Photo Credit: Rebecca McCormick
Hockey is finally over, and a new champion has been crowned. Congratulations to the Colorado Avalanche on winning their third Stanley Cup in franchise history. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.
Ivan Provorov
Cam York
Travis Sanheim
Sean Couturier
Joel Farabee
Scott Laughton
Carter Hart
Travis Konecny
Kevin Hayes
Believe it or not Konecny played well during the second half of the season for the Flyers last season. Sure he could score more goals, but he still put up points. Some people have him traded already, some people don’t believe he has a work ethic for John Tortorella. However, I believe he will excel under Tortorella. I’m going to go with the underdog here, and the same goes for Provorov.
There is a trade market for James van Riemsdyk, and I personally believe he goes out west to either the Calgary Flames or the Arizona Coyotes. It makes too much sense to go to the Coyotes in particular, they would only have to pay $4 million dollars of actual money, while his cap hit would be $7 million dollars. This actually saves them $3 million of actual money, but in the same token it helps them get to the cap floor.
Simply put, the Flyers have no need to buyout JvR’s contract. Only 94 players in the NHL scored 24 or more goals this past season, and JvR was one of them. A team will take him, look for the Calgary Flames, Arizona Coyotes, or the Ottawa Senators to be takers for JvR.
I think they will make the pick and select one of the two best defenseman that this draft has to offer in David Jiříček. Jiříček stands at 6’3 and weighs 190 pounds. He possesses one heck of a shot, and actually is a solid skater. The Flyers haven’t drafted the defenseman in the first round since 2019 in Cam York.
Swedish star Jonathan Lekkerimaki might be on the Flyers radar too if they decide to make a bold move. He is one heck of a skater, coupled with a powerful shot. Lekkerimaki will be a top six player in the NHL, and hopefully it’s for the Flyers.
One reason the Flyers won’t trade back is it’s too expensive for teams to move up to within top five of the draft. This is one main reason why it’s so rare it happens in the NHL.
The net return would be an immediate top 6 NHL player, this is presuming the prospect(s) is a Grade “A”. Realistically, the Flyers could trade back, however, it is very rare for a team that is selecting within the top five to move back. It is very expensive to do such, and that is one main reason why it rarely happens in the NHL. However, it is not our of the realm of possibility.
Thank you for wishing my family good thoughts. I hope yours is doing well, as well.
ASAP, ASAP. The Flyers will announce the new Captain at some point during training camp. I think it will be at the end of training camp, as John Tortorella has to get used to this group. Either way I do believe it will be Sean Couturier, and I know you will be happy about such.
There is no update on Ryan Ellis, and Chuck Fletcher said he should know more at some point in July. I will ask him after the draft about Ellis’s status.
The hope it’s for Ellis to start ramping up his training, and that starts with hitting the ice. Hopefully, he is still par on for the course, as he continues to rehab from his injury.
John Tortorella has now been officially named the 23rd coach in Flyers history. The two sides had to finish up some contractual stuff before it was made official, that is what the holdup was.
Signing bonuses are part of the cap hit, but it cannot exceed 10% of the player’s salary.
In other words, an agreement between the NHLPA and NHL allows for signing bonuses that count toward the cap. They cannot exceed a limit of 10 percent of the player’s salary.
Teams are still on the hook for a players cap hit if they retire early. If you can remember the Flyers still had Matt Niskanen on their books towards the cap with his cat hit when he retired a year early. The cap hit with $7.5 million for Niskanen.
Everyone in Philly media works hard, and they are all great people. John Tortorella is very good with his words, and he does not like them twisted that’s for sure. These are my colleagues, so you will have to tune into the presser’s to find out.
I don’t think the Flyers will change their jersey’s much this season, but I can envision them changing for the 2023-24 season. It will give them a new face, new appearance. They need it, and the fans do too. I think it would be received well with the new image, new look.
The Flyers are looking to shed salary. One way to do it is by trying to trade JvR (Yes, believe it or not through the trade market for him), and Oskar Lindblom. That would free the Flyers of approximately $10 million cap wise.
I do believe the Flyers can move Lindblom to the Ottawa Senators, Arizona Coyotes, or Anaheim Ducks for late round picks, and it would help these aforementioned teams get to the cap floor. He did play well under Mike Yeo, especially towards the latter part of the season. I do not personally believe they have to buy him out.
On other hand, I can see the Flyers keeping him, as it could be a PR nightmare to either buy Lindblom out or trade him with all that he’s been through. The Flyers do not have a luxury of pissing off their fans even more, rather they are trying to rebuild their relationship. Lindblom is so beloved in Philadelphia, this is a very sensitive situation. Let’s see what happens, try not overthink things.
If you would like to see your questions submitted in our weekly mailbag. Just submit your question on our Twitter page @flyersknitty using #Flyersmail, or @JameyBaskow. Thanks to all the fans for another great mailbag.
