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Flyers Sign Travis Konecny To Eight-Year Extension

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1:19 p.m.: Konecny’s contract has a full no-move clause through 2030-31, reports The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz. His move protection drops to a modified no-trade clause in the final two years of the deal.

12:00 p.m.: The Flyers have signed top-line winger Travis Konecny to an eight-year, $70MM contract extension, the team announced. Teammate Travis Sanheim hinted at the news a few minutes before the announcement (X link).

The deal, which carries a cap hit of $8.75MM, will begin in the 2025-26 season and keep him under contract in Philly through 2032-33. It’s a significant raise from his previous $5.5MM cap hit.

It’s the most lucrative deal in Flyers franchise history, beating out the 12-year, $69MM pact they gave Mike Richards in 2008. The commitment demonstrated here to the 27-year-old, who’s coming off a strong season in 2023-24, is massive.

Konecny scored a career-high 68 points in 76 games, fueled by 33 goals and 35 assists, while averaging 19:50 per game. Per usual, he was an even-strength monster, posting 52 of those 68 points at 5-on-5, 4-on-4 or 3-on-3. His six shorthanded goals last season also led the league, and the 5’10”, 192-lb winger ranked eighth on the team with 90 hits.

It wasn’t technically his best season offensively, though. That came the year before when Konecny notched 31 goals and 61 points despite injuries limiting him to 60 games. That worked out to 1.02 points per game compared to last season’s 0.89.

Konecny was entering a contract year in 2024-25, and there was a wide belief the pending UFA may end up as trade bait with the Flyers still in the throes of a rebuild. But last season quelled most fears about his year-to-year offensive consistency while also reiterating he can be an effective penalty-killer, a role he only took on when John Tortorella took over behind the bench in 2022. He’s had strong relative possession impacts on the PK, too, painting a picture of a better all-around player than most would consider him to be.

Back in May, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz expected Timo Meier’s eight-year, $70.4MM extension with the Devils to serve as a solid comparable in negotiations. Evolving-Hockey also projected a max-term extension for Konecny to carry a cap hit in the $8.8MM neighborhood. While there may be some early sticker shock on this rich of a deal, this shouldn’t be viewed as an overpay on his market value.

Beginning next season, Konecny will carry the highest cap hit on the Flyers’ roster. That honor currently belongs to captain Sean Couturier, who costs $7.75MM against the cap through 2030.

Konecny will make $7MM in actual cash in 2024-25 before his extension kicks in as part of his existing contract, which awards him a $4MM base salary and $3MM signing bonus in its final year. This is the second significant long-term deal for Konecny, who inked a six-year, $33MM pact in 2019.

It’s the fourth max-term extension handed out since the league calendar flipped to 2024-25, joining Predators goalie Juuse Saros, Canadiens rising star Juraj Slafkovsky and Hurricanes stalwart defender Jaccob Slavin. Konecny’s is the richest of them all, beating out Saros’ $61.92MM total value.

Accordingly, it’s the most consequential move of the Flyers’ offseason, although getting 2023 seventh-overall pick Matvei Michkov inked to his entry-level contract and brought over to North America sooner than expected is a close second. Michkov will likely slot in behind Konecny on the Flyers’ right-wing depth chart come opening night.

With the extension, the Flyers have already racked up a projected cap hit of $73.55MM for 2025-26 with a roster size of 18, per PuckPedia. The salary cap is projected to jump to around $92MM after increasing to $88MM this season, which would still leave them with around $18.5MM in space. That’ll be important with young building blocks Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, Morgan Frost and Cameron York all due for new deals.

Since being drafted 24th overall by Philadelphia in 2015, Konecny has racked up 174 goals, 226 assists and 400 points in 564 career games with a -26 rating.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Matvei Michkov Officially In Philadelphia

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  • Philadelphia Flyers top prospect Matvei Michkov has officially landed with the team after a 22-hour flight to the United States (team tweet). The 2023 seventh overall pick was greeted at the airport by Flyers general manager Danny Briere and president of hockey operations Keith Jones and wanted to get on the ice immediately but wasn’t able to. The 19-year-old forward signed his ELC three weeks ago and his arrival to Philadelphia comes much earlier than had been anticipated. Many believed it would be another two years before Michkov would play in North America, but with his release from SKA St. Petersburg a month ago, it cleared the way for him to make the move to the NHL.

