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Philadelphia Flyers captain Chris Pronger, who has been out since November with severe post-concussion symptoms, paid a visit to the team’s facilities on Wednesday to see his teammates. Although every member of the team was happy to see him and it was likely a big boost to his morale (reports say that he is fighting depression, a common symptom of concussions), it also reaffirmed the likelihood that the future Hall of Famer will almost certainly not be able to return to the ice this year. It was also a reminder of just how badly the Flyers miss his presence on the blue line and in the locker room.

Philly is currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak, and has won just four of its last 10 games. More significant, however, is their defensive play. The Flyers have given up 157 goals against, the 8th highest total in the league, including 3.05 goals per game without Pronger in the lineup. Though he played just 13 games this season — an admittedly small sample size — his presence in the lineup brought that average down to 2.69. Pro-rated over the course of an entire season, it’s fair to say that Pronger would save the Flyers about 30 goals against, which is a huge impact.

That much of a difference illustrates just how badly Philly could use a top-pairing defenseman if they can get one at the trade deadline. The problem for them is that blueliners keep falling off the market. One of the Nashville Predators’ all-world defensemen Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, both of whom are unrestricted free agents at season’s end, would be a perfect match, but the Predators’ status as one of the top contenders in the stacked Western Conference makes them very unlikely to trade either one before the season is over. Meanwhile, Tim Gleason was a popular trade rumor target until he signed an extension with Carolina, and Toronto is looking more like they’ll be buyers rather than sellers later this month, making a deal for Luke Schenn unlikely.

Instead, Philly will almost certainly have to settle for a middle- to bottom-pairing defenseman to just give them some added depth. Hal Gill of Montreal could be a target, as could either Mark Eaton or Steve Staios from the Islanders. But no matter who they deal for, no one that the Flyers acquire will be able to fill the void left by their captain.