One RFA The Flyers Should Look To Sign To An Offer Sheet This Offseason

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After yet another loss to a non playoff team during the Philadelphia Flyers’ west coast road trip, most fans are starting to realize that this team- despite their .500 record of 13-13-6 needs help. The Flyers were lucky as of late to be able to string together a couple of wins to get their fans’ hopes up, but if you look at those wins, how they came about, and who they were against, the team’s accomplishments suddenly seem less than impressive. On Dec. 29^th they needed overtime to beat the Pacific’s Divisions last place team- the Seattle Kraken. On Dec. 18^th they needed overtime to beat the 3^rd worst team in the league- the Ottawa Senators. On Dec. 16^th they were able to gain a point in a shootout loss against the second worst team in the league- the Montreal Canadiens. They also beat the New Jersey Devils back on Dec. 14^th who are currently seated 7^th in the Metropolitan Division. Final example is when the Flyers picked up a win against the worst team in the entire league- the Arizona Coyotes- on Dec. 11th (who only have managed to accrue 15 points on the season thus far). But their luck is about to run out: Coming up, the Flyers’ schedule switches from them playing all of the league’s bottom dwelling teams, to them having to return home to take on playoff bound teams like the Penguins, the Ducks, the Hurricanes, and the Rangers. 

This doesn’t bode well for a struggling Philadelphia team at all. That’s why during this offseason the team must look to get younger, stronger, faster, and most of all hungrier. To do that the Flyers must look to purge some of their aging veterans with expiring contracts like 37-year-old center Nate Thompson, 35-year-old defenseman Keith Yandle, 34-year-old defenseman Justin Braun, and 34-year-old center Derick Brassard in order to bring in youth that can actually keep up with the Connor McDavid’s of today’s game. This will not come easy or cheap though: Players like this that could come in and make a substantial difference immediately are obviously coveted.     

So, the Flyers must be crafty in their efforts to obtain such a player, and one way they could do that is by signing another team’s restricted free agent (RFA) to an offer sheet. (An offer sheet is a binding NHL contract that is offered to an eligible RFA whose rights are owned by a different NHL club).  Now, I know what you’re thinking: this rarely works, right? In that sense I would agree with you, but in the past this writer thinks that teams have gone after the wrong players when they tried their hand at it. Case in point: The Flyers inked Nashville Predators’ defenseman Shea Weber to an (at the time) unheard of 14 year offer sheet worth $110 million back in 2012. He’s an amazing player in his own right who would have been a great addition to Philadelphia’s blue line no doubt; but there was no way that Predators’ general manager David Poile could have ever faced his fans again if he decided not to match the Flyers’ offer for their perennial all-star/face of their franchise. 

In order to make such an acquisition of this magnitude work, teams must focus more on players whose teams will have no choice but to let them sign elsewhere, like the Carolina Hurricanes did when they presented 21-year-old Jesperi Kotkaniemi of the Montreal Canadiens a one-year deal worth $6.1 million before the start of this season. Which the Canadiens were both unwilling and unable to match. But in doing so (thanks to the league’s current CBA) they received the Hurricanes’ first and a third round picks from that upcoming draft for their troubles. Which, depending what side you were on, worked out for everybody. The Hurricanes- who were/are cup contenders- received a proven prospect who was just starting to come into his own as evidenced by his current season stats of seven goals and eight assists for fifteen points for the Canes, and the rebuilding Canadiens received adequate compensation in order to expedite finding his replacement and more. 

With that in mind, just who should the Flyers try and go after this off season? Well, I’m glad you asked. How about the versatile (soon to be restricted free agent) Andrew Mangiapane from the Calgary Flames? This is one name that if you just watch only Flyers games you may not know that much about, seeing that Calgary’s games start when most of us east coast, working class people are heading to bed. But rest assured, this player is no slouch. Mangiapane is a now a 25-year-old Canadian winger whose exceptional speed helps him to be able to play either side of the center. However, his road to the NHL wasn’t as easy as his recent play would lead you to believe. Standing at only 5’10, Mangiapane didn’t have many suitors when trying to decide whether to play juniors or take the full ride scholarship to Niagara University that had already been offered to him. But one man made that decision easier for him: Former Flyer and then head coach of the Barrie Colts, Dale Hawerchuk saw the drive and extreme work ethic that Mangiapane brought to his training camp as a free agent invitee and just had to have him. 