Flyers’ Yegor Zavragin Loaned To HK Sochi

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Philadelphia Flyers goaltending prospect Yegor Zavragin has been loaned from the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg to HK Sochi for the 2024-25 season. Sochi is a feeder club for top KHL club SKA, who recently acquired Zavragin’s rights from the Yugra Khant-Mansiysk of the VHL, Russia’s second-tier league, where Zavragin played 17 games last season. He dazzled in the opportunity, posting 13 wins, just one loss, and a league-high .943 save percentage.

Zavragin, 18, will now move on to Sochi,m arking a step up in his professional career, though it will come with a club that allowed 254 goals against last season – 30 more than any other club in the KHL. Sochi went through those woes while riding former Winnipeg Jets prospect Mikhail Berdin as their starter. He managed a promising year despite the team’s pitfalls, setting a .911 save percentage across 50 games, despite facing a bombarding 35.5 shots per game on average.

Berdin has since moved to Avangard Omsk, leaving a major hole in Sochi’s lineup. Zavragin should be a great fit for the bulk of that role, though SKA has also loaned Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Sergei Ivanov to Sochi. The 20-year-old Ivanov played in 36 KHL games between SKA and Admiral Vladivostok last season, managing a .930 save percentage that tied with Ilya Nabokov – who played in seven more games – for the lead among U23 goalies with 15 or more games.

Ivanov put together one of the few performances capable of topping Zavragin’s fantastic 2023-24 campaign, leaving Sochi with a difficult, but exciting, decision in net. Zavragin carries the size advantage, standing at three inches taller and 30 pounds heavier than Ivanov, and plays with sharp and controlled movements that seem like they’ll adapt well to the KHL. But Ivanov’s athleticism is hard to ignore, and he more than proved his worth at the top flight last season. The duo stand as two of the top goaltending prospects in Russia, and will now compete for a daunting role in Sochi next year.

Snapshots: Johnson, Clowe, Jiricek, Karpovich

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Veteran NHL defenseman Erik Johnson is gearing up for his 18th season in the NHL, continuing his streak of playing in every season since his first-overall selection in 2007. And despite a career accoladed by a Stanley Cup win and medals at both the Olympic Games and World Championship, the 36-year-old Johnson told Jonathan Bailey of Philly Hockey Now that he hasn’t considered retirement. Johnson emphasized that he’s ready to fill any role that’d benefit the Philadelphia Flyers, even if it means limited appearances in the lineup. He said, “I’m here to help these guys on and off the ice, whether it’s 20, 30, 40, 50 games, or whatever it is. My days of 25, 26 minutes a night are behind me, and I know that, and I’m comfortable with it.”

Johnson will continue on with the Flyers, after joining the team at the 2023 Trade Deadline and re-signing to a one-year, $1MM contract this summer. He managed three points in 16 appearances with Philadelphia after the move, bringing his season totals to six points in 67 games. Those measly totals might have pushed Johnson out of a routine lineup spot, but his veteran leadership is keeping him around the league. He’ll enter next season competing with fellow vets Nick Seeler and Rasmus Ristolainen for ice time, and mentoring top young defenders Jamie Drysdale and Cameron York.

Other quick notes from around the hockey world:

  • Former NHL forward Ryane Clowe made a big step in his managerial career this summer, stepping into the San Jose Sharks’ assistant general manager role and moving up from a special advisory role with the New York Rangers. Clowe detailed the move to Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now, sharing that he wasn’t eager to leave New York but was allured by the daily role San Jose promised. Clowe will now return to the club he spent eight years of his decade-long playing career with – serving as the gritty, high-event punch behind legendary Sharks like Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton – who now both support San Jose’s front office as advisors.
  • Top St. Louis Blues prospect Adam Jiricek is expected to move to the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs next season, per Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest. It will be a make-or-break year for Jiricek, who missed the majority of the 2023-24 season with a lower-body injury suffered in December. He was among the most acclaimed defenders in the 2024 class during his age-17 season – a value vindicated by his 17th-overall selection in this year’s draft. His long-term outlook should become clearer as he looks to adjust to both a return from injury and North American hockey next season.
  • New Jersey Devils defense prospect Daniil Karpovich has signed a one-year contract with Avtomobilist of the KHL, shares James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now. Nichols adds that Karpovich will report to the VHL, Russia’s second-tier league. This news returns Karpovich to Russia, after spending last season in his home country of Belarus. Karpovich spent one year of juniors hockey in Russia, recording 35 points in 47 MHL games with Avto during the 2022-23 season. That scoring dipped to just 11 points in 49 games in Belarus’ top league last season – a trend he’ll look to buck with a return east.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms To Re-Sign Cooper Marody

