Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures: How The Flyers May Cash In On Other Teams’ Losses

With the uncertainty of when the NHL season will actually get underway, free agency as we know it has come to a grinding halt. However, many teams are currently either well over the cap (having made their signings already) or still have massive holes in their lineup that are going to be need to be filled. Now, there are still a few quality free agents left to be had, but only a select few teams will be able to benefit from their services. The league and the players’ association are scrambling to come up with a plan they can both agree on to try and get the Flyers, along with the rest of the league’s teams, back on the ice as soon as possible. Once a plan is in place and a start date is set then it is almost evident that teams will be ramping back up their efforts to finalize their rosters.

When that happens, the Flyers should have their eye on two teams who may find themselves in desperate need of help: This may be a good way for the Flyers to unload one of their larger contracts that is currently hindering the team’s efforts to advance to the next level of actually being Stanley Cup contenders. Those two teams are the Florida Panthers and the Nashville Predators because they both (at the present time) are in desperate need of some scoring assistance. Both teams have already lost one of their leading goal scorers from last season by way of them signing with another team when free agency began; Additionally, they each still have another of their leading goal scorers from last season still on the open free-agent market and who is receiving offers from other teams. So if one, or both, of these above-mentioned teams lose out on re-signing their other goal scorer from last season they will be in a world of hurt and thus become desperate to find someone who is able to fill the void left by their departure. So, before we dive into who from the Flyers’ roster may make a good trade acquisition for the Panthers and Predators, let’s find out just who these two teams have lost already and who they might still be in danger of losing.

First up: The Florida Panthers

The Panthers currently find themselves in a situation they know all too well: They have already lost one of their star players to another team this offseason. This time in the form of 31-year-old winger Evgenii Dadonov. Dadonov (who ranked 2nd on the team in goals last season) decided to leave the Sunshine State for Canada’s capital city of Ottawa when he agreed to join the Senators on a 3-year deal worth $15 million dollars (with a cap hit of $5 Million dollars annually). Evgenii played a huge part in the Panthers’ offense (especially) over the last three seasons- scoring 81 goals during that time. 25 of those goals came during the shortened season last year, 28 the season before in ’18-’19, and 28 in the ’17-’18 campaign as well; and, if this was not enough of difficulty, the Panthers still have their unrestricted free agent (and last season’s team’s leading-goal scorer) Mike Hoffman on the open market. Hoffman (who is now being rumored to be closing in on a deal with the Columbus Blue
Jackets) spent his last two seasons playing in the city of Sunrise, Florida. Over those two seasons he led the Panthers in goals scored with 36 lamp lighters in the’18-’19 season and 29 goals netted during the shortened ’19-’20 crusade. This equates to a total of 65 goals during his time in Florida. So, it goes without saying that the team would be in a world of hurt if Hoffman does, in fact, sign elsewhere as well and the Panthers would have then lost both their leading goal scorer and their 2nd leading goal scorer from last season, who together amassed a total of 54 goals on the year.

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The other team the Flyers could look to seek as a trade partner if things did not go their way would be the Predators. Music City, USA already lost their 5 time 20+ goal-scorer, winger Craig Smith this offseason when he decided to depart for the city of Boston, signing a 3-year deal worth $9.3 Million dollars (with a cap hit of $3.1 million annually) with the Bruins. Smith, who plays a very effective net-front presence style, has played a huge role in the Predators’ offense for many years now, and was 3 rd on the team last season in goals scored. The other player that Nashville may lose as well is their 28-year-old center Mikael Granlund. Granlund was the Predators’ 4th leading goal scorer last season with 17 goals on the year, and is still looking to sign his next contract as he too is still an unrestricted free agent. It has been rumored (through many different outlets) that Nashville has been continually active as of late trying to look into any and all options that they could use to upgrade their dated offense. So it goes without saying that, if Granlund does decide to move on from Nashville, the team would be in an instant state of panic and may be willing to strike a deal for anyone who could then provide even a portion of the 35 total goals scored that they would have lost from the combination of Smith and Granlund’s departure.

