Did the Chicago Blackhawks’ offseason plans this summer lay the foundation for the Philadelphia Flyers to follow with the arrival of Matvei Michkov?
The Blackhawks were knee-deep in a full teardown rebuild a year before they were able to land the services of Connor Bedard ahead of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Fast forward one year into the Bedard-era and Chicago has suddenly become much more aggressive in their rebuild and how they want to surround Bedard with as much talent as possible at the beginning of his career.
The Blackhawks had a lot of money to spend with a lot of roster sports needing to be filled – as well as the club needing to reach the minimum cap floor. They were aggressive this year on both the trade front as well as the open market once free agency opened up. They either traded for, signed, or extended the likes of Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teräväinen, Nick Foligno, Craig Smith, Ilya Mikheyev, Pat Maroon, Alec Martinez, T.J. Brodie, and Laurent Brossoit to add to the mix of Bedard, Taylor Hall, Seth Jones, and Petr Mrázek.
Now of course, Chicago is in a different sphere than Philadelphia altogether, despite both clubs presumably running through a rebuild. The Blackhawks ripped their team apart, got rid of almost everyone including Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach, and positioned themselves to reap the rewards in the summers of 2024, 2025, and beyond. They are expected to have just a shade under $35 million next summer on top of the fact that they carry 2 picks in each of the first, second, and fourth rounds of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
The Flyers went about it a little differently because if they followed Chicago’s route, they would have traded players like Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny at the very least, by now. Instead, they’re seemingly building around Konecny as well as Michkov, Owen Tippett, Travis Sanheim, Cam York, and others. Laughton has 2 years remaining on his team-friendly deal and then you have players like Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost who enter the new season with question marks surrounding their future standing with the organization, despite the former having 4 years left on his contract and the latter being an RFA next summer.
With the salary cap rising to a projected $92 million next summer, the Flyers would have around $18.45 million to play with. However, they have Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, York, and Frost all needing new contracts – albeit as RFAs.
The turning point of their rebuilding attempts took place this summer when Michkov worked with SKA St. Petersburg on a contract termination and signing his entry-level contract with the Flyers. His arrival was pegged for the 2025-26 season at the earliest, and some even had him coming ahead of the 2026-27 season when his contract would have come to a close in the KHL. However, they were able to find a quick resolution and all eyes will be firmly placed on the 19-year-old Russian phenom.
There’s a lot of hype around the youngster, he’s even the odds-on favourite to win the Calder Trophy as the league’s best rookie on most sports betting platforms. His skill is undeniable, his potential is through the roof, and his arrival has preemptively started the ticking clock for the Flyers front office. I’m not saying they have to change course right at this very moment, but it’s going to take place sooner than they anticipated, so the question becomes when rather than if.
The roster certainly needs a boost and while they have a lot of potential on the wings, they don’t have much down the middle. Everyone’s hoping for an injury-free season from Sean Couturier as well as Frost taking that much-needed step forward into becoming a top-6 player on a consistent basis. Other than those two, the centre position is very frail and they don’t have many reinforcements at that position in the minors either.
Many people had pegged the summer of 2025 as a big one for the rebuilding Flyers because of the amount of cap space they would have at their employ. However, they used $8.75 million of that cap space on Konecny’s extension and most of the remaining $18 million will be spent on retaining York, Foerster, Frost, and Cates – leaving them with very little to work with on the open market.
The free agent crop of 2025 is certainly miles better than what was presented in 2024 but a lot of them are expected to re-sign with their current clubs like Mikko Rantanen, Sidney Crosby, Brock Boeser, and Brad Marchand. Other names include Mitch Marner, John Tavares, former Flyers captain Claude Giroux, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Jakob Chychrun, but not many of them seem to fit the bill of what the Flyers need or are trying to accomplish.
The trade market is where things are going to have to take shape if the Flyers are looking at making wholesale changes. The contract of Rasmus Ristolainen is certainly one that would help the Flyers in the long-run if they can find a suitor willing to take the remaining 2 seasons at $5.1 million between 2025 and 2027. The Flyers’ strength now lies on their wings and with Farabee having been in trade discussions recently, it makes you wonder if he becomes expendable beyond this year. He carries a $5 million cap hit through the 2027-28 season and would be able to fetch a centre in any so-called “hockey deals”.
The Flyers could also look to finally place Ryan Ellis on LTIR and recoup his $6.25 million cap hit, which would be a boost should they have their eyes set on someone on the trade market or a big fish in free agency. Staying the course is very important but the trend in recent years is the availability of young players that would expedite any rebuild.
RFAs in Cole Perfetti, Dawson Mercer, Lucas Raymond, and Moritz Seider have yet to sign extensions with their current clubs, the Edmonton Oilers chose not to match offer sheets for Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, at one point in time Martin Nečas was available from Carolina before he signed an extension, Yaroslav Askarov requested a trade out of Nashville, and Rutger McGroarty wanted out of Winnipeg. Next season could provide the same types of fireworks and the Flyers should be prepared to strike.
It’s truly not out of the realm of possibility that Michkov has a Bedard-esque rookie campaign for the Flyers next season. Bedard scored 22 goals and 61 points in 68 contests en route to winning the Calder Trophy with very little help around him. Michkov has a little bit more help with the likes of Konecny, Farabee, Frost, Tippett, Couturier, and Foerster – depending on what line he plays on and who he’s with on the power play.
If things go as planned and Michkov entertains with upwards of 50+ points, look for the Flyers to be aggressive in the summer of 2025 with some money to burn, several options to free up cap space, and 6 picks likely destined within the top-50 of the upcoming draft.
It’s high-time the front office blazed some sort of pathway, and Michkov’s arrival and rookie season might just be what gets things rolling.
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