Flyers' Hextall not willing to trade young talent for middle-aged players

Four wins in succession for the Philadelphia Flyers have now put them in a pursuit of a playoff spot, and with the trade deadline looming the team is now contemplating how to make themselves a contender.

General manager Ron Hextall would like to acquire an offensive forward, but has put parameters in place about doing so, insisting a deal will not be made that comes at the expense of the team's young blood.

"If we can improve our team in any way without mortgaging the future, we'll look at it," Hextall said, according to Philly.com's Sam Carchidi. "I mean, if young players can make us better, of course we'll look at it.

"My job is to look at everything that's out there, look at the whole landscape, and to the best of my ability, make our team better. So you can never say never with everything, but we're not going to deal our young players for middle-aged or older players."

Hextall appears to have already been testing the waters, but refused to comment on a report by Comcast Sportsnet's John Boruk that suggested the Flyers were in the mix for forward Ryan Johansen - who was shipped from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Nashville Predators on Jan. 6.

One other potential option that has been discussed is Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin, who has been subject of all sorts of rumors since his agent Allan Walsh went public that the 20-year-old asked the Lightning for a trade in November.

Hextal was quick to shut that down, expressing that, "We're not supposed to talk about another team's players."

Whatever Hextall and the Flyers plan to do, what is clear is that if the team is serious about contending this season they will need an offensive upgrade as they sit 29th in the league with just 93 goals for.

Copyright (C) 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.