PHILADELPHIA – It was not that long ago that the Philadelphia Flyers had the fourth lowest points back in NHL. As of this article, the Flyers were a point back in the Wild Card standings in the Eastern Conference behind the New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. With a record of 20-15-8 and with a goal differential of plus 3, the Flyers find themselves somewhere between sellers and buyers at the trade deadline.
It is a bit of a quandary for a General Manager like Ron Hextall to be in but this is the reality of a team caught somewhere between draft lottery team and making it into the
Goalie Michal Neuvirth (#30) of the Philadelphia Flyers falls over making a save.
NHL playoffs as a wild card. If the Flyers decide to be sellers to some degree it will be out of the reality that the Flyers have a ton or prospects that are extremely close to making the roster even before next seasons training camp begins.
Two other reasons is that the Flyers have some Unrestricted Free Agents and players making too much money that need to be moved before those players can even put on a Flyers jersey. The Flyers have Matt Read, Brandon Manning, Valterri Filppulla who will be UFA’S, and RJ Umberger’s contract that will finally get off the books. Anthony Stolarz, Robert Hagg, Taylor Leier, and Tyrell Goulbourne will become RFA’s but given there play Hagg and Goulbourne are the only two who look like they will return next season.
The Flyers have some contracts that are going to be tough to move as well but given that after this season they will have only two years left to go in their respective contracts and supposedly be “easier” to move in Andrew MacDonald and Radko Gudas. MacDonald has a $5 million dollar cap hit while Gudas’s cap hit is $3.35.
Eventually filling MacDonald, Gudas, and Manning’s spot on the roster should be Samuel Morin, Travis Sanheim, and Philippe Myers who of all the Flyers top prospects is the only one that was not drafted by the Flyers. Morin is a given to make the roster next season as is Sanheim. That leaves Myers as the odd man out for now. Sanheim and Morin will be given every opportunity to become mainstays on the blueline considering the Flyers spent first round picks on both of them. That could mean a trade for Myers but the feeling around NHL circles is that Myers, despite being undrafted, is a first round talent so do not expect him to be moved anytime soon.
So let us review. For now, the Flyers future blueline looks like this: Shayne Gostisbehere, Ivan Provorov, Morin, Sanheim, Hagg, and Myers. Other prospects that might have a future on the Flyers blueline are Mark Friedman, who was a third round pick in 2014, and David Bernhardt, a seventh round pick in 2016.
On offense, it is a given that Read and Filppulla will not be back next season unless Filppulla goes on some kind of tear between now and the end of the season. Of the currently players signed through next season, Jori Lehtera came in the Brayden Schenn trade but since coming over he has not produced but he has one more year left to go on his contract at a $4.7 cap hit.
Right Wing Wayne Simmonds (#17) of the Philadelphia Flyers and Defenseman Nick Leddy (#2) of the New York Islanders. Linesman Kory Nagy (#97)
Some expect Lehtera to be bought out but the lesson learned from the Umberger contract is that it is not worth buying someone out if he stays on your books longer than need be. Expect Lehtera to be here next season even if it is as an expensive fourth line center who can win face-offs on the league’s best face-off team as of a week ago. Lehtera is second only to Claude Giroux in face-off percentage at 57.3. The Flyers finally have become an excellent face-off team and saving a few bucks will not make up for that on the ice.
After the season, Giroux will have four years left to go on his contract but he has a no-movement contract so he is not going anywhere…yet. Wayne Simmonds will head into the last season of his contract but he is second on the team in goals and is one pace for another 30 plus goal season on a team starved for goal scorers, especially on the wing. Expect a 4-5 year deal front-loaded when it has all said and done with him. Sean Couturier has finally become the player he begged the Flyers to let him be when he was drafted out of juniors, a pure goal scorer who can actually play defense.
The Flyers would love to move a contract like Jakub Voracek’s $8.25 salary cap hit, especially since he is a one-dimensional player. Keep an eye on when the new Seattle franchise is granted after the season. Voracek still has six years to go on his contract but by the time Seattle has its expansion draft, Voracek should have 1-2 years less on his contract and he will only be around 30 years old. If his numbers keep up, he could still be a valuable piece of any new expansion team.
The problem is, like Simmonds, he is a winger that can score (when need be) on a team in need of scoring wingers but his salary hasn’t matched his talent level and that makes him a player worth unprotecting in the next expansion draft. If the Flyers had their way, they would love to move him for at least a first round pick and another top prospect but his contract has painted the Flyers into a corner they might not be able to get trade him even if they wanted too.
Center Jordan Weal (#40) of the Philadelphia Flyerstakes a check to the face by Defenseman Kris Letang (#58) of the Pittsburgh Penguins
Top prospects Morgan Frost and German Rubtsov are about a year away from contending for a roster spot with Rubtsov having a slight edge but if Frost has another season as he is this season, where he is currently leading the Ontario Hockey league in points, then don’t expect Frost to see a day in the AHL. Not to be outdone in the OHL are left wingers Mathew Strome and Isaac Ratcliffe who are also in the top 10 in goal scoring. Carsen Twarynski is one of the top goal scorers in the Western Hockey League. Over in NCAA hockey Wade Allison, Cooper Marody, and Tanner Laczynski are all in the top 10 in scoring. Once Lehtera is off the books it will free up a spot at center. Nolan Patrick’s long-term future is not on the fourth line so someone like Lehtera will have to hold down that spot for now.
The current season is half past done and the future looks bright but no one on the Flyers should think their job is safe regardless of who they are, especially with the trade deadline on the horizon. Money and performance will decide some player’s fate on the team and missing the playoffs again might have the Flyers bumping up their rebuild quicker then they want but just might be necessary.
Brian Jennings covers the Philadelphia Flyers for prohockeynews.com and can be found on twitter at @Flyersfan22.
All images courtesy of Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com
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