In case you missed it on Monday, this is a series focusing on a hypothetical retooling for the Philadelphia Flyers heading into the 2022-23 season.
The Philadelphia Flyers have had two losing streaks of ten games or more in less than 45 games. Flyers leadership just recently held a press conference where they blamed COVID, injuries, etc. for the lost season(s), and the sky is falling. The Flyers players look like lost, sad puppies at the climax of a Disney movie before the hero/heroine comes and saves the day. Dave Scott doesn’t believe this to be a long-term rebuild. Chuck Fletcher said aggressive retool. So we are going to trade just a large percentage of the Flyers’ players on the active roster and some that aren’t.
DISCLAIMER: This is pure fiction. If this upsets you or your fanbase or the city you live because my valuation is incorrect, please accept this heartfelt apology (looking at you Sicko Sens fans). This is not real. This is merely a fun exercise to distract us from the Flyers’ lost season and the natural existential pain that hampers us on a daily occurrence.
2022 Off-Season (Draft and Free Agency)
Flyers’ Pre-Draft 2022-23 Roster
Forwards: $48.755m
T. Jost ($2m) – S. Couturier ($7.75m) – J. van Riemsdyk ($7m)
C. Atkinson ($5.875m) – K. Hayes ($7.142m) – T. Konecny ($5.5m)
O. Lindblom ($3m) – S. Laughton ($3m) – J. Farabee ($5m)
Z. MacEwen ($0.825m) – M. Frost ($0.863m) – W. Allison ($0.800)
Ex. none
Defensemen: $19.311m
I. Provorov ($6.75m) – E. Zamula (0.$756m)
T. Sanheim ($4.675m) – R. Ellis ($6.25m)
C. York ($0.880m) – xxxx
Ex. xxxx
Goalies: $3.979m
Hart ($3.979m)
xxxx
Cap Used: $72.045m
Cap Available: $10.455m
The cap situation is very okay. The Flyers have about $10 million in cap space to fill two defenseman and a backup goalie. This would be very hard to improve the team or even resign Claude Giroux on a discount. So you have to ask yourself, would it be better to bite the bullet and wait a year when van Riemsdyk contract comes off the books or buy him out or make a trade like the Voracek/Atkinson deal where you make a trade that lowers your cap hit for a slightly longer contract? Since Dave Scott said this is not going to be a long rebuild but an aggressive retool, we are going to be aggressive.
Trades at the NHL Draft
Homeward Bound
Fletcher has said that a healthy Kevin Hayes is a part of the Flyers core. Hayes has been heavily overrated by the fan base but has dealt with injures and family issues including the death of his brother. Hayes has 81 points in 144 games with the Flyers. That is nowhere near good enough for a guy make over 7 million dollars for the next 4 seasons. Hayes has a no move clause but if we trade him to Boston which is close to where he grew up and closer to his brother’s family, there is a good chance he says yes.
PHI acquires: Brandon Carlo and Zach Senyshyn
BOS acquires: Kevin Hayes and Linus Hogberg
Why BOS does it: Boston desperately needs a 2nd line center and if healthy, Hayes can fill that void. Patrice Bergeron is an unrestricted free agent and my guess is that he would most likely resign in Boston but his agent, Kent Hughes, was just recently named the General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens. Would his former agent try to lure him back to his home province? Maybe. Either way Boston needs help down the middle of the lineup. Hayes would go home and wear the Boston jersey he grew up wearing. Hayes has a higher cap hit than Carlo but center is a greater need than 2nd pairing defenseman. Boston also has a solid cap situation where they can fit Hayes into their team effortlessly. Boston loves Swedish defensemen and Hogberg fits an organizational need.
Why PHI does it: The Flyers need a right-handed defenseman that can eat minutes. Carlo is a big, stay at home, defensive defenseman with limited offensive ability. In 6 NHL seasons his point total is 19 points. Carlo was signed to a 6-year, $4.1 million average annual value last offseason. He is signed for middle pairing money and locked up. Carlo is an ideal partner for Cam York. Senyshyn was the 15th overall pick in the 2015 draft and has not lived up to draft expectations. Senyshyn has 22 points in 32 AHL games this year and is a restricted free agent. He has publicly asked for a trade. He is a fringe NHLer at this point.
Flaming Blockbuster
PHI acquires: Matthew Tkachuk, Martin Pospisil, Juuso Valimaki, and 2023 3rd-Round pick
CGY acquires: Travis Konecny, Jackson Cates, Adam Ginning, Oskar Olausson, Noah Cates and 2022 TOR 1st-Round pick
Why CGY does it: The rumors are that Matthew Tkachuk is not going to re-sign long-term in Calgary and this is the best chance to recoup the most assets while keeping him away from the Western Conference. Konecny can be a 60 point player and has been in the past. Ginning, Olausson, and both Cates’ are all young and cheap players, plus a first-round selection. Noah Cates played for Team USA in the Olympics, which should raise his value. Jackson Cates looks like a bottom-six forward and is extremely cheap. Ginning looks like a solid yet unspectacular defenseman. Olausson is a first round pick from 2021 who was acquired in the hypothetical Giroux deal. That is a lot of assets that can help Calgary fill out their lineup.
