Expansion Draft Fallout and What’s Next for the Flyers?

Photo Credit: Zack Hill

Wednesday night’s expansion draft was initially supposed to be an eventful night in the NHL stratosphere. Many were envisioning an evening chalk full of exciting trades and side deals surrounding the newest expansion team the Seattle Kraken and the teams the Kraken were selecting players from. Despite the buildup towards this event unfortunately it did not live up to expectations. Not only were there zero trades the night of the expansion draft however many of Seattle’s selections could be considered puzzling at certain points. 

From a Philadelphia Flyers perspective the expansion draft brought the hope of the Flyers potentially shedding one of their high salary contracts through a Seattle selection and even a possible trade for perennial all-star winger Vladimir Tarasenko. Once the dust settled at the end of the draft the Flyers were still left with high priced players Jakub Voracek, James van Riemsdyk and Shayne Gostisbehere. Although, it was rumored that Seattle may select one of these players listed above and provide some much needed cap relief to the Flyers instead fringe NHLer Carsen Twarynski was selected by the Kraken. In light of this selection there were thoughts that this could not have been all that was occurring here between the Flyers and the Kraken on the night of the expansion draft but no trades were made between the two teams throughout the evening. In terms of the selection itself Seattle secured themselves a bubble NHL player in Twarynski which seemed to be a theme for them in regards to a variety of their selections. Their strategy was definitely hinged upon selecting players who would not take up a lot of their cap space and selecting Twarynski over the likes of established NHL point producers Jakub Voracek, JVR and Shayne Gostisbehere only proves that. Additionally, as mentioned in his press conference on Thursday afternoon Chuck Fletcher was adamant in stating that he would not attach his 13th overall first round draft choice to a player in order to ensure a team takes on their salary in a trade. One can assume that perhaps Seattle was looking for Fletcher to trade them this pick to take on a higher salaried selection from the Flyers.

The inability for the Flyers to shed salary off the books through Seattle selecting a high priced player in the expansion draft had many Flyers fans wondering what was next for the team and for GM Fletcher. Early Thursday afternoon those questions were answered through Chuck Fletcher continuing his proactive off-season. Fletcher managed to rid the team of one of those high salary players mentioned above by trading longtime defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to the Arizona Coyotes. Along with Gostisbehere, Fletcher had attached a 2022 2nd round pick, as well as, a 2022 7th round pick as extra incentive for Arizona to take on Gostisbehere’s full 4.5 million dollar cap hit for the next two seasons. While the Flyers only received the tag of “future considerations” as the return from the Coyotes for Gostisbehere and the draft picks attached, gaining 4.5 million dollars in cap space for a team strapped for flexibility cap wise is an asset almost as important as any. Ridding themselves of Gostisbehere’s cap hit allows the Flyers to comfortably re-sign RFA’s (restricted free agents) Carter Hart and Travis Sanheim and also gives them the flexibility to sign a back-up goaltender. Additionally, this extra space should give the Flyers the opportunity to be active in the free agent market and sign another top four defenseman, something the team desperately needs at this point.

Turning to the free agent market there are some defenseman who would be attractive additions to the Flyers blue line and solidify the team’s second defense pairing with Travis Sanheim. Some of the potential targets the Flyers should be looking into signing are veteran defenseman Alec Martinez, Niklas Hjalmarsson, David Savard or Jason Demers. Personally, Hjalmarsson or Martinez would be my first choice in regards to a 2nd pairing addition however, Demers and Savard would also be solid complementary players to Sanheim as both can hold their own defensively. One thing is certain though that without another defensive addition Fletcher’s off-season plan of ensuring the team’s goals against is significantly lower than last season may not be adequately addressed. If one of the defenseman mentioned above was to be signed it would instantly act as a solidifier to the Flyers defensive corps  and guarantee the team’s defenseman are slotted appropriately on the back end which was also something that did not occur last season.

