With the expansion draft proving to be of little to no help for the Philadelphia Flyers, they had to find another way to get creative and shed some much-needed cap. Even though they don’t necessarily need to be cap compliant just yet, it’s imperative they find a way to maneuver around the flat cap. They did just that by trading defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to the Arizona Coyotes. On top of that, they traded a second and seventh-round pick to the Coyotes in exchange for cap relief.
Gostisbehere has had a roller coaster of a career with the Flyers. He burst onto the scene in 2015-2016 and provided a spark on the backend that the Flyers were missing for decades. He finished the year second in voting for the rookie of the year behind Artemi Panarin with 17 goals and 46 points in 64 games. 2 years later he posted a career-high 65 points in 78 games, forming a lethal trio on the power play with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek.
From 2018-19 onwards, it’s been a bumpy ride for the offensive defenseman, never being able to find his groove again. He dealt with his fair share of injuries but also sat in the press box as a healthy scratch near the end. He was also placed on waivers last year and went unclaimed. In his final 161 games, he tallied only 23 goals and 69 points, which is essentially what he did in 2017-18 alone.
The writing was on the wall for a few years though and trade was inevitable, especially considering how many times Alain Vigneault scratched or criticized Gostisbehere. He was never the same player, his defense was atrocious at times, and his offensive capabilities were no longer present. The Flyers’ power play has tailed off in recent years and Gostisbehere, who was once the quarterback of the first unit, was relegated to the second unit.
Losing a player like Gostisbehere hurts more because of what he did and what he was capable of, instead of what he’s done for us lately. What this means for the Flyers is open cap space in a flat cap world. Yes, trading Gostisbehere cost us second and seventh-round picks, but it just goes to show you how difficult it is to trade a hefty contract in the current landscape of the NHL.
After trading for Ryan Ellis and then shipping off Gostisbehere to the Coyotes, the Flyers are back to having a shade over 13 million in cap space. They still need to re-sign restricted free agents in Carter Hart and Travis Sanheim but opening up 4.5 million makes things a lot easier. On the other side of the equation, the Flyers are still actively pursuing changes in the trade market. They’ve been rumored to be interested in acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko from the St Louis Blues and Sam Reinhart from the Buffalo Sabres.
Tarasenko has 2 years left at 7.5 million per season and even though Sam Reinhart is currently an RFA, his next contract should be upwards of 5.5 million. Any moves they make here on out is going to affect the salary cap dearly. For some, trading draft picks can be seen as taboo, but this year especially, draft picks shouldn’t be of much concern for the Flyers. Finding ways to make much-needed personnel changes is of the utmost importance and trading draft picks is going to be the cost, especially with such expensive contracts.
Trading their unwanted players was always going to be tough but seeing how much the Flyers had to add to get rid of Gostisbehere, shows that trading Voracek and van Riemsdyk is going to be a lot harder. In saying that, the Flyers did well to maneuver around their cap situation by trading a player who had no future in the orange and black. Hart and Sanheim being RFAs is a blessing in disguise since they have full control once they send out their qualifying offers. Now they can use this extra bit of money to go after the types of players that can actually turn the tide for this ever-frustrating organization.