Why PHI does it: The Flyers have been after a Tkachuk for the last 25 years. They pay a have price for his rights and immediately sign him to a 7-year deal worth $58.8m ($8.4m average) which is about $100k more than his brother’s contract with Ottawa. Tkachuk is a difference maker and an abrasive person on the ice. He will be part of the leadership group moving forward. Tkachuk plays with grit all the time and the upgrade from Konecny (who has not been the same since the series with the Islanders) will help the Flyers elevate their play. Pospisil is a center prospect who has about a half of point per game in the AHL. He has some serious nastiness that the Flyers are missing. Pospisil is behind a crowded depth chart in Calgary behind Connor Zary, Adam Ruzicka, Matthew Phillips, and Glenn Gawdin. Valimaki has been buried in the minors by the Flames despite his high draft pedigree (16th overall in 2017). He will be on the Flyers roster to begin the season, unless…
Burns Victim
PHI acquires: Brent Burns ($1.5m retained) and Yegor Spiridonov
SJS acquires: James van Riemsdyk, Juuso Valimaki, Matthew Strome, and 2023 EDM 3rd-Round pick
Why SJS does it: JvR’s contract is up after the 2022-23 season and that is huge cap savings for San Jose, who has Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Erik Karlsson on their books until the end of time. San Jose could buy out JvR and save $2.66m against this year’s cap and only have $1.33m on the following year’s cap. Strome will be in the mix to play in San Jose’s bottom-6 right now. Valimaki was acquired from Calgary in the Tkachuk deal, he should slot right in the Sharks’ top-6 defensemen with Vlasic, Karlsson, Mario Ferraro, Radim Simek and Ryan Merkley. The 3rd-round pick is small kicker but should help a team that has traded many draft picks for talent right now. San Jose is also in a weird place. Lots of high-priced talent that would be hard to move and some young players that are very good. San Jose gets younger and gets out of a contract quicker.
Why PHI does it: Aggressive retool baby! Burns is a right-handed shot and big personality and can still play. This is similar to the Voracek/Atkinson trade where the Flyers get a player with longer term, but a smaller cap hit. He will have 3 years at $6.5m against the cap left but this is a risk worth taking. Ellis, Burns, and Carlo down the right side is some of the best depth in the league, as long as they are healthy. If this was a patient rebuild, I would either buy out JvR or just let his contract expire the following offseason. Spiridonov is an unsigned center prospect that is having a tough last two seasons in Russia.
The Blue (Line) Note
It’s very odd that Chuck Fletcher did not mention Ivan Provorov or Travis Sanheim’s name as a part of the core and I know that we traded away Kevin Hayes, but that was more about him being closer to home. Provorov and Sanheim have not been the same since the Islanders series in 2020, although Sanheim has been much better of late. Anyway, flame on.
PHI acquires: Robert Thomas and Niko Mikkola
STL acquires: Travis Sanheim and Morgan Frost
Why STL does it: Like Thomas (although Thomas will be a restricted free agent), Sanheim is locked up for the next year and paired with one of Justin Faulk or Colton Parayko plus Torey Krug, Marco Scandella, and Robert Bortuzzo, that makes up a really solid top 6. Every one of those players except Bortuzzo can play 20 minutes a night and up. Sanheim is older than Thomas and the Blues have an older core that can load up within the next two years to go for another Stanley Cup. Frost has yet to put it together yet. He should slot well on the Blues 3rd line and be able to add offense. This should be a wake up call he needs.
Why PHI does it: If Chuck Fletcher doesn’t believe Sanheim is a part of the core then this is a way to get a top 6 center who is under contract and a leader. Thomas is only 22 years old, but he has already played 200 plus NHL games. Under this scenario the Flyers have Laughton, Couturier, and Frost down the middle going into free agency. Mikkola has had a solid year but is extraneous with all the depth the Blues now have on the blueline. Mikkola should be a perfect stay at home compliment to one of Ryan Ellis or Brent Burns. This is a trade that no one will like but I believe the value checks out. This is also a trade that used to happen every month in the 80s and 90s.
Free Willy
PHI acquires: 2023 7th round pick
TBL acquires: Max Willman
Why TBL does it: Willman is under contract for 750k which is one of the lowest NHL contract can be. Tampa needs cheap players that can play because of their cap issues (read: circumvention)
Why PHI does it: The Flyers have a ton of bottom 6 players that can fill in like Tanner Laczynski, German Rubstov, Linus Sandin, Maksim Sushko, etc. Now they add to their draft pick stockade.