So, by now you may be asking yourself why should the Flyers care about the Panthers’ and Predators’ problems? To which this writer would say that the Flyers should look to take advantage of these teams’ losses by offering them a player who could come in and immediately provide either one of those teams some instant offense, and in doing so it would provide the Flyers with the opportunity to rid themselves of a player that just does not fit within head coach Alain Vigneault’s (AV’s) system and also his contract (which he signed under a previous administration’s reign), which has now just become a sort of nuisance and is preventing the Flyers from making other signings that could potentially launch Philadelphia to new heights.

That contract is that of winger James van Riemsdyk (JVR). JVR, who is now 31-years-old, is in his second stint with the Flyers after he was brought back (via free agency) after posting some career best numbers while playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Since being back, van Riemsdyk has not played horribly offensively; on the contrary, he has been pretty consistent as far as goal scoring goes, posting 19 goals on the shortened season last year and providing 27 goals the year before in the ’18-’19 season for the Flyers. That is 46 goals total since his return to the orange and black. If you (like most around the Philadelphia area right now) doubt that any team would want to acquire his services, this writer would beg to differ. Sure, his albatross-like contract of $7 million dollars a year seems unyielding to us here in Philly where we have seen James be placed on lower lines (and even been labeled a healthy scratch at points during last season). But do not let van Riemsdyk’s unwillingness to buy into AV’s 200ft system sway your ability to view just how good James’ offensive production has been over the course of his career: If you look at James’ stats compared to the other players mentioned in this article you can see his numbers not only hold validity but surpass the rest by a long shot!

That is why James would be more than capable of filling the void that has been, or potentially will be, left behind by one of these other fine players. Van Riemsdyk may have not really worked out the way the Flyers would have liked either of the times they acquired him (via the draft or when they re-acquired him via free agency) but it does not mean he’s not effective offensively in the right system; His 154 goals and 294 points he totaled while playing for the Maple Leafs over the course of the five and a half seasons that he was there says otherwise; and his balloon-like salary would not be a problem for either the Panthers or Predators to take on if they are to be put in a position of need, given that the two teams are among the league’s leaders in cap space. Florida currently has $8,311,707 and Nashville currently has $12,941,921 dollars in cap space. So, both teams could conceivably take on James’ $7-million-dollar cap hit for the next three seasons if they were to find themselves in desperate need of a scorer’s touch. If these teams still needed some coercing, the Flyers could sweeten the pot by throwing in some second-tier prospects from their system or a pick or two from next year’s draft. If the Flyers didn’t want to do any of those options, they could offer up some financial help by way of retaining some of JVR’s salary. None of those options may sound like an ideal plan, but let’s remember: The team has both Carter Hart and Travis Sanheim to re-sign to new deals after next season, and with Hart coming off his entry-level contract of just 730,000 a year it should go without saying that he alone will be in need of quite the hefty raise!

If the Flyers could make such a trade happen for, say, a future draft pick, a prospect or even a player with an expiring contract, in return they could then have the money needed to re-sign Hart and Sanheim after this upcoming season (even during this flat cap era). For those of you who are
still naysayers and think that a guy like Shayne Gostisbehere would be a better trade asset, I ask you: Who do you think wants a 27-year-old defenseman that has had both knees’ operated on, a hip surgery, and a bilateral lower abdominal procedure all under the age of 30? Shayne is a
defenseman that sat out most of this year as a healthy scratch because he does not like to play defense! Gostisbehere is a career -29, and is three years removed from that 65-point season that made the city of Philadelphia fall in love with him. Add to that, he is still due $4.5 million dollars for the next three seasons, and you can begin to see that van Riemsdyk might just be the better option.

This is why this writer thinks that the Flyers should at least keep an eye open for the opportunity of cashing in on a team that may have fallen on hard times and is now in desperate need of an offensive talent and may be just willing to take desperate measures in order to obtain one.

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