Photo Credit: Shaylah Rice
For the Flyers’ General Manager Chuck Fletcher, this offseason is an important one. Between the team missing out on the playoffs- yet again- and there being no star power to carry this franchise into the future, Chuck simply cannot miss this off season like he has in years past. That’s why we will make it a point in this article to go over just who should stay and who should go come free agency this off season. As you will read, some of the teams’ players are deserving of another contract, but at this point some are nothing more than dead weight and whose ties to this franchise should be cut in order to make room for much more promising prospects who are left waiting for their chance.
Owen Tippett
Starting off with the offense, we will first take a look at restricted free agent (R.F.A.) Owen Tippett. While he may not exactly be the piece that most people (this writer included) had on their wish list to receive in a trade for Giroux, I assure you Tippett is still a piece the Flyers could put to good use moving forward. Since being drafted back in the first round by the Florida Panthers in 2017, Owen was never really given an extended look in the NHL with the Panthers despite him having an elite NHL shot. Buried on a depth chart within the team’s system, Tippett could never gain any traction when he was given a chance to play with the Panthers because he often found himself playing on the third line with a less-than-stellar supporting cast. Owen is a shooter: He does not excel at making his own plays. His stick handling skills are not the best with the puck often getting lost in his skates. His strength is finding an open spot on the ice and setting up to launch a rocket into the back of the net. Now that the Flyers are beginning to play to his strengths by placing him on a line with a guy like Kevin Hayes (who is more than capable of getting him the puck) you are starting to see Owen truly flourish. Tippett is exactly the player that the Flyers have been lacking for some time but is coming off an entry-level deal that is paying him $863K a season. Owen should be re-signed and will most certainly get a raise, but it should not be one that breaks the bank just yet!
Morgan Frost
Another 2017 draft pick whom the Flyers must make a decision on this off season- and this one just may be the toughest to make out of all of them. After the failed experiment of Nolan Patrick here in Philly, many put all their hope into Frost being the Flyers’ savoir. With good reason, I would say that shouldn’t a player who was able to put up two consecutive seasons of 100+ points in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) be able to transition well to the NHL? Well, this doesn’t factor in the Flyers’ lack of player development. This is based on their ongoing problem of nepotism when it comes to giving their friends (past Flyers players) jobs despite the fact they may not be the best candidate for the job. Over parts of three seasons with the Flyers since turning pro, Morgan has yet to impress. In 44 games played this season he has just three goals and eight assists for eleven points. Where even his so-called 200ft game has been in question with him averaging a -15 on the year thus far. While re-signing Frost- who is coming of an entry-level deal that pays him just $863K also- would seem like an easy decision, the Flyers have to ask themselves is it the right one? Unlike Tippett in Florida, Frost has been given every opportunity to succeed here in Philadelphia. When called up in years past Morgan has been placed on a line with the team’s top players (like Giroux) but has somehow always remained snake bitten, unable to capitalize on his chances. Despite Frost’s continued struggles, the Flyers have tried many different things over the years to try and help him prosper. They have given him the opportunity to play in the top six after Sean Couturier and Kevin Hayes were both out for extended periods of time. They have also purposely not signed players in the off season so as not to block his ascent to making the Flyers’ roster only to have to claim waiver-wire players to fill that spot when Frost failed to prove he deserved it out of camp. The team has tried him at wing to see if that will somehow get him going. They have even sent him down to Allentown with the Phantoms (the team’s American Hockey League affiliate) to allow him to regain his confidence at times. So far, nothing has seemed to work. Sadly, Frost to this point seems like he is destined to be nothing more than a third-line player. The only problem with that is that the team already has a much more versatile and well-rounded former first round center- Scott Laughton- signed to fill that role. So, management must ask themselves: if given the chance, would they be better off at, say, the draft to package Frost’s rights up along with an additional player to another team to maybe acquire a second-round pick that the team currently lacks?
Zack MacEwen
Lacking grit and toughness with early injuries to Kevin Hayes and Wade Allison, Chuck Fletcher decided to claim Zack MacEwen from the Vancouver Canucks. Since making that decision, MacEwen has proved to be everything that Chuck would have hoped for and so much more. Zack may not have the kind of offensive skill that Tanner Jeannot of the Nashville Predators has with that toughness, but he (along with whomever he is playing with on the fourth line for the Flyers at the time) has been noticeable every time he takes to the ice. In fact, that kind of relentless drive to give it his all each and every time he steps out on the ice is exactly why Zack has become a fan favorite here in Philly. Ok, the fact that he has been willing to drop the gloves 10 times this season to come to the aid of a fellow teammate or just to help get the crowd back into a game when his team may be down in a contest doesn’t hurt either. Let’s face it: It doesn’t matter if he is putting pressure on the forecheck, laying a big hit, or dropping the mitts- MacEwen is one of the only players on the Flyers’ roster right now that still embodies what is expected of them when donning that orange and black jersey. So, without question, the Flyers should already be in talks with Zack and his agent on the possibility of re-signing this impressive impending R.F.A.
