This off season will be a little different than most for both Flyers fans and management because Philadelphia will finally have some actual cap space in which to work. As it stands now, the Flyers will have $11,334,644 to spend this off season, mostly because the team had been trying to save their pennies for some time now (with the expectation of having to back the Brinks truck up to their pending-restricted free agent (RFA) goaltender’s- Carter Hart- apartment). However, with his less-than-stellar play lately, it looks as though the Flyers may have just been gifted the opportunity to utilize the money that they have been storing in their expenditure account elsewhere this offseason since Carter should now only be offered an economical prove-it type deal to ensure he can return to the form he was in last postseason where he carried his team deep into the playoffs.
So, the question then becomes: What should the Flyers do with all this newfound capital? Well, they will have to re-sign the previously mentioned Carter Hart. Additionally, they will need to either re-sign Brian Elliott or move on and try to find an upgraded replacement. With that accomplished, the team will most likely re-sign defensemen Travis Sanheim for no more than what he made last season- $3.25 million since Sanheim’s play this season hasn’t been deserving of a raise. Once those ends are tied up, Philadelphia will most likely be trying to sign a legit right-hand-shot defenseman who can play top-pairing minutes with a large portion of what’s left. This will ensure that they no longer have to rely on the less-than-adequate Justin Braun or Phillippe Myers. By that time, most of the Flyers’ cap space will then be diminished, leaving the Flyers with no other choice but to get creative in order to finish filling out their roster.
There’s no doubt (although the recent play of Wade Allison looks promising) that Philadelphia will still need to improve upon their bottom-six forwards and their defensive pairings in order to advance in the standings next season. Between the former #2 overall pick center Nolan Patrick’s fall from grace (from once being thought of as the next star of the franchise to now being relegated to play as a 4th line winger since coming back from having concussion symptoms last year since even the newcomer Jackson Cates has been able to push him out of the faceoff dot as of late), the once-promising goal scorer Oskar Lindblom’s heroic ongoing recovery from his recent battle with cancer, and bottom-pairing veteran defenseman Justin Braun being forced into top pairing minutes, the Flyers are not the team they once thought they were.
One way they could upgrade their club next season is to look for a team from which to pillage: One that has a great deal of hidden treasures, but who won’t have the cap space next season in which to re-sign them all; and if you’re going to look to do so, then WHom better to pilfer from than the reigning Stanley Cup Champions?
The Tampa Bay Lightning have a plethora of talent on their roster but will not have the capital to spend in order to retain them all next season. In fact, they will be approx. $3,516,666 OVER the cap to start the season next year. So, before they do anything, some big changes are going to need to be made- but this is what happens win you win it all. Players expect to be compensated and the Lightning have obliged in recent years by making sure to re-secure their core players; Shelling out big money to: Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million) a season, forwards Nikita Kucherov ($9.5 million a season), Steven Stamkos ($8.5 million per season), and Brayden Point ($6.75 million) a season. Then, there’s defenseman Victor Hedman who they pay $7.8 million a season to, and Ryan McDonagh at $ 6.75 million a season- just to name a few.
But, while Tampa’s options may be extremely limited this off season (hindered by their own cap-strapped woes), the Flyers shouldn’t show any empathy towards them. Instead, they should look to ambush their vulnerable adversary and plunder from their depth chart!
One such player that the Flyers should look to procure or pilfer away from Tampa is the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent (UFA) Barclay Goodrow. This now 28-year-old versatile forward can play both center and wing and stands at an impressive 6’2 and 215 pounds. He plays an aggressive, hard-working, physical game that would make him an instant fan favorite upon arriving in Philadelphia. He would come with Stanley Cup-winning experience and would bring some much-needed grit to the Flyers’ lineup since he is the kind of player who is willing to drop his gloves without hesitation to come to a teammates aid after a dirty play. Tampa Bay is only paying Barclay $925,000 for this season and, even if he were brought into the Flyers’ fold for double that amount next season, it would still be considered a bargain deal for this plus player! Goodrow would be the much-needed bottom six offensive upgrade the Flyers need; Far surpassing the likes of Nicolas Aube-Kubel (who is great
n his own right but has no business playing in the Flyers’ top nine (like he has lately) if Philadelphia want to be real contenders next season.
If the Flyers are unsuccessful in their efforts to sign Barclay Goodrow, then another play they could look to ink from the Lightning is pending UFA Blake Coleman. This 29-year-old forward (like Goodrow) can play either the center or the wing position and could offer the Flyers more offense and experience to their bottom six forward depth. This season, Coleman has stepped up big for Tampa- scoring 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points while playing most of his time now on the team’s second line after star forwards Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov both went down with an injury and had to be placed on the injured reserve. Blake came to the Lighting via a trade-deadline deal last season in which the Lightning gave up a 1st round pick to the New Jersey Devils for this two-time 20 goal scorer. Coleman was not solely sought after because of his timely goal scoring ability though- He is also dominant in his own zone as well, where this two-way player tends to also excel while his team is on the penalty kill (hence why this veteran forward has been able to average a plus 15 this season so far). This bold move by Tampa Bay has proven to pay off with Coleman helping the Lightning to hoist Lord Stanley’s cup last season. Unfortunately, due to cap restraints, there is no way the Lightning will have the funds necessary to bring back this talented player. Currently, Coleman makes an affordable $1.8 million a year in his current contract but is most certainly in line for a much bigger pay day this time around. With the uncertainty of just what the Flyers’ Nolan Patrick can bring to the table next season and Morgan Frost’s recent injury and inability to grasp what it takes to be an NHL player just yet, the Flyers may be looking to a player like Coleman this off season to be a productive member of the team until either Patrick, Frost, or someone else (like Jay O’Brien) further develops.
