The Flyers are restarting practice today, after a nearly two week hiatus with the Four Nations Faceoff Tournament. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.
The Flyers will move a fan favorite/beloved Scott Laughton, and obtain Trevor Zegras. Laughton, I believe will be moved to the Washington Capitals. The Capitals are in it to win it, and they will bolster their lineup with Laughton, a player they are very familiar with.
Moving a fan favorite like Laughton, means the Flyers will be on the trading block looking to plug a hole down the middle, depth wise. Zegras would get the change of scenery he needs, and play with his best friends like Cam York and Jamie Drysdale. He would be a perfect fit in Philadelphia, much like Owen Tippett became, following the Claude Giroux trade with the Florida Panthers.
The Flyers are very, very high on John Tortorella. Torts will finish out his contract with the orange and black, and then go into the ivory tower, the ivory tower, meaning he will remain a fixture with the Flyers Front Office.
Tortorella has aid over and over again, repeatedly, that he loves coaching. If the Flyers were in contention or moving in such a way towards that next season, then maybe they would move him to the front office sooner. Unfortunately, with the way things are shaping out, it’s hard to believe that this team will be a contender next season, thus forcing Tortorella to finish out his contract with them as Head Coach.
Starter- Samuel Ersson
Backup- Ivan Fedotov
Fedotov will be in the final year of his contract ($3.275 million AAV), and Aleksei Kolosov will be given every shot, if an injury arises. It’s to my understanding that Kolosov is happy in Lehigh.
The Flyers have an arsenal of assets to play with, to improve this team. They now have seven picks within the first two rounds of the draft, which is a good thing so the team doesn’t have to retain money on any player, in the event there is a trade(s) by the trade deadline, but there is one way this plan can be derailed, with the Flyers making all seven selections within the first two rounds of the 2025 NHL Draft. That way is if indeed Flyers’ General Manager Danny Briere uses the Restricted Free Agency route to obtain a top tier Center. Below is the chart of compensation, in the event the Flyers use this route:
| $1 – $1,511,701 | None |
| $1,5111,701 – $2,290,457 | 1 3rd-round pick |
| $2,290,457 – $4,580,917 | 1 2nd-round pick |
| $4,580,917 – $6,871,374 | 1 1st-round pick, 1 3rd-round pick |
| $6,871,374 – $9,161,834 | 1 1st-round pick, 1 2nd-round pick, 1 3rd-round pick |
| $9,161,834 – $11,452,294 | 2 1st-round picks, 1 2nd-round pick, 1 3rd-round pick |
| $11,452,294 or more | 4 1st-round picks |
In my opinion, the Flyers will go down the Restricted Free Agency route to obtain a top tier Center. However, Centers like Mason McTavish, Marco Rossi, and Gabe Vilardi will cost money.
If the Flyers submitted an offer for say Rossi, they would have to make an offer that the Minnesota Wild couldn’t match, even if they wanted to, by coupling said franchise with making a damaging decision moving forward, even with the salary cap rising.
Briere could offer Rossi 5-years $65 million ($13 million AAV), and most likely Rossi would be a Flyer. Of course, that would also cost the orange and black four first round picks over the course of the next four seasons, but at least the Flyers would get to keep all three of their 2025 first round picks, in lieu of such. It’s like trading a first round pick(s), thus obtaining a number one Center for Matvei Michkov to play with.
Now these numbers are all speculative, and Briere would know exactly how much the orange and black would need to offer, to eventually win the services of one of these top RFA’s (Restricted Free Agents).
But, this has to be the route Briere and company have to go, to eventually add a number one Center. The Vancouver Canucks will be hesitant to move a player like Elias Pettersson now, with moving JT Miller before the Four Nations Faceoff Tournament began, the only other option is trying to pry Alexis Lafrenière from the New York Rangers, but that would also come with a cost, as the Rangers are in the same division as the Flyers.
Matt Duchene will be highly coveted in free agency, if he even hits the market, with the way the Dallas Stars are trending. However, Duchene would be a stop gap or a temporary Band-Aid until something more becomes available. Even then, Duchene will most likely be looking for term, especially given his age.
Unfortunately, there just might not be a another recourse, asides from going down the RFA route to obtain a Center.
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.
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Man! Put down the whiskey bottle. There’s no way they’re going to offer 13 million for a player that had 40 points in 82 games last year, and has 47 in 56 games this year. Plus he is undersized at 5’9″. What are you thinking? We don’t need to grab a first line center this offseason. We’ll have alot more money to work with the following year. Alot more. After TK gets his raise and we resign our RFA’s, how much money is left? Not enough to get a no.1 center, that’s for sure. I like the idea of grabbing a no.2 though, and go for a no.1 the following year.