Wade Allison
This is another tough decision that the Flyers will have to make this off season. Wade Allison (the Flyers’ 2016 second-round pick) is another player who is the absolute epitome of what you think of when you hear the Flyers mentioned. He’s a hard-nosed player who does not fear anyone- as evidenced by his willingness to take on the Rangers’ 6’9 240 pound goliath prospect Matthew Rempe in a training camp game this past September. He left Rempe a bloody mess despite giving up plenty of size and reach to his opponent.
After making quite the impact on the team last year in 14 games played with the Flyers it seemed as if it was almost a foregone conclusion that Allison was destined to slot in on the team’s third line this season, but the same style of play that has got him to this point has, unfortunately, seen to it that he has become labeled as injury prone. As much as playing with reckless abandon may play to the fans’ approval, it is not conducive to a long, prosperous career. Just ask former Flyers’ Captain Mike Richards who was beloved by Flyers fans for the way he played the game but decided to step away from the sport at just 30-years-old because of the toll he put his body through over the years. But Allison’s situation is different than Richards’: Wade has not managed to play 10 years in the league before these type of injuries hindered his ability to stay in the lineup. Instead, at only 24 years old, Allison’s medical chart is already chock full of countless injuries dating back to his time at Western Michigan University. Over his four years playing for the Broncos, he only averaged to play in just 26 games per season. In fact, each and every year since being drafted by the Flyers, Wade has sustained multiple injuries that have managed to keep him out of the lineup for extended periods of time. Yes, he comes back and impresses only to go out again shortly thereafter. So, the question is: as promising as this prospect looks when he’s on the ice, should the Flyers be willing to re-sign a player who spends more time wearing a suit up in the press box than he does out on the ice?
Isaac Ratcliffe
Another prospect from the Flyers’ 2017 NHL draft class that has yet to develop into the player he was once thought to be is Isaac Ratcliffe. This towering 6’6 former second-round talent once reached the 50 goal plateau in juniors. However, he has yet to post 20 goals total as a professional in the four years since making the jump from the CHL, which leaves the Flyers in a tight spot. It’s not often you find a guy with great size, speed, and goal-scoring ability, but is it worth re-signing this now-23 year old with the hopes that it will all magically come together in his fifth year as a professional? Or should the Flyers grant one of their more recently drafted prospects- who are prospering in their respective leagues- a chance, as they are in need of more of a challenge to continue their development?
Kirill Ustimenko
The Flyers have goaltenders Felix Sandstrom and 2017 third-round pick Kirill Ustimenko who have expiring contracts at the end of this season. Sandstrom has shown some moderate success when called to action by the Flyers this season. Conversely, Kirill has struggled- to put it mildly- since coming state side. So much so, that this Belarusian netminder has had to spend most of his time since signing with the Flyers playing with the team’s East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) affiliate the Reading Royals, largely due to him having to undergo surgery on his left hip because of a torn labrum. Now, I don’t know about you, but this old goalie would be a little leary about re-signing even a good goalie after he has sustained a hip injury such as this. But to re-sign a 23-year-old goalie with hip issues who has yet to find success at even the AHL level is downright foolish; especially when the team has both KHL goaltenders Ivan Fedotov (who put on a show at the Olympics recently) and Alexei Kolosov who the Flyers drafted in the third round back in 2021 waiting in the wings.
Like I said in the beginning, the Flyers have to make the right moves this off season. They cannot keep bringing back the same prospects year after year and keep hoping that one day they prove themselves. At some point they have to move on from the “old” to make room for the new: Samu Tuomaala, Jon-Randall Avon, Elliot Desnoyers, and Zayde Wisdom. These players are already signed and will need a roster spot with either the Phantoms or Flyers next season. This is on top of players like Bobby Brink, Jay O’Brien, Owen McLaughlin, Connor McClennon, Bryce Brodzinski, and the previously mentioned Ivan Fedotov who all need a contract and could very soon be ready to join the professional ranks. In saying that, Philadelphia mustn’t treat every prospect like they will one day turn out to be like Patrick Sharp or Patrick Maroon: The Flyers gave up on these two too early and they later became Stanley Cup champions while playing for different teams. They must do what’s best for the franchise and sometimes that means realizing when it’s time to move on from a prospect no matter how good they were once projected to be.
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