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Cates joined the IceHogs last year on a professional tryout agreement after the Philadelphia Flyers decided not to tender him a contract for the 2023-24 NHL season. The young forward came to the Flyers organization after a strong showing with the University of Minnesota-Duluth as an undrafted free agent. In three years split between Philadelphia and AHL Lehigh Valley, Cates tallied two assists in 20 NHL games while scoring 33 points in 102 AHL games.

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Flyers Sign Yegor Zamula To Two-Year Extension

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The Philadelphia Flyers have signed restricted-free agent Yegor Zamula to a two-year, $3.4MM contract extension, per NBC Sports’ Jordan Hall (Twitter link). Hall adds that the annual average value will be $1.7MM.It’s the first deal of Zamula’s career north of $1MM.

Zamula played through his first full season in the NHL this year, recording five goals and 21 points across 66 games with the Flyers. It was his first taste of an everyday role at the top level, after spending the last three seasons bouncing between the NHL and AHL lineups. He played through 26 total NHL games prior to this year, recording just four assists – all tallied in the 14 games he played with Philadelphia last season. Zamula has otherwise been stout in the minor leagues, where he’s totaled 54 points across 127 career games.

Having proven his worth at the top level this year, the two-way Zamula now gets a golden chance to carve out a confident spot in the Flyers lineup on this two-year deal. Zamula notably ends the contract with one year of RFA eligibility remaining, giving him a bit more security amid a deep Flyers defense corps. He’ll be competing with players like Erik Johnson, Nick Seeler, and Ronnie Attard for ice time near the bottom of Philadelphia’s lineup.

Flyers Sign Jett Luchanko To Entry-Level Contract

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The Philadelphia Flyers have put pen to paper with their first-round pick of the 2024 NHL Draft as the team announced it had signed forward Jett Luchanko to a three-year, entry-level contract. Luchanko was the 13th overall pick of last week’s draft and the Flyers organization did not seem comfortable letting him walk away from the team’s development camp without a deal in place.

Luchanko’s immediate attribute whenever he hits the ice is his energy. During his time in the Ontario Hockey League with the Guelph Storm Luchanko is consistently seen tailing opposition players with the puck and transitioning the play into offense. Throughout his second year in the Storm program, Luchanko scored 20 goals and 74 points in 68 games while leading his team in all major offensive categories.

Even though he consistently steals pucks from his opponents, Luchanko appears to be in their good graces as he won the OHL’s William Hanley Trophy as the league’s most sportsmanlike player. Outside of the regular season, Luchanko has been unable to generate much playoff production as he’s tallied four assists over 10 postseason contests throughout his major junior career. The young forward is bound to return to Guelph for the 2024-25 OHL season as he could still use some seasoning before turning professional.

Luchanko also has some experience at the international level as he suited up for Team Canada in the 2024 Under-18 World Junior Championships. The London, Ontario native quickly became one of the top players in the tournament as he scored two goals and seven points in seven games en route to Team Canada winning their first gold medal since the tournament in 2021.

Flyers Sign Bobby Brink

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The Philadelphia Flyers have signed forward Bobby Brink to a two-year, $3MM contract. The deal will carry an annual average value of $1.5MM.

This marks Brink’s first true pro contract, earning a salary north of $1MM after spending the three years of his entry-level contract clawing his way up to the NHL lineup. Philadelphia selected Brink in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft, after a smash year with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers. He moved to the University of Denver following his draft year, netting 24 points in 28 games as a freshman. That scoring earned him a spot among Philadelphia’s top prospects, though a torn labrum would limit his sophomore year to just 15 games and 11 points.

But Brink made an emphatic return in 2021-22, recording 57 points across 41 games as the Denver Pioneers chased a National Championship. He signed his entry-level contract and made his NHL debut after the end of his collegiate year, totaling four assists across the first 10 games of his career to end the 2021-22 campaign.

