Well, here we are again. Another year, another wasted season, and another mid-season rumour of intensifying nature regarding an Ivan Provorov trade.
For the third consecutive year, the Philadelphia Flyers are engaged in trade rumours for their minute-munching rear-guard and as every season passes by it always seems like “this is the year” to make the deal, but the front office can’t seem to come together on a plan and it’s starting to affect everything from top to bottom. Would it have been foolish to pull the plug after one bad season in 2020-21 after making a miraculous jump in 2019-20? Maybe, but it should’ve sounded the alarm bells that the exact same team with the exception of Matt Niskanen went from being 1 game away from the final four to toiling at the bottom of the standings in dramatic fashion.
Instead of pulling the plug, they went the opposite direction and made a string of moves that cost them a lot of future assets that eventually blew up in their face within the second month of the season. Did they pull the plug then? No, they decided to go halfway in by trading Claude Giroux, Justin Braun, and Derick Brassard, while keeping Martin Jones and extending Rasmus Ristolainen. The panic from the front office was that they were worried if they didn’t have Ryan Ellis for the 2022-23 season, who would they have on defence outside of Provorov and Travis Sanheim? That thought process completely backfired because not only did they extend him to a 5-year contract – one that is virtually immovable – they then spent 3 future draft picks to acquire Tony DeAngelo, a defenseman that Chuck Fletcher likened to Ryan Ellis – another red flag.
While they were doubling down on their future, which meant no 2nd round picks from 2022-2024, the Flyers then bought out Oskar Lindblom to make room for veterans like Nicolas Deslauriers and Justin Braun. Now, Deslauriers has been pretty good for what he is supposed to bring to a lineup but the moves didn’t really add up because the idea that they were giving the fanbase was that they were opening up money for a big fish in the open market. When they realized they couldn’t make that move, they decided to announce to the fan base that they never actually had any intentions, which in it of itself is fine if you sounded the alarms for a rebuild…which they didn’t do. Instead it became an aggressive re-tool to an aggressive rebuild to a stabilizing year to complete and utter silence now.
All the while, Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny had their names dangled in trade discussions for 2-3 years with the Flyers not pulling the trigger for a variety of reasons. After 2020-21, nothing happened because the Flyers wanted to give them another chance after a disappointing campaign. After 2021-22, the Flyers were so desperate to make a move that every general manager could smell that desperation from a mile away and they all lowballed the Flyers, which in turn made them keep their core players but only because of that reason. They’re always trying to find “the right deal” otherwise they would “never” make such obscure trades. We heard that from Fletcher when it came to trading their first round pick in 2021, everyone was speculating who it could be and not one person thought it would be for Ristolainen. Then he said the same thing about moving picks ahead of the 2022 Draft but then decided to ship out 3 picks for DeAngelo.
All that we’re asking is that you make it make sense. Is trading Provorov the right thing to do? Yes, if you’re rebuilding because a player at his age, his experience, and his talent would not want to be wasted in a 4-year rebuild and it would be foolish for the Flyers to let him toil in it as well. However, when you extended Ristolainen, signed DeAngelo, and then extended Travis Sanheim to an 8-year deal, what message are you sending to your fan base? Are you in or are you out? Because you cannot by any means execute a half-rebuild in the National Hockey League, we already witnessed that between the years of 2014-2018.
Personally, I am a fan of Provorov’s and I would hate to see him go but the Flyers are in such a mess right now that they have to pull the plug eventually because they can’t right the ship with half-attempted moves. With Ristolainen locked in for another 4 years, DeAngelo having one more year left, Sanheim’s extension kicking in next year, that becomes your top-3 on the backend – which is tough to swallow. Cam York has made the leap to the NHL this year, Ronnie Attard is doing a great job down in Lehigh Valley, Egor Zamula and Linus Hogberg have some taste at the NHL level, and at some point you’re going to have Emil Andrae available. You can make offseason moves for dependable depth pieces to round out your top-6 like they’ve done in the past with Justin Braun. That should be the focal point of a rebuild but it has to get rolling as soon as possible.
