The Cap-Strapped Flyers Have Too Many Mediocre Center Prospects: They Need This Bargain-Basement UFA For Their 13th Forward

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With the start of the season looming ever closer, the Philadelphia Flyer’s roster would appear to be all but finalized. After all, the teams’ general manager Chuck Fletcher went all in this summer by pulling off a multitude of trades (in which he even gave up the Flyers’ 1^st round pick to do so). Chuck managed to overhaul not only his team’s roster but the culture that resides within the locker room as well.  With that being said, the Flyers are now over budget. After the recent re-signing/overpayment of restricted free agent defenseman Travis Sanheim, and the head-scratching decision to bring back center Nate Thompson when they already had an abundance of center prospects signed and taking up roster spots, Philadelphia has made it quite clear (by blocking their youth) that they have no faith in centers Jackson Cates, Tanner Laczynski, Morgan Frost, German Rubtsov or Connor Bunnaman. So, my question is then- why sign/re-sign them? All of these prospects have spent time in the NHL and all of these prospects have been less-than-impressive during their auditions with the big club. Now, I get the idea of having depth at a position, but the Flyers have always been loaded with centers and thus had to turn some to wings like Claude Giroux and Scott Laughton, so I’m having trouble understanding why the organization would think bringing back guys like German Rubtsov (who is a 2016 1st round bust who has shown he is afraid of contact) and Connor Bunnaman (who has been nothing more than a body taking up space on the bench) is a good idea. These re-signing’s not only take up valuable roster spots but now take away ice time from more promising prospects like Tyson Foerster and Zayde Wisdom (if he is able to make it back this year), not to mention one of those contracts could have gone to the team’s 2018 1^st round pick center Jay O’Brien instead (who scored at a rate of a point-per-game average last year in the NCAA playing for Boston University). The Flyers have to learn when to let go of a failed prospect sooner! This inability to do so is exactly the reason defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk (the Flyers’ 2017 7^th round draft pick) decided not to sign with the team and waited until he could be free to sign elsewhere. Once free, Kalynuk decided to ink a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks last summer where he got the chance to play in 21 games in the NHL last season. This bad habit not only blocks good players from receiving ice time, but it also hinders them developing their game. Once again, in order to make the team cap-compliant, the Flyers will be forced to send all of the above-mentioned players down to the AHL where Chuck has already signed/re-signed three other career AHL centers to play for the Phantoms (which creates yet another log jam).

But while Chuck’s other off-season moves would surely seem to be enough to have his team reach a playoff berth this upcoming season, the question still remains: “Are the Flyers now really set to contend with the likes of Eastern Conference juggernauts the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Carolina Hurricanes, or the New York Islanders in a seven-game series this spring?” If your answer was no, might they then still need one more bargain-basement, unrestricted free agent (UFA) with proven NHL experience (THAT’S NOT A CENTER) to help push them over the top?  

I think so and, if that’s the case, they would have to come extremely cheap and for that reason this writer might suggest a relic of sorts. A former Hobey Baker Award winner that goes by the name Jimmy Vesey who recently has come on hard times. This now 28-year-old winger who currently stands at 6’3 and 202 pounds was once a top collegiate athlete who suited up for the world-renowned Harvard University. There, everything he touched seemed to turn to gold (or bronze if you’re including his 2016 Hobey Baker award). But now, after just his fifth season in the NHL, his production seems to have tapered off. But before we get too far, let’s first look at what may have led to this fall from grace and how Philadelphia might just have the pieces in place to give Vesey the best chance at recapturing his once electrifying game. 

Looking back at this highly sought-after prospect from Boston, Massachusetts, who finished his collegiate career scoring 144 points in only 128 games played with the Crimson, it would almost seem evident that it was time for him to turn pro. Now with numbers like that, Jimmy no doubt had plenty of suiters trying to fight for his services, but after meeting with multiple teams he decided to take his talents to the Big Apple in 2016 to play for the New York Rangers: A decision which would prove to be his wisest to date. Under the direction of then-head coach Alain Vigneault, Vesey would go on to score 33 goals and 22 assists for 55 points in just two seasons playing in the now-Flyers’ head coach’s system. But even after Alain was then shown the door in New York following a disappointing end to the 2017-2018 season, Vesey would go on to have his best season on record scoring 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points playing alongside guys like the now-Flyers’ assistant captain (and fellow Massachusetts native) Kevin Hayes. 

However, after such a bright start to his career, Vesey was traded by the Rangers after the ‘18- ‘19 season in a move to create cap space to go after the then unrestricted free agent Artemi Panarin. Jimmy’s landing spot was with the Buffalo Sabers who agreed to take on the last year of his $2.275 million dollar deal in exchange for a 3^rd round pick in the 2021 NHL entry draft. This move, however, would prove to be the start of his demise: Without warning, Vesey went from being a productive supporting cast member on the Rangers, who often got the chance to play with NHL superstars like Rick Nash, to being expected to be one of Buffalo’s top point producers without much help in which to do so. So much so that (despite his unmatched ability to break up the oppositions play and cash in on it) Jimmy only managed to score 9 goals and 11 assists for 20 points in 64 games played during this Covid shortened season

After that disappointing season in Buffalo Vesey, (much like many players who turn UFA’s in Buffalo), decided to leave on the first train smoking. This time he left for the likes of Toronto where he signed a 1- year deal worth just $900,000 at the beginning of last season to play for the Maple Leafs. Once in Canada, he now went from a team that he had no one to play with, to a team with so many offensive weapons he now was buried on the team’s depth chart and was later forced to settle for a substantial reduction of ice time.

With this now occurring, Vesey found himself being later waived by the Leafs in an effort to free up cap space so that they could potentially secure some more defensive help for a playoff push. After being waived by the Leafs Jimmy was immediately claimed by the Vancouver Canucks where he finished the final 20 games of last season totaling only 3 assists. 

While Vesey’s numbers have seen a drastic dive since his time with the Rangers the fact that he just finished playing for his fourth team in the last three seasons may have played a large role in that. Jimmy is still on the better side of 30 and is a versatile winger who can play both sides of the ice (making him an excellent choice for a 13^th forward). He still possesses a very strong wrist shot which he pairs with an incredibly quick release. Vesey’s size and strength help him get to the front of the net on even-strength opportunities (as well as on the power play) where he can manage a shot from a high-scoring area or pick up the garbage by putting the puck in the back of the net after a nice, juicy, rebound finds his stick blade. But that’s not all: Like previously mentioned in this article, Jimmy possesses the ability to read the play like not many others can. Similar to former Flyers’ Captain Mike Richards who did so frequently, Vesey (who would be a nice addition to the Flyers’ penalty killing unit as well) can pick the most opportune time to jump the play so that he can pick off the puck and be off to the races on a breakaway against his opponents’ goalie. 

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For all these reasons (and many more) the Flyers would be smart to try and reunite Vesey with Hayes on a one-year league minimum-type deal which would pay him $750,000 for next season (remember he was waived while only making 900K last season). If Vesey can return to even half the player he once was while playing in Vigneault’s system up in New York he will surely be an upgrade over any of the Flyer’s band of centers who he would be getting paid the same as or less than next season. With that being said, the Flyers should take a chance on this bargain-basement free agent on the basis he could prove to be a low-risk high reward-type player who could not only save the Flyers some much needed cap space but also offer some REAL DEPTH as the team’s 13^th offenseman.