Last up, but possibly the most intriguing of all, is restricted free agent (RFA) Taylor Raddysh, who the Lightning selected in the 2nd round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft from the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Raddysh, who is now 23 years old, is a big-bodied winger who stands at 6’3 and 209 pounds. He is a prospect who most have forgotten about since Taylor was always playing second fiddle while in Erie to players like Connor McDavid, Alex DeBrincat, and Dylan Strome. But I assure you: He was no depth piece for the Otters! Raddysh had some pretty impressive years in Erie even after Connor McDavid left- scoring 42 goals and 67 assists for 109 points back in the 16-17 season. That same year he led all players in the CHL in plus/minus with a plus 67 average and was later a standout at the World Junior Championships that same year scoring 5 goals and six points in just 7 games played for team Canada. Still, since turning pro his play has not been any different: He is over a point-per-game player for the Lightnings American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Syracuse Crunch this season. Taylor is a player who is ready to break out, much like the Dallas Stars’ Jason Robertson, Nashville Predators’ Eeli Tolvanen, and Florida Panthers’ Owen Tippett have been able to do this season (which this writer predicted they would last season). Unfortunately for Raddysh though, he was drafted by the Lightning who (unlike most of these other teams) have had a large part of their roster set for a long period of time. Seeing their extended time atop of the Eastern Conference, Taylor has yet to be gifted his rightful shot to try his hand at the NHL level (like the others mentioned). In fact, the thought of it has been a tease to him this year seeing that Raddysh has been spending most of this season on the Lightning’s taxi squad. Now, I know what you may be thinking: Why would the Lightning be willing to part with an inexpensive player like Taylor if they are cap strapped? Well, they are operating under a whole different mindset right now. The Lightning (much like their cities Buccaneers) are in a dynasty mode. They are not worried about what the team will look like 5 years from now; Rather, they are worried about winning it all again in the present, which explains them giving up a 1st round pick for Blake Coleman last year and a 1st and a 3rd for Columbus Blue Jackets’ defenseman David Savard this trade deadline. All their money this off season will be going to try and re-secure those players, not to players that haven’t proven themselves yet. Although they will be in need of prospects in the future, which is where the Flyers could come in handy. Philadelphia’s prospect pool is deep, to say the least. The Flyers have a bunch of promising prospects that are not too far away. With the Lightning trading away their own draft picks right and left, they might be so inclined to trade the rights to Taylor Raddysh to the Flyers in exchange for their choice of a bevy of different prospects from the Flyers’ system. The Flyers could stand to overpay for this NHL-ready prospect and also need to rid themselves of a number of their own prospects anyway in order to sign other, more promising, players who were recently drafted and are now ready to turn pro. This situation would be a win-win for both teams: Philadelphia needs a young player with big upside who could step into the lineup next season and produce, and Tampa Bay who don’t have the money in which to re-sign him next season, will need more help in years to come.
The Flyers are in a world of hurt right now and are desperate for some much-needed offensive help and direction. They could benefit greatly from taking advantage of Tampa Bay’s cap woes this off season by acquiring one of these hidden treasures; Regardless, if Philadelphia decides to sign one of these veterans or take the chance on a prospect who looks to be thing, the Flyers should rest assured that neither will prove to be a bad move.
Trade Nolan Patrick and a prospect for Erik Cernak.
I like what you’re proposing. The Flyers are desperate for the type players Tampa seems to find every year in the draft, but Chuck Fletcher is a totally brain dead GM, who gets plundered on a regular basis by other GMs. Fletcher is also as dumb as a bag of hammers when it comes to negotiating contracts(just look at how Kevin Hayes raped Fletcher for a long term, no trade deal for $2M a year more than Hayes deserved). Fletcher is au terrible GM as he proved in Minnesota. Look at how bad he left that disaster before Paul Holmgren hired him as GM and then made Fletcher the Flyer’s President too. No, none of these Tampa players are on Fletcher’s radar, he’s not that smart. He’ll go after some overpriced slug on the way down instead. This franchise is owned by Comcast too. Comcast is a poorly run business and we all know that the Flyers are just a business holding that the big shots who run cable, could care less about. The days of Ed Snyder and his passion to have great hockey in Philadelphia are long gone. Sadly, the Flyers are now just another pro team going nowhere.