from Adam Kimelman of NHL.com,

"I think we're going to be very aggressive in the trade and free agent markets in the sense of looking into every possible situation that can help us," said general manager Chuck Fletcher, who was hired Dec. 3 to replace Ron Hextall. "The unfortunate part is the vast majority of things you look into don't work out. ... So we're going to be very aggressive in trying to fill the holes we feel we have. I don't know if I can say we'll be able to fill all of them."

Where are the holes on your roster?

"We need help everywhere. We need help on defense, at center and on the wing. And obviously, we need another goaltender at least, if not two. We have a lot of needs. We'll be able to plug some of those holes, whether we're plugging them with players on six-year deals or players on one-year deals as placeholders to buy more time to find the right fit. We'll certainly have our roster upgraded next year and hopefully we can find three or four players at 26 years old that we can plug in there for the next 6-7 years. I don't know if that's likely.

"We may have to have some Plan B options. We are aggressively looking in the trade market now. At the right time, we'll certainly speak to every agent for a lot of free agents and see if there's a fit, see if there's players that want to come to Philly and if there's the right fit for our club. The good thing is we've got the assets and the cap space and sometime in the near future, we'll make some good things happen, and hopefully sooner rather than later."

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