Kraken Foundation
PHI acquires: Morgan Geekie
SEA acquires: Connor Bunnaman, Brian Zanetti, and a 2024 4th round pick
Why SEA does it: Geekie is a restricted free agent who is coming off an underwhelming year with Seattle. (14 points in 49 games so far). Seattle took Carsen Twarynski in the Expansion Draft and Connor Bunnaman is just like Twarynski, a bottom-6 forward that can play center. Zanetti was a 4th round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and he is having a solid first year in North America. Plus, the Kraken get another selection in a later draft. It is probably an overpayment for a bottom-6 center so that is why Seattle says yes.
Why PHI does it: Geekie is a speedy natural center. Speed is something the aggressive retool Flyers need. Geekie can play the penalty kill and is solid on faceoffs (51.9% in 2021-22). The Flyers could try to get Mikhail Vorobyev to come back over from Russia to play 4C. He was very unimpressive in his time in the NHL but Vorobyev is almost at 0.50 points per game in the KHL. The Flyers hold his rights until 2024, so they can wait and decide on his future. Geekie is a restricted free agent and should not get more than a $1 million contract.
Desert Dessert
PHI acquires: Cam Dineen and a 2022 5th round pick
ARI acquires: Patrick Brown and Maksim Sushko
Why ARI does it: Arizona needs some depth more at forward than they do at defense. Brown was waived and picked up via waivers. Dineen was waived as well but went unclaimed. Arizona has a million draft selections. They can trade a later round pick for someone who might help now.
Why PHI does it: Dineen adds some depth to the Flyers/Phantoms defense. Dineen is a New Jersey native and can be an extra defenseman in the NHL with some upside. Flyers pick up a later pick
2022 Off-Season (Draft and Free Agency)
Flyers’ Pre-Free Agency 2022-23 Roster
Forwards: $41.75m
T. Jost ($2m) – S. Couturier ($7.75m) – M. Tkachuk ($8.4m)
C. Atkinson ($5.875m) – R. Thomas ($2.8m) – W. Allison ($0.800m)
O. Lindblom ($3m) – S. Laughton ($3m) – J. Farabee ($5m)
Z. Senyshyn ($0.700m) – M. Geekie ($0.900m) – I. Ratcliffe ($0.800m)
Ex. Z. MacEwen ($0.725m)
Defensemen: $26.236m
N. Mikkola ($1m) – B. Burns ($6.5m)
I. Provorov ($6.75m) – R. Ellis ($6.25m)
York ($0.880m) – B. Carlo ($4.1m)
Ex. E. Zamula ($0.756m)
Goalies: $4.904m
Hart ($3.979m)
Fedotov ($0.925m)
Cap Used: $73.09m
Cap Available: $9.61m
We thought long and hard if we were going to move Ivan Provorov and I went back and forth between a deal with Detroit who needs a left-handed defenseman to pair with some of their right-handed players like Moritz Seider and Filip Hronek. I ultimately decided not to move Provorov because he was harder to replace in free agency than a winger or center we could have received from Detroit. We are going to resign Ratcliffe, MacEwen, Allison, Geekie, and Senyshyn to near-identical contracts. We are going to resign Niko Mikkola to a 2-year, $1 million-dollar average annual value. He should be a nice compliment to Brent Burns who can play rover all around the ice and chip in offense. We are also going to bring over from the KHL, goaltender Ivan Fedotov. He was the Russian National Team starter for the Olympics. We are also going to sign Drew Helleson (acquired in the Giroux/Colorado trade), Connor McClennon (6th round pick in 2020), Jack St. Ivany (4th round pick in 2018), Bobby Brink (2nd round pick in 2019), Ronnie Attard (3rd round pick in 2019), and Jay O’Brien (1st round pick in 2018) all to entry-level contracts. They will all start the 2022-23 year on the Phantoms. The Flyers also levy qualifying offers to restricted free agents; goaltenders Felix Sandstrom, Kirill Ustimenko, defenseman Cam Dineen, forwards Tanner Laczynski, Linus Sandin, Martin Pospisil, and German Rubstov. Sam Morin is probably going to have to retire from hockey due to his various injuries. The Flyers are not going to renew the contracts of Mikko Koskinen (acquired from Edmonton), Nick Seeler, Ryan Fitzgerald, or Adam Clendening. That gives the Flyers 45 contracts (with two sliding contracts of JR Avon and Samu Tuomaala).
Going into the Draft, the Flyers have 10 draft picks (one in every round, three 5ths and two 7ths) in the 2022 NHL Draft. They have a whopping 14 draft picks (one in every round, two 1sts, three 3rds, two 4ths, two 6ths, three 7ths) in the 2023 NHL Draft. They have 7 draft picks (one in every round except the 4th and two in the 2nd round) in the 2024 NHL Draft.
