If the Philadelphia Flyers want to bolster their center depth at the NHL level without having to trade any assets away, they will have the opportunity to do so at the plight of the St. Louis Blues.
On Thursday, it was announced that the Blues had put center Alexandre Texier on waivers with the purpose of assigning him to the AHL Springfield Thunderbirds.
That's no surprise, as Texier, 26, has one assist in eight games this season and 12 points in 39 games as a Blues player. The Frenchman has not quite been worth the fourth-round pick investment St. Louis made when acquiring him from the Columbus Blue Jackets just a summer ago.
Fortunately, though, several teams around the league could use serviceable NHL forward depth, and Texier clearly needs a fresh start elsewhere.
Plus, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman noted that "it's possible" Texier goes the route of contract termination, like David Kampf last week, in pursuit of that new opportunity.
If not, at a $2.1 million cap hit for one more season, Texier is a relatively inexpensive upgrade for a Flyers team that has continued to ice Nick Deslauriers, Rodrigo Abols - who ironically scored against the Blues on Thursday night - and Garnet Hathaway.
NHL Rumors: Flyers Forward Makes New Trade BoardThis Flyers forward was featured on The Athletic's new trade board. Suffice to say, there is very little upside to that trio, especially when it is Deslauriers who replaces Nikita Grebenkin in the lineup.
Texier is a career 0.38 point-per-game player in the NHL, which is more or less on par with the offensive production of a bottom-six forward. His career-high 12 goals, 18 assists, and 30 points with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023-24, which led to his being traded, is exactly what the Flyers need from the bottom half of the lineup if they can find that gear again.
The biggest issue with the former second-round pick has been his defensive underlying numbers; his offense has been solid, but the defense has generally been markedly poor.
But, the good news for the Flyers is that they tend to have many such success stories in the recent past; Ryan Poehling, in particular, is relevant here as a similarly-aged fourth-line forward.
That also is not inherently bad, either. We all know the Flyers are borderline starved for offense a quarter into the season, and seeing some pop from that fourth line wouldn't be all that bad.
The question is really a matter of whether or not the Flyers can stomach the $2.1 million cap hit (they can if they want to), and if not, will they beat another NHL team for Texier's services?
Given the state of the team, though, Texier seems like a perfect fit and is someone who should at least be drawing some consideration in his current situation.