REPORT: Flyers, Predators In Initial Stages Of Trade Talks Regarding Ekholm?

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ALLENTOWN, Pa. - How does that old adage go? Where there's smoke, there's fire?

We might not be at the California brush-fire stage just yet, but there is reason to believe the Nashville Predators and Philadelphia Flyers could be in the initial stages of trade talks likely involving the now widely rumored available defenseman Mattias Ekholm.

Here at InsideAHLHockey.com, we reported the Nashville Predators were in town at the Flyers' AHL affiliate's home rink PPL Center Saturday night, scouting the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' plethora of rookie defensemen (Linus Hogberg, Mason Millman, Wyatte Wylie and Egor Zamula) and other notable forward prospects.

While it might seem to be purely coincidental on the surface - scouts attend AHL games all the time - the fact that Nashville was scouting the Phantoms' games this past weekend against the Penguins comes at a time when the Predators' organization doesn't play against the Flyers organization at either the NHL or AHL level (Predators AHL affiliate Milwaukee opted out of the 2020-21 season, and they play in the AHL's Western Conference so wouldn't face the Phantoms anyway).

Also worth noting, since InsideAHLHockey keeps track of which scouts attend Phantoms games, is that Nashville has only ever sent scouts to the PPL Center two or three times in the past several years since we've been keeping track of scout attendance and which teams' reps are on hand. They simply don't face the Flyers' organization in direct competition, albeit twice at the NHL level in a "normal" season. This year, the NHL has an in-division only schedule.

Furthermore, it makes sense that the Predators are doing their homework with an Eastern Conference team because when thinking about trading a player of Ekholm's caliber it's usually wise to send the player out of conference.

The Flyers have the defense prospects (Hogberg, Millman, Wylie and Zamula at the AHL level in addition to Cam York at the NCAA level) and the draft picks (they own all their draft picks except for their 2021-5th round selection) that Nashville would certainly be interested in in any potential trade involving Ekholm.

It's definitely something worth keeping an eye on.

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