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Some fans would say that the Flyers’ collapse this season is solely because of injuries that have occurred. Others (this writer included) would argue that the team’s issues are far more deep-rooted than that. But it goes beyond just replacing a coach: Since the Flyers drafted their current captain, Claude Giroux, some sixteen years ago, they have yet to either draft or develop his successor. Sure, they have had some good players over the years, but they have no real elite-level talent on the team now or in the system who they could build a team around moving forward after Giroux (who’s in the last year of his current eight-year deal) decides to leave. Claude, who is now 33 years old, is still looked to as the guy that is to take the final shot when down a goal with a minute to go. With that being said, the team might just be better suited to rip off the band-aid now and move on from him this off season. The Flyers haven’t won a championship during his reign on South Broad Street and are in for a rude awaking if he chooses to cut his losses after this season and decides to sign elsewhere to try and win a cup. Besides, with the kind of extensions the club has already signed both Sean Couturier and Joel Farabee to (that are set to take effect next season) there might not even be enough cap room for him to re-sign anyway. The Flyers have to decide what direction they want to go in: Should they try and re-sign Giroux and be as mediocre as they have been over the last 16 years? Or do they sever ties with him and try to get some prospects who will be NHL ready as early as next season?
Well, if this writer had his way, he would ask Giroux to waive his no trade clause so that the team could send him to a contender for a chance to win the cup. Perhaps the best option might be the Anaheim Ducks, who currently sit in second place in the Pacific Division. With young players like Trevor Zegras, Sonny Milano, Jamie Drysdale, Sam Steel, and now Mason McTavish already contributing at the NHL level, there’s no doubt that this team has been exciting to watch this season and would benefit from the Flyers’ experienced captain joining their ranks for a playoff push. Of course, that would mean that Philadelphia would have to be willing to retain a large majority of what’s left to pay of his $8.275 million dollar salary this season, but it would be a small price to pay in order to receive a couple of proven prospect like Sean Tschigerl, Sam Colangelo, or Sasha Pastujov in return with say maybe a second round pick.
Once that decision to move on from Giroux is made, the Flyers should then look for the opportunity to unload an albatross-like contract that is currently hindering them from making the moves necessary in order to effectively start their retool. One such player whose contract fits that description is the ever streaky James van Riemsdyk who, this season, has only 7 goals and 6 assists for 13 points in 31 games played. You might be wondering what team would even want a player that is due to make $7 million this season and whose offensive production comes and goes with the wind, and to that I would suggest the Arizona Coyotes.
This is a team that has had problems enticing players to come to the desert since their move there, but can you blame the players? The franchise has basically gone bankrupt multiple times, had to be bailed out by the league, and as recently as a month or so ago were on the verge of being locked out of their own rink. You can imagine the type of struggle they have to endure year in and year out come free agency. That’s why their aging star Phil Kessel (who the Flyers should look to trade for) currently wants out of town. He’s great on the power play and best of all his cap hit is very similar to van Riemsdyk’s but expires at this year’s end which would allow Philadelphia an immense amount of money to spend this upcoming off season. This move would allow the struggling Coyotes to receive a former 35+ goal scorer who is signed for next year (JVR) for another one in (Kessel) that they would just lose this off season anyway. Now, the Flyers might have to sweeten the pot a bit to get the deal done with a late round draft pick (or two) but that is nothing considering the cap flexibility they would gain if this deal were to come into fruition.
