The Draft is over and the First day of free agency is now behind us. The Flyers and General Manager Chuck Fletcher seemed to remain dormant throughout day one while other went on a shopping spree. This resulted in fan favorite Tyler Pitlick opting to leave town to sign with the Arizona Coyotes.
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So, with no big names landed on day one of free agency and one of the teams more vital players that helped define this teams nucleus or genetic makeup opting to leave town; who might Philadelphia be looking to bring in if anyone for next season? Well there is a big gaping hole on the team’s first defense pairing with the sudden departure of Matt Niskanen.
So why not bring in a guy like right hand shot defenseman Sami Vantanen? The team has certainly had good luck with Finnish defensemen in the past (Kimmo Timonen). Vantanen is only 29-years-old and was always a plus player before joining a rebuilding New Jersey Devils team. He has shown in the past that is capable of playing big minutes against the opposing teams’ best players. Sami made $4.875 Million dollars a season during his last contract, and this aging veteran might just sign a deal at a slightly reduced rate to have a chance to play for a true contender.
If the team is looking for that scoring winger, they so desperately need. They could look to bring in Anthony Duclair who formerly played for the Ottawa Senators. Duclair should be used to packing up and moving to a new city at this point after playing on five different teams during his eight years in the league. His continued departures are a bit of a head scratcher for this writer though. When ever he has joined a new team in the past Anthony has always managed to come into the ranks and fight his way up to a consistent role on their top six. Last season while playing for the Senators (a team under reconstruction) Duclair managed to shine scoring 23 goals and 17 assists for 40 points. Why Ottawa would not tender an offer to this hard working 25-year-old scoring threat is beyond this writer, but their loss could be the Flyers gain. Anthony made just $1,650,000 dollars last season and even if Philadelphia were to offer Duclair a contract that doubled that price annually it might still turn out to pay dividends.
If the team wanted to find a guy to replace Head Coach Alain Vigneault’s (AV) go to guy in Pitlick might the Flyers look no further, then to one of Vigneault’s former favorite chess pieces from his time in New York, Jesper Fast. This 28-years-old Swede is the mold from which the idea of signing Pitlick was created. He can play up and down the lineup and offers a spark to any line on which he is placed. Fast skates very well and forechecks with the best of them. Jesper never takes a shift off and puts forth the same amount of hustle on defense as he does on offense. Which is evident by his plus 16 average on the season last year. Fast is a good team guy and was even an assistant captain for the Rangers. Jesper made just $1,850,000 million dollars last season and whose play would be more then worth that next season.
Acquiring any one of these above-mentioned players would be a welcomed addition to the Flyers lineup next season (and beyond). They may not be the big-name acquisitions that most fans want to see but they are the players that the Flyers could afford to bring in during this flat cap era who would increase the teams’ chances of winning the Stanley Cup next season.
We should sign Sami Vatanen to replace Niskanen, but be a wise about it, so that we do not give him more than 1 year deal! Also we should sign veteran Brian Boyle to be our fourth-line center, and physical presence we currently lack!