle for Philippe Myers after a summer chasing bigger defensemen?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Dylan Larkin shown the door by the Detroit Red Wings: Moritz Seider reacts in unexpected way