Now here is where it would get interesting. Still making moves this season, the team will need to find a player who can bring the kind of point production that Giroux has for the past fifteen years here in Philadelphia. But not like the team use to do year in and year out when they acquired these future Hall of Famers who were well past their prime:
They need a proven player in his prime with still many years of play left in his career. One of those players currently said to be made available is the Vancouver Canucks’ 6’1 208 pound Brock Boeser. This American-born winger was a first round pick back in 2015 and is now coming into his prime at just 24 years old. Boeser, who has career highs of 29 goals (in ‘17- ‘18) and 56 points in the ‘18- ‘19 season is a restricted free agent at this year’s end and currently makes a very reasonable $5,875,000 this season. Now, you may be saying ‘why in the world would Vancouver want to get rid of this proven finisher’? Well, the Canucks are in a worse spot than the Flyers right now. Already firing their coach as well this season, President Jim Rutherford also decided to give his general manager his walking papers and has since named himself the interim general manager. Rutherford has realized that in the very near future his team has a bunch of his star players in need of a new contract. Players like Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller are going to be unrestricted free agents (UFA’s). then Nils Hoglander, Elias Pettersson, and Vasily Podkolzin are soon to be restricted free agents (RFA’s) as well. A move like this would instantly give the Flyers one of the most potent right wing trios in the league. With Atkinson, Boeser, and Konecny, the top nine would have speed and scoring depth for the first time in a long time. What would it take to get bring this elite, young talent to Broad Street? Well, I think any starting point mentioned would have to include a first round pick. But in order to spice this deal up, this writer would see if adding prospect Morgan Frost and/or Isaac Ratcliffe to the equation might help. Both 22 year olds were highly-touted offensive talents when they were selected by the Flyers back in 2017. Since then, neither have quite been able to live up to that hype just yet and are RFA’s at the seasons end. At that point, either would be a low-risk, high-reward type acquisition for the Canucks if they were to be able to then successfully develop one or both of them into half the player they were once projected to be before being drafted.
But to add a player this year of Boeser’s caliber who gets paid as much as he does, the team would likely have to shut down (placing him on IR) defenseman Ryan Ellis for the year. Which, after Ellis happened to reinjure a lower body injury (that to date has only allowed him to play in just four games this season), this just might not be such a bad idea. At just 30 years of age Ryan is still signed for the next six years for a cap hit of $6.25 million per season and, if the team expects him to reach the end of his term, then they better allow him time to heal properly. With Kessel then coming off the books at season’s end, the Flyers would have more than enough cap room for Ellis to play at 100% next year.
So, with the team then having a fresh look before the end of the season, they could now attend to some off season cleaning up. First up is the matter of addressing who will be the next head coach. As of now, the label of interim head coach is still hanging over Mike Yeo’s head. The team is working with a hodge podge group of assistants and there is still a need to set a direction the team wants to go in. One of the obvious choices out there right now is sixty-one year old Claude Julien, who previously won a Stanley Cup while coaching the Boston Bruins before getting fired from his last head coaching job with the Montreal Canadiens. Julien has a career .587 win percentage and is good when working with veterans. But, with the previously-named decisions to try and get younger and faster, he might not be the right choice.
Rather, a better choice may be someone who already once stood behind the Flyers’ bench: Kris Knoblauch. Before his time with the Flyers, this now 43-year-old coach spent time coaching in both the Western Hockey League (WHL) and the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) where he was able to lead both the Kootenay Ice and the Erie Otters to league championships. While in Erie over the course of four seasons with the Otters, his team was able to win at least 50 games in each season. While that does seem like quite the feat, Knoblauch’s ability to develop young players into superstars may just overshadow it. With names coached in Juniors like Connor McDavid, Alex DeBrincat, Sam Reinhart, Dylan Strome, Andre Burakovsky, Anthony Cirelli, Erik Cernak, Connor Brown, and Travis Dermott, it’s not hard to see why the Rangers quickly snatched him up to be the head coach for their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Harford Wolf Pack. This season he is currently coaching his team to an incredible 0.667 win percentage. But, if that still does not impress you, maybe this will: Kris got his chance on March 17th, 2021, to serve as the New York Rangers’ Head Coach for a total of six games while David Quinn was out due to COVID protocols. His first game was against none other than- you guessed it- the Philadelphia Flyers, which you may remember: the Rangers’ offense was buzzing that night and beat the Flyers 9-0.
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With the head coach in place the Flyers should look to give him some much-needed help. In terms of the defense, I would say it would be worth it to try and see if former Flyers’ Captain Derian Hatcher would like to give the NHL a shot. Since he has retired from the NHL, Hatcher has been busy buying the Sarnia Sting franchise of the OHL and spending parts of five seasons as the head coach. In saying that, I think Ian Laperriere’s time here in Philly is running short after proving he does not quite have what it takes to coach in the NHL. At the start of the season he was given the opportunity of a glorified demotion to be a head coach for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms but, after having such a promising year last year, the team this season has won just seven games under him for a win percentage of just 0.417. Now, with the Flyers’ assistant coach Michel Therrien being shown the door- along with Vigneault- Lappy is back behind the Flyers’ bench once again. This is a job (Flyers assistant coach) that maybe former NHL head coach-turned-analyst Rick Tocchet may now be better suited for. With the combination of Knoblauch’s unbelievable high-powered system, and Hatcher and Tocchet behind the bench to show this now-young team how to play the game the right way- it might make for some very exciting hockey at the Wells Fargo Center once again!
