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Today is the day. All the salary cap management NHL teams have been doing for the last few weeks all comes down to 12pm today. At noon, Unrestricted Free Agents from every team are free to negotiate and sign contracts with any NHL team.
The Flyers have no notable UFAs after locking down Sean Couturier and Rasmus Ristoleinen long-term. They have a handful of restricted free agents, but none of them should be given an offer sheet by another team. Their RFAs include Morgan Frost, Owen Tippett, Wade Allison, Jackson Cates, and more depth players.
Notable unrestricted free agents around the league include soon-to-be ex-Penguin Evgeni Malkin, former Flyers’ captain Claude Giroux, and the biggest name on the market, Johnny Gaudreau. The Flyers have long wanted to bring Gaudreau back home. He grew up in South Jersey but was always a Flyers fan. It seems like the feeling could be mutual between Johnny Hockey and the Flyers. Let’s explore the possibility of seeing Johnny Gaudreau in orange and black.
First thing’s first. The Flyers have $3.45M in cap space after the buyout of Oskar Lindblom (a very tough decision for the organization to make, but business is business no matter how it’s looked at). That is not near enough to bring in Gaudreau. Chuck Fletcher has been trying very hard to find a suitor for James van Riemsdyk and his $7M cap hit for this coming season. The only reason he hasn’t yet made a deal is because of his reluctance to add a sweetener in the deal. There is undoubtedly a market for JvR and Fletcher knows this. So far, there are at least three teams that have engaged with the Flyers in trade talks surrounding van Riemsdyk. They are the Arizona Coyotes, Seattle Kraken, and the Buffalo Sabres.
All three teams have tons of cap space. The Sabres lead the three with over $30M. Buffalo has $28M. Seattle comes up third but still has $22M in cap room. Any of these teams could easily fit JvR on their roster and decide to let him walk at the end of next year as he only has one year left on his current deal. On top of that, the team that acquires him would only need to pay him his $4M base salary for this season.
The catch here is what the Flyers would have to give up in order to get rid of JvR’s contract. The teams know the Flyers need cap space and are frankly desperate for it. Some teams have asked for a first-round pick in return. Yes, it’s a high price but the Flyers need to pay it. Shedding the contract gives them close to $10.5M in cap room, enough to bring Gaudreau home. The first choice would be the pick they got from Florida along with Owen Tippett in exchange for Claude Giroux. The pick is top-10 protected (meaning if it lands in the top-10, Florida keeps it) and isn’t until the 2024 draft. The next choice should be their own first-round pick in 2024. The Flyers should do everything they can to keep the 2023 first-rounder. That draft is absolutely loaded and there’s a chance the Flyers could come away with some elite talent, something the organization sorely needs.
No, the Flyers aren’t in a position to contend for a championship next season. That shouldn’t stop them from bringing in a superstar who clearly wants to play here. If Gaudreau wanted to re-sign with Calgary, that deal would’ve been done a long time ago. Calgary has made one last-ditch effort to keep him up north that would pay him over $11M annually for eight years. Again, when he leaves the Flames, it won’t be because of the money. Gaudreau wants to sign close to home. That leaves the Flyers and Devils as the main suitors (and maybe the New York teams, it could get interesting). The Devils have a much better situation than the Flyers currently do. From an outside perspective, someone else would clearly pick the Devils. They have the young talent, cap space, and are trending up in the standings. But. There is something about playing for your hometown team that seems so enticing. It gets even more enticing when one of your best friends could end up centering your line.
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If the money is the same or close to the same from New Jersey and from the Flyers, Gaudreau will be a Flyer. If the Flyers are unable to free up enough space, they shouldn’t even make an offer. Why insult him with an offer that isn’t even worth reading? The Flyers would be better saving that money for resigning Travis Sanheim when he becomes a free agent after the 2022-2023 season.
The reality here is the Flyers are stuck in a situation no team in sports wants to be in. They are a mediocre team (at best) with some semi-skilled players but no real star. They aren’t bad enough to warrant a high pick for a budding superstar. They aren’t good enough to make a run. Gaudreau can be the face of the franchise while this mediocrity hopefully comes to an end. He will sell tickets. He will put up numbers. He will help other guys put up numbers. He’ll be a treat to watch in shootouts and three-on-three overtimes. It’s not every day a superstar that grew up a fan of your team hits the open market and by all accounts WANTS to come home.
Having said that, they have a franchise goalie. Carter Hart is a legit number one. They still have to find a backup somewhere, but Hart is the guy and will be for the next 10+ years. The left side on defense is solid. Ivan Provorov, even when off, is the best defender the Flyers have. He plays at least 25 minutes every night and just doesn’t miss games. The guy is a player that any team would love to have. Travis Sanheim showed he can be a legit number two defender last season when he really took off. He was the best defender the Flyers had last season, and him being on the second pair is a really good thing for this team. Cam York will win the left-side position battle on the third pair. To be honest, I’m not even sure who is battling against but he’s been at development camp so he’s still considered a prospect for some reason. He’ll be up all year, barring anything surprising. There are questions on the right side, but the addition of Tony DeAngelo, love it or hate it, will boost a really bad powerplay. Ristoleinen didn’t put up great numbers in year one but got a big contract anyway. Hopefully, the offensiveness of Sanheim can be complemented by the ruggedness and brashness of Ristoleinen. They will be a strong pair. Nick Seeler is most likely on the third pair with Cam York. Seeler is well-liked within the organization because of his competitiveness and feistiness. He doesn’t have to play extremely well, he just has to be average defensively. The offense is going to come from the top pair and Sanheim. York may see powerplay time, but in all fairness, Sanheim earned the opportunity to quarterback at least the second powerplay during the stretch last season. He should start the year as the quarterback on the second unit. Up front, they have their top two centers back. Any team that loses its top two centers is going nowhere. Travis Konecny came out of nowhere to become the best set-up guy on the team. Joel Farabee, though he might not start the season, is the closest thing to an elite young player the Flyers have. Cam Atkinson won the Bobby Clarke award as the team’s MVP last season, despite missing the last handful of games. Atkinson was a great addition for the Flyers, he gave them someone who could bury the puck in the net and be a great presence in the room. Speaking of being a great presence, Scott Laughton never fails to set the tone for the Flyers. They call him “Sargent” for a reason. Next to Laughton will be younger guys like Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett, who showed really good chemistry together at the end of last year. Noah Cates should also be given an extended look following the buyout of Oskar Lindblom. Cates showed promise during his time in the NHL at the end of last season.
Overall, adding Johnny Gaudreau wouldn’t make the Flyers contenders. It might not even make them playoff-bound. It will add excitement and elite skill to a team that has no face or identity. It will also give them time to determine how they want to proceed in building a winner. The Cup hasn’t been to Broad Street since the 1970s. It’s time to change that. Let Johnny Hockey, the hometown kid, play a major role.