After his first year with the Colts Andrew managed 24 goals (G) and 27 assists (A) for 51 Points (P) in 68 games played (GP). Even after a respectable year like that Mangiapane doubters would see to it that he would go undrafted in his first year of eligibility for NHL Entry Draft. While this would discourage some, Hawerchuk would instill in Andrew that it should only drive him more. So, Mangiapane saw to it in his very next season with the Colts that he was not going to get passed up yet again. Doubling his point production from the year before, Mangiapane then scored 43 G and 61 A for 104 P, which was then good enough for the Calgary Flames to select him in the 6^th round of the 2015 draft (#166 overall). To prove that was no fluke, Andrew then went back to Barrie for a third season where he scored 51 goals and 55 assists for 106 points. 

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Then, after turning pro and scoring 20 plus goals for the Flames’ AHL affiliate the Stockton Heat two years in a row, Mangiapane became a mainstay in the Flames’ lineup halfway through the ’18- ‘19 season. Since then, Andrew has become one of the Flames’ fanbase’s most beloved players. Like his undersized teammate Johnny Gaudreau, Mangiapane has a motor that just doesn’t quit. A 200ft. player whose hard work at both ends of the ice are paying off despite the adversity coming from his head coach Darryl Sutter, who continues to restrict him to third-line minutes. This is despite Andrew already matching his career high in goals this season (18) in only 29 games played, which not only surpasses that of Johnny Gaudreau’s current goal total on the season (12) and Matthew Tkachuk’s (13) but leads the rest of the team as well. 

Which leads this writer to why this player should be looked at as an actual possibility for the Flyers to not only sign to an offer sheet but obtain him as well. The Flames must re-sign restricted free agent Matthew Tkachuk (who currently makes $7,000,000 a season) and unrestricted free agent (UFA) Johnny Gaudreau (who currently makes $6,750,000 a season) to new deals. That’s on top of having half of their defensive core (who are UFA’s or RFA’s) to re-sign as well. This won’t be easy. Gaudreau is now 28 years old and, although he has played his whole career with the Flames, could be so enticed to sign elsewhere seeing that his projected salary/contract this upcoming off season could pay him upwards of $9,000,000 a season on the open market. The 24 year old Tkachuk’s next contract most definitely will cost the Flames even more than his younger brother Brady Tkachuk’s 7-year $57.5 million dollar contract (with an $8.3 million annual cap hit) recently cost the Ottawa Senators, especially if Matthew is to be named the Flames’ next captain, seeing that they have yet to name Mark Giordano’s successor after he was selected by the Seattle Kraken in their expansion draft. League experts have Tkachuk’s next contract estimated at paying him anywhere from $9.5-10.5 million a season. 

You can see that if the Flames were to re-sign both Gaudreau and Tkachuk there won’t be enough money to go around in this salary cap era to retain Mangiapane as well, especially after re-signing their defense. The Flames’ cap conundrum would be even more of a problem if someone like the Flyers were to come along and sign Mangiapane to any sort of respectable offer sheet over his soon-to-lapse 2-year $4,850,000 deal that paid him just $2,425,000 a season. Food for thought: Combined, Andrew has 53 goals in the past three seasons alone and this season isn’t even over yet! Furthermore, he is only now starting to gain the kind of respect he deserves as he is currently tied for sixth in the league in goals (18). To put this into perspective, the only players currently with more goals than him in the league this season are Leon Draisaitl (25), Alex Ovechkin (24), Austin Matthews (20), Connor McDavid (19), and Chris Kreider (19).  

In theory, given the Flyers’ lack of proven NHL level prospects in their system and the threat of losing their impending unrestricted free agent Captain Claude Giroux to a cup contender in free agency, it would seem quite savvy to try and take advantage of Calgary’s cap misfortunes. Therefore, the Flyers shouldn’t let having to give up some potential draft picks in order to acquire his services bother them. For this writer truly believes if the team signs this young and prosperous winger to an offer sheet, he could not only replace Giroux’s production next season but one day very soon be considered a quasi-Gaudreau 2.0.