Philadelphia Flyers forward Owen Tippett has had his name in headlines in the past week for a variety of reasons. He’s playing physical hockey and has five goals in six games this season, but the 26-year-old winger is still viewed as one of the more movable pieces on this roster — at least by some people.

Tippett’s name came up in rumors last week, which sparked further speculation about the forward’s future in Philadelphia.

“We’re gonna see I think some teams poking around on Philadelphia to see what they want to do with Owen Tippett. We’ll see how this season progresses, nothing is imminent by any stretch,” The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta said last week. “But I’m starting to get a bit of an inkling from a few teams out there that he’s going to be a guy that some teams are going to target.”

Tippett has a limited no-trade clause in his contract that kicks in next summer, so if the Flyers were looking to move him, they’d have to do so before that if they don’t want to have to ask his permission.

Pagnotta reiterated that nothing is imminent with Tippett, and the Flyers surely shouldn’t be looking to move the winger based on how he’s started the season.

And it sounds like they aren’t actually looking to move him anyway.

Friedman speaks on Owen Tippett trade rumors

“Do I think the Flyers are looking to trade Owen Tippett? No,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on Tuesday. “Do I think that somebody may have asked about Owen Tippett if either they called and said, ‘Look, what are you doing there? Is there any chance you’d move this player?’”

It makes sense that teams would come calling on Tippett. He’s not quite an established veteran on the team like Sean Couturier or Travis Konecny, but he’s also a bit older than their next core group.

He is a veteran, though, and he has a few seasons with 20-plus goals already under his belt. He scored 20 goals and added 23 assists for 43 points in 77 games last year in a down season for the winger after putting up 28 and 27 goals in the two prior seasons. That’s still 75 goals in three seasons, and now 80 goals and 150 points in 238 games since the start of the 2023-24 season — an 82-game pace of 27 goals and 51 points.

Friedman speculated that a team may have asked about Tippett when Danny Briere was shopping to bolster the blue line.

“We know the Flyers are looking for (defense). Tocchet was not happy with his (defense) in the preseason, and the Flyers have been looking around for defense,” he continued. “Is it possible that they were looking at somebody, and Tippett’s name came up as the return piece? That’s what it reads to me…

“I have not specifically heard Tippett’s name widely out there,” Friedman concluded. “I don’t think he’s a guy Philly is really looking to deal or is really available out there. I think it may have come up in one specific case or something like that.”

Why Flyers might not be so eager to trade Tippett

Tippett is under contract through the 2031-32 season at a very manageable cap hit of $6.2 million. With the salary cap rising, that contract has the potential to look like a bargain in a few years. Hell, it could be one as soon as this year if Tippett can prove to be a top-six winger.

Tippett isn’t the type of player that the Flyers should move in just any deal. This isn’t going to be like last season when Danny Briere & Co. were focused on moving out contracts like Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee going to Calgary, or Scott Laughton going to Toronto. Sure, there may be some players moved at or before the deadline, but the dead weight has already been shed. Now it’s about building the roster up.

If the Flyers are truly looking to make a significant improvement on defense, then perhaps Tippett’s name could be in play. There is a distinct lack of top defensive prospects in the Flyers’ pipeline, and they have a few wingers who are already knocking on the door, and Porter Martone in the spring heading into next season.

Outside of that, though? It makes sense that Tippett’s name would only come up in specific circumstances.