The Flyers finally won a game in 2022, and it only took 31 days to do it from their last victory against the Seattle Kraken on December 29, 2021. Hopefully, this is a strong if good things to come for the orange and black. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.
More than likely the Flyers will receive one of two things: Cash or a Class “B” prospect, nothing earth shattering. The main purpose of trading Ghost was to clear cap space to improve the team/defense.
If Claude Giroux agrees to waive his No Movement Claude (NMC), I think a dark horse team are the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Wayne Simmonds and Giroux are very good friends, so this move would not shock me in the slightest. The Maple Leafs have a good young team, as well so don’t count them out.
The ball is in Giroux’s court and he might only have one team in mind. In addition, the Flyers now have $4.3 million more in cap space relief, as Chuck Fletcher moved Sean Couturier to LTIR, meaning the Flyers could retain salary if need be. In the end I do believe Giroux will waive his NMC, and get traded to the Nashville Predators, a dark-horse team.
Nashville currently has a little over $10 million in cap space, per capfriendly. Also, the Predators and Flyers have a rich trading history. If Nashville wants to make a serious run with Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene, this would be their best route. The Flyers wouldn’t have to retain monies to make this trade work either.
Mike Yeo and Ian Laperrière are both defense first minded coaches, as well as, Alain Vigneault. The difference in styles are under Yeo he wants his defensemen to be more involved offensively, pinch when they get the opportunity to do so.
Yeo likes his defensemen to be active, and Laperrière seems to be implementing the same system with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Phantoms are having much more success as of late due to stellar goaltending, and players understanding Lappy’s system more.
Some changes to the hockey operations will take place sometime this summer. Exactly what that entails, no one really knows one can only speculate. Danny Briere will take part in hockey operations in some way shape or form, exactly what role he will actually play has yet to be known.
Everyone is on hot seat for the Flyers right now, to include Dave Scott and Chuck Fletcher in particular. Comcast does not like to lose, period.
Looking at last night’s attendance, the arena did not have 13,000 plus spectators as indicated when attendance was announced. The Flyers reap the benefits of their dedicated season ticket holders, but Comcast does not like being embarrassed either. In short, everyone has been put on notice and some changes will take place this Summer.
- Carter Hart, Ivan Provorov, Cam Atkinson, Cam York: a team needs two things in particular goaltender and defense. The Flyers have been searching for a franchise netminder since President Reagan was in office, so of course Hart is an untouchable. Provorov is one of the Flyers best defenseman, so you have to build around him especially with a cap friendly type of deal for a 1A defenseman. Moreover, with York being the top prospect in the Flyers system at the moment, of course, he is safe. Every team needs a veteran, a leader, and that is Cam Atkinson so the Flyers should build around him, as well. He provides a foundation of neo tolerance, and will speak up when he has to.
- Fletcher will not get a free pass, and his seat is very warm right now. In a setting like the press conference to police in, of course, Dave Scott was going to stand by his guy. They seem to be at odds on how they will handle things. For instance, when Fletcher mentioned the Flyers needed more top end talent and the easiest way to obtain this is through the draft, Scott quickly rebutted saying they will retool on the fly an issue “Blank checks.” This shows me that the two have a directional problem, however, it is clear both men want to win. How this is handled in the summer will be interesting to see.
- Fletcher indicated that they will look into the medical staff at the end of the season. A lot of changes will take place in the summer, and trust me they know exactly what’s going on with all these recurring injuries. It has been a focal point of how this season has turned out, so it will be interesting to see what transpires in the offseason.
Paul Holmgren is only around very seldomly from what I understand, so I don’t think he has enough influence to push for necessary changes as he’s practically retired at this point. In addition, Bobby Clarke on the other hand may still have a voice, and I am sure the front office has been put on notice from some of his recent comments he made about the prior regime. Changes will occur, and the front office are not exempt from some of the changes that will occur in the offseason, NO ONE IS SAFE.
Everyone is on hot seat for the Flyers right now, to include Dave Scott and Chuck Fletcher in particular. Comcast does not like to lose, period. Changes will be made, many changes and when Dave Scott says they will issue “Blank checks” well, they will issue “Blank checks.” Let’s just hope it doesn cap constrain the Flyers for years to come with overpaying.
With three teams Claude Giroux gets moved to. Here are a list of young Centers I would ask/start with, and it may or may not happen:
Minnesota- Marco Rossi. Yes, Marco only stands at 5’9, but he’s dynamic
Colorado- Alex Newhook. Newhook is exactly the prototype player the Flyers could use right now to help them down the middle, thus forcing Kevin Hayes back to his rightful position as a 3C.
Nashville- Philip Tomasino. Tomasino has 15 points in 40 games played (6g,9a, and he could really be a great addition for the Flyers. Luke Kunin might be of interest, as well.
Cam Atkinson, Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier, Oskar Lindblom, Joel Farabee, Max Willman, Zack MacEwen, Patrick Brown, Rasmus Ristolainen, Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Ryan Ellis, Cam York, and Carter Hart
Injured players: Tanner Laczynski, Wade Allison
According to Chuck Fletcher, Danny Briere will be involved in hockey operations somehow next season. Moreover, Fletcher also stated that Briere has taken part in many important meetings over the course of the past few years with Fletcher. Maybe they are grooming him to be a senior advisor or some sort of advisor, as Paul Holmgren is really no longer in the fold practically since he has pretty much retired. Whatever the case maybe, the front office will have a bit of a juggling act this offseason, let’s see how this pans out.
What a picture of Danny Brier and Chuck Fletcher at practice this week.
The Flyers will try to build around Cam Atkinson. He is signed through the 2024-25 season with a cap friendly deal for what he brings to the table in the amount of $5.875 million. He is on pace for 32 goals this season, as he leads the Flyers in goals (17) and points (36). Atkinson has been a bright spot, and the best addition by far the Fletcher acquired this past offseason.
Check out our Flyers Nitty Gritty Store
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, and Let’s go Flyers.
