The NHL trade deadline is officially over as the clock has struck 3 PM on the east coast. There were a fair few trades, but one story involving the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers caused confusion among fans.
The Red Wings reportedly had a deal to acquire James van Riemsdyk from the Flyers. However, the deal then fell through for some reason. van Riemsdyk ended up remaining with the Flyers past the deadline.
There were a ton of questions surrounding the reported deal. And NHL insider Frank Seravalli provided some insight as to what exactly happened between Detroit and Philadelphia.
“Told Flyers didn’t get interest level to materialize for JVR. Detroit was up front, they had obstacles, was never considered ‘done,'” Seravalli wrote on Friday. “PHI pushed but couldn’t find taker at half retain.”
Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher did not get into specifics with the media. He said he spoke with one team about a potential trade, but no firm offer was made. Furthermore, the team in question needed to move another player off their roster to make this work.
The Red Wings were busy leading into Friday's deadline. Detroit traded Filip Hronek and Tyler Bertuzzi after devastating losses to the Ottawa Senators earlier in the week. Additionally, Detroit traded forwards Jakub Vrana and Oskar Sundqvist on deadline day.
This story is certainly a developing one, and more details could come out in the coming days. For now, van Riemsdyk remains with the Flyers, and the Red Wings move forward without adding the veteran goal scorer to their roster.