Despite the quick start in the NHL, Brink was moved to the minors for all of last season, recording 28 points in 41 games along the way. That’s where he began this season as well, though he was called up after scoring 13 points in 13 games to start the AHL season. Brink moved into Philadelphia’s extra forward role, appearing in 57 games and recording 23 points while rotating in to the team’s bottom-six. His new two-year deal should give him a bit of cushion to get comfortable in his newfound NHL role, though Philadelphia’s recent signing of Matvei Michkov could give Brink some competition in the lineup.

Minor Free Agent Signings: Metropolitan Division

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With over 180 deals signed during the first day of free agency yesterday, some smaller names may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here’s a list of names that have inked two-way deals with Metropolitan Division clubs since the market opened yesterday, per CapFriendly. Some of these may have been included in our main coverage yesterday, while others went under the radar. All contracts carry the league-minimum $775K cap hit unless stated otherwise). Those listed here are likely to begin 2024-25 with each team’s AHL affiliate.

Carolina Hurricanes

none

Columbus Blue Jackets

D Cole Clayton (one year, $950K entry-level cap hit)
F Owen Sillinger (one year)

New Jersey Devils

F Mike Hardman (two years)
D Colton White (two years)

New York Islanders

none

New York Rangers

none

Philadelphia Flyers

none

Pittsburgh Penguins

D Nathan Clurman (one year)
D Mac Hollowell (one year)
F Jimmy Huntington (one year)
F Bokondji Imama (one year)
D Ryan Shea (one year)

Washington Capitals

G Mitchell Gibson (one year)
D Chase Priskie (one year)

Flyers Sign Matvei Michkov To Entry-Level Contract

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The Flyers have signed top right wing prospect Matvei Michkov to his three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced. The seventh overall pick in last year’s draft had recently been released from his contract overseas with Russia’s SKA St. Petersburg ahead of schedule.

Michkov has faced a long string of rumors since his draft day, with many teams concerned that he may face challenges getting out of his contract with the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg, which was set to run through the 2025-26 season. But SKA decided to terminate Michkov’s contract early, with SKA chariman Alexander Medvedev citing Michkov’s dream to play in the NHL and recent personal loss as primary reasons for the buyout. With his entry-level contract signed and an invite to Philadelphia’s development camp, it seems there are now no barriers to Michkov pursuing the NHL.

Michkov will move to North America as perhaps the top prospect in the NHL, after serving as the star power for the KHL’s HK Sochi over the last two seasons. Sochi is an affiliate of SKA and often used to loan out additional contracts, without pulling players out of the KHL. That gives them one of the league’s weaker teams year-over-year, but Michkov didn’t seem daunted by his company – totaling nine goals and 20 points in 27 games last year, and then 19 goals and 41 points in 47 games this year. That scoring comes out to 0.74 and 0.85 points per game respectively – ranked eigth and second among all U21 seasons in KHL history, despite Michkov not turning 20 until December. He’s a dynamic, highly aware player with the hands to stickhandle in a phone booth and the confidence to take on and beat any defenders head-on, regardless of whether they’re his own age or hardened KHL vets. His shot has also gained notoriety, with Michkov pulling off Connor Bedard-esque wrist shots – lightning quick and not needing much room – though Michkov doesn’t have nearly the same power or snap that will make Bedard’s shot legendary.

Regardless, Michkov is a star prospect, once considered the only player capable of beating out Bedard for 2023’s first overall spot. That hype changed as their draft seasons approached, with hotly debated rumors and a move to Sochi helping Philadelphia land Michkov at seventh-overall. He’ll quickly get to prove his doubters wrong, set up for what should be a smash year with the Flyers. The extent of Michkov’s talent won’t be clear until Philadelphia’s development and training camps, but all signs point towards him being capable of a top-line role, after averaging 17:12 in ice tie in the KHL this year. Should that be where Michkov lands, he’ll be in direct competition with Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, and Joel Farabee for minutes. Michkov is helped along by a natural ability to play either wing, though he’ll still have to proudly earn his ice time; juxtaposed by three 50-point scorers. If Michkov is the superstar he’s claimed to be – a thought that truly seems hard to doubt – he should have no challenge carving out a role, and should immediately join a Calder Trophy debate that’s also expected to feature Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Logan Stankoven, and Cutter Gauthier, among a long list of talented prospects getting their shot.

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