Another question mark for the Flyers entering the 2021-2022 season is the back-up goalie position. After Carter Hart struggled mightily last season it’s clear the Flyers need to enter the season with a back-up goalie who can handle either splitting time with the young netminder if necessary or at least play 30 games. Some options that could fill this role for the Flyers include UFA’s (unrestricted free agent), Linus Ullmark, Antti Raanta, James Reimer and Jaroslav Halak. Out of the goaltender’s listed above the Flyers would be best served signing either Linus Ullmark or Antti Raanta. Ullmark had a terrific 917% save percentage last season on a Buffalo Sabres team who was one of the worst teams in the NHL in the last 20 years. If the Flyers were to sign Ullmark it would be a great upgrade over Brian Elliott and Ullmark could potentially even challenge Carter Hart for the starting role depending on his performance. The next best option for the Flyers to pursue would be Antti Raanta. Even though Raanta had an underwhelming previous season only posting a 905 % save percentage while playing 12 games due to suffering several injuries the veteran goaltender has a career save percentage of 919% and would be motivated to have a bounce back year. Though his injury history is concerning the talent and track record is there in relation to Raanta and he would be a wonderful back-up to Hart as long as he can remain healthy. The last resort options the Flyers should pursue that may be a tier below Ullmark and Raanta would be Halak and Reimer. Both goalies bring a multitude of experience and could handle number 1 netminding duties for a brief period of time if Hart were to struggle this upcoming season. Nevertheless, if the Flyers could sign the aforementioned Ullmark or Raanta I believe their goaltending situation would be much more solidified. Either option mentioned above would be an upgrade on Flyers former backup Brian Elliott. Having said that, It should be intriguing to see which route Fletcher goes in attempting to address the back-up goalie position.

In addition, an issue the Flyers should be looking to address as the off-season progresses is the teams forward mix. After last season it’s quite clear that the team’s chemistry at forward was not the most prevalent bringing forth the notion that change is needed. It’s still possible the Flyers move one of Jakub Voracek or JVR and in order for another forward to be brought in one of these players would need to be moved for more cap relief. It was rumored earlier in the week by twitter’s designated trade breaker NHL Rumors Daily (@NHLRumorsDaily) that the Flyers were interested in Buffalo Sabres center Sam Reinhart. Depending on what would need to be sent the other way in a trade, Reinhart would certainly solidify the Flyers center depth and provide some much needed scoring punch. The forward led the Sabres last season with 40 points in 54 games and scored 25 goals while doing so. Considering he was playing on a Sabres team missing Jack Eichel for most of the season, that is a very impressive feat for Reinhart to have accomplished. If he was to be traded for by the Flyers it could be assumed that he would surpass those totals within an 82 game season. Aside from Reinhart, an appealing secondary option who is a free agent currently would be Phillip Danault. Though Danault’s scoring is thought of by many as lacking, he is one of the premier defensive shutdown centers in the NHL. If the Flyers were to sign Danault the lineup flexibility it would give them rolling three centers consisting of Sean Couturier, Kevin Hayes and Philip Danault would result in matchup nightmares for most teams they face off against this season. Also, adding Danault as the shutdown third line center would free Couturier of consistently having to match up against other teams top lines thus, allowing him more offensive zone starts. Overall, I believe an addition such as Danault’s may not be as attractive as other forwards available due to the fact the player has never scored more than 39 points in a season. From a defensive perspective though it would allow for the Flyers other centers to be placed into more offensively oriented matchups within games. Danault would be more than capable of handling the defensive matchups against other teams top lines as was seen in last season’s playoffs and that would be a valuable asset to have as a third line center. Lastly, one name the Flyers fan base has been clamoring for Chuck Fletcher to acquire is Vladimir Tarasenko. Trading for a player of Tarasenko’s ilk would finally fill the need of having a true sniper the Flyers have been lacking since the departure of Jeff Carter. Though there are question marks surrounding Tarasenko’s health due to having three shoulder surgeries in the past few years, if Fletcher can make a trade for him he should most definitely do so. The fact that Tarasenko has a 7.5 million dollar cap hit coupled with his previous injury history would likely drive down the price to acquire him. There may be risks associated with a player like Tarasenko but in certain cases a GM needs to swing for the fences to address the needs of his team. A player like Tarasenko would certainly be one to take a risk on if the Flyers can clear the salary to make it happen. 

With the NHL draft taking place later today and free agent frenzy on July 28th, the next week in the NHL will be a busy one. Based on Chuck Fletcher and the Flyers moves so far this off-season it would not be surprising in the least to see the Flyers continue being an active team looking to improve their hockey club. As Fletcher said in his press conference on Thursday afternoon, “I do believe that we’ll have a better team by the end of next Wednesday.” Only time will tell if Fletcher’s words come to fruition or if they leave much to be desired by the fan base throughout the remainder of this off-season.