Another wrinkle in a Provorov deal is that it would have to occur in the summer when more suitors become available, interested, and have the cap leniency to make a deal work. A Provorov deal has 3 prongs: 1) Admitting you’re ready to jump ship and move on from your #1 defenseman, 2) Finding as many suitors as possible to execute the best deal possible, and 3) Having the upper hand in the deal because you’re the one giving away a talented player and not the other way around.
It’s truly unfortunate that the Flyers can’t seem to find the right footing with their prized defenseman from the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. It’s not entirely the Flyers’ fault either as it has been mentioned that he is tough to coach sometimes, does his own thing, and has thrown his teammates under the bus a few times. These were mentioned last year ahead of the trade deadline when it seemed like the rumours were at its peak. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman added fuel to the fire earlier on his 32 Thoughts podcast where he said that frustration is boiling over both sides:
“I still think the talent is there, but it hasn’t worked as well as it could’ve and should’ve in Philadelphia. I think some of it probably on the player and some of it is on the team.”
The Flyers have done their due diligence – in a sense – in trying to find the right partner for the Russian but for one reason or another it hasn’t worked. Niskanen suddenly retired, Ellis’ injury ruined that possibility, and even the DeAngelo experiment hasn’t gone over well. He has played with nearly every defenseman imaginable over the years but nothing has clicked.
He is 12th all time in games played for a Flyers defenseman with 490, 4th in goals with 61, 12th in assists with 143, and 7th in points with 204. He is within striking distance of the 3rd spot which is occupied by Kimmo Timonen (270), but will he be a Flyer for much longer? The market for a defenseman is always white-hot and a player of his skill level will be in command no matter his salary. It’s whether or not the Flyers actually want to get a deal done involving Provorov but also even more importantly is who is going to be making that deal.
Last year when the ship was sinking, Dave Scott came to the rescue of his general manager – on several occasions – confirming he was the man for the job and that was not going to be fired. Fast forward a year later and the outspoken CEO has gone radio silent, even denying media availability. It seems like the Flyers are rolling with the steam locomotive that is John Tortorella, who has been very outspoken about his job, his role, and what he wants to see from his team this year, next year, and into the future. He keeps using buzzwords that are related to rebuilds, whereas the general manager is on the opposite side of the spectrum. In fact, Fletcher hasn’t been as vocal his year as he was last year or the year before, which could be all the foreshadowing we need.
He was never a rebuilding general manager, some said he did a great job like drafting Kirill Kaprizov in Minnesota, but every general manager has hit on a late round pick at some point in their careers. He left the Wild in such a mess that they never had picks when he was at the helm, and Bill Guerin had to buy out the steep contracts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter that have severe dead cap hits moving forward that will definitely hamper their ability to extend players and make aggressive moves.
A Provorov trade is delicate and needs to be handled with the utmost certainty and regard, which Fletcher does not possess. They need new blood in that front office, one that has no ties whatsoever to the organization, and the right mindset in turning over a new leaf.
The Flyers could keep Provorov into next year and try again but how many times are we going to crack the whip at the same issues. It’s crazy to think that they’re going to walk away from a 25-year-old defenseman who would be 29-30 by the time a teardown would be complete, but Provorov is also the chip that would get you the pieces you’re looking for in the future. However, would he be on board to wait things out and stay when things aren’t as peachy? He still has 2 more seasons until he becomes a UFA in the summer of 2025 when the Flyers would still be on the hook for Ristolainen, Sanheim, and also Kevin Hayes. He would want a raise from his $6.75 million, which the Flyers probably won’t be able to afford, especially since Travis Konecny will also be in line for an extension.
You don’t even have to read between the lines to know that both sides are at a boiling point and unless something drastically changes from now to April, it might be the last time we see Provorov donning the Winged-P and the Orange and Black.