The coaching lineup now set, let’s now move onto some 2022 NHL free agents, shall we? With COVID showing it is here to stay, the Flyers would be wise to add another call up guy. Someone who can dominate in the AHL and has been productive while getting his chances to play in the NHL over the years as well. One player who comes to this writer’s mind for this role is Martin Frk. He is a 28-year-old Czech winger who simply loves to score. Currently playing for the Los Angeles Kings’ AHL affiliate the Ontario Reign, Frk finds himself amongst the league’s leaders scoring at a 1.23 point-per-game pace, netting 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points in 21 games played. Inked to an expiring contract of just $725,000 for this year, Martin could come as quite the deal, seeing that the only knock on him during his career has been his defense which he has been working on. Proof of this is his current +12 average on the season. But while these stats may seem impressive, there’s something that is still more enticing: Frk has the hardest shot ever recorded. Clocked at 109.2 mph at the 2020 AHL All Star Game, who could say with a straight face that they wouldn’t want someone that can reel back and let one go at those speeds on their team?
We all know that as of late Keith Yandle’s signing is seeming to bite this team in the ass. With each passing game his skating and outlet passes seem to get both slower and sloppier. So, the Flyers should look to sign soon-to-be UFA left-hand-shot defenseman Ian Cole to take his place next year. Cole is a 32 year old blueliner who would bring the experience the team will need on the back end with potentially both Yandle and Braun not coming back next season. While Ian may not be flashy, he does have two Stanley Cup rings for a reason. Throughout his now-12 year NHL career this shutdown defender (who lays big hits and doesn’t back down from anybody) has managed to average a +122 plus/minus rating. Cole was signed by the Carolina Hurricanes this year for $2.9 million but, given the fact that he will now be another year older, could be possibly had for less this summer. Signing Cole to a one year deal for next season would allow the near-ready Cam York and Egor Zamula time to continue to develop but not block them for the extended future.
While on the topic of defense, a possible/affordable replacement for the soon-to-be 35-year-old Justin Braun is right-hand-shot Matt Benning. This 27-year-old, 6’1 203 pound blueliner is underrated by most in the league. This third pairing defenseman who can lay punishing hits was a career +32 player through four seasons with the Edmonton Oilers before making the wrong decision to sign with Nashville when he was last a free agent. If the Flyers could obtain Benning for something similar to the $1 million dollar-a-year deal he signed with the Predators, he could prove to be quite the bargain to help solidify the bottom pairing.
Now to the net: Martin Jones was brought in during free agency from San Jose this past off season at the rate of $2 million dollars for this year. But with him posting a 3.20 goals against average and a .911 save percentage, currently a reunion may be out of the question for next season, therefore the Flyers should look to bring in someone for cheap. The Flyers’ 6’8 25 year old Russian goaltending prospect Ivan Fedotov would be nice, but he seems content playing in the KHL. So, the Flyers would be wise to ink one of the NCAA’s all-time greatest goalies who- surprisingly- is still an unsigned free agent. Minnesota State’s Dryden McKay is 24-years-old and holds the NCAA’s all-time record for shut outs with 26. Over the course of his four years playing for the Mankato, Dryden’s goals against average (GAA) has never been above 1.76 and his save percentage (SV%) has never been lower than .924. This year is no different with McKay posting a 1.33 GAA and a .924 SV% through 19 games played. As it stands now, Dryden has won 91 collegiate games and has been a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award twice. He has nothing left to prove at the college ranks and would come in on day one already at a level higher than Felix Sandström or Kirill Ustimenko (who have expiring contracts) could ever hope to reach, making him the perfect person to come into camp next year and push Carter Hart to fight for the Flyers’ starting job next season.
While the Flyers would hope to be able to sign a big name free agent next year, they simply won’t have the cap to do so. For example, Johnny Gaudreau is expected to see offers upwards of $9 million a season this summer. So, this is the reasoning behind making a trade for Boeser. While all these moves may not be ideal to the average fan, they are moves that would not only help to better this team for next season and in the future, but would also allow them to stay under that flat salary cap.
