- Flyers defenseman Samuel Morin has fully recovered from his second ACL surgery, notes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The 25-year-old has been limited to just 11 games combined over the past two seasons with Philadelphia and AHL Lehigh Valley and as a result, head coach Alain Vigneault believes that Morin will have to at least start next season with the Phantoms (assuming he clears waivers). He’s entering the final year of his contract and will have a lot of work to do to prove himself worth of a qualifying offer next offseason.
Flyers Rumors
Metropolitan Notes: Konecny, Capitals, Blue Jackets
After two 24-goal seasons in Philadelphia, there were many that were concerned that Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny was at a crossroads in 2019-20 where his career would either take that next step or fall back. Konecny took that next step, scoring 24 goals for a third straight year, but also seeing a points increase of 12 in a pandemic-shortened season. Much of those offensive statistics can be credited to his improved defense, according to The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor (subscription required).
With a new coach coming in last year in Alain Vigneault, Konecny put more of his offseason focus into developing his two-way game, which impressed the new coach, giving him more on-ice access during games, including playing late in games, something that he rarely saw under former head coach Dave Hakstol and then interim coach Scott Gordon. Vigneault’s confidence in Konecny led to an increase of minutes where he saw a 1:32 ATOI of more ice time.
While his regular season was a success, his playoffs was far from it with zero goals and seven assists in 16 games, including a big drop-off in his defensive ratings. The key to his future as a potential Flyers’ star is whether he can prove his two-way game is for real.
- While there is hope that the Washington Capitals drafted a pair of steals in the past two drafts in Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre, The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir (subscription required) writes that it’s highly unlikely that either player will have much of a shot to crack Washington’s opening lineup this coming season. The scribe writes that the team has no interest in rushing one of their top prospects in the first place as well as the fact that both are centers and would have to beat out either Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom or Lars Eller, which isn’t going to happen.
- With Gustav Nyquist expected to miss the next five to six months due to shoulder surgery, the Columbus Blue Jackets could look to the free-agent market to add another forward. However, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required) writes that general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, not a fan of free agency, will wait and could just choose to promote player from within. Nyquist, who was likely going to play on the second line alongside Max Domi and Cam Atkinson, could be replaced by veterans Nick Foligno or Boone Jenner or even see what rookie Liam Foudy could do in a top-six role.
Flyers Not Pursuing Mike Hoffman
- While there are quite a few teams interested in UFA winger Mike Hoffman, it doesn’t appear as if the Flyers are one of them. NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall relays that while the team could certainly use the help of the man advantage that Hoffman can provide after they went 4/52 on the power play in the playoffs, they have not reached out to Hoffman’s camp at this time. While they have a little over $4.8MM in cap room at the moment, a sizable piece of that will be earmarked for RFA defenseman Philippe Myers.
Nolan Patrick Re-Signs With Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers forward Nolan Patrick has accepted his qualifying offer of $874,125 according to PuckPedia, meaning he will sign a one-year contract for the total. Patrick was a restricted free agent without arbitration rights and could not sign an offer sheet, essentially taking any leverage he had away.
That’s not to say Patrick really could have demanded much more, even though he did find some success as a young player. The 22-year-old missed the entire 2019-20 season with a migraine disorder, one that the Flyers supported him throughout. He’s been back skating for months and is hopeful to be ready for the start of the season, but until that actually happens it is impossible to tell how he will respond.
A one-year deal at the reduced salary was the obvious choice for the Flyers, who still don’t exactly know what they have in Patrick. Selected second overall in 2017 behind New Jersey’s Nico Hischier, the big WHL forward scored 13 goals in each of his first two NHL seasons. While that wasn’t an outstanding total for such a highly drafted prospect, it also proved he could handle himself at the NHL level and established himself as a core piece in Philadelphia.
Now, more than a year and a half removed from his last NHL game, Patrick will have to re-establish himself completely and prove he can still be that core piece that the team believed in. He’ll be a restricted free agent again next offseason.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Tyson Foerster
The Philadelphia Flyers have done some quick paperwork with their top draft selection, inking Tyson Foerster to a three-year entry-level contract. Foerster was selected 23rd overall in last week’s draft and received some effusive praise from his general manager Chuck Fletcher:
Tyson obviously has a lot of offensive gifts. He can shoot the puck tremendously well. Goal scorer. Playmaker. Great hockey sense. Really good size. He’s got a lot of attributes. I think the good thing about Tyson was very good with self-awareness, of his strengths and the areas that he needs to improve. He’s worked very hard on those areas during the pause. We expect he’ll continue to develop into a pretty good player.
Foerster, 18, is a big, talented winger from the OHL that scored 36 goals in his second year of junior and earned himself a chance to join what has become a strong prospect group in Philadelphia. He’ll be headed back to the Barrie Colts should the OHL ever get their season off the ground, but is now officially part of the Flyers organization.
The three-year contract will not kick in this season unless Foerster somehow makes the NHL team out of camp, and even then he would have to play in ten games before losing his slide eligibility. That’s very unlikely at this point, meaning this deal won’t actually expire in 2023, but rather 2024 or even 2025.
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Erik Gustafsson
Another top free agent defenseman is off the board. After being linked to several of those blue liners who have been signed or traded so far this off-season, the Philadelphia Flyers have found their man. The team has announced a one-year, $3MM contract with Erik Gustafsson. At No. 19 overall, Gustafsson was the second-ranked left defenseman among PHR’s Top 50 UFA’s.
Gustafsson, 28, has a high ceiling and a low floor, making the one-year term on his deal a smart play by the Flyers. In 2018-19, Gustafsson was an offensive dynamo, recording 17 goals and 60 points for the Chicago Blackhawks. He logged 22:35 of ice time per night in 79 games, was one of the top power play quarterbacks in the league, and even accumulated high totals in blocked shots and hits. However, he regressed substantially this past season. Gustafsson played in 66 games between the Blackhawks and Calgary Flames, managing only six goals and 29 points. His ice time fell off, his power play efficiency declined, and he was ineffective defensively. Following the trade to Calgary in particular, Gustafsson failed to score a goal in the regular season or postseason, saw limited even strength ice time, and was a complete non-factor defensively.
Gustafsson may return to form in Philadelphia, but that will likely rely heavily on his opportunity on the power play. With a number of talented defensemen with offensive instincts, Gustafsson may need to fight for a spot on the top unit, especially if Shayne Gostisbehere – also a power play specialist – remains on the roster. If his performance does not warrant such a role, it will cap his offensive potential. Gustafsson will likely need to be sheltered defensively as well, another reason why the Flyers have to hope that his offense returns.
Given their fair amount of cap flexibility, the Flyers could take the risk on Gustafsson to fill out their blue line. On offensive ability alone, he may end up being a bargain or at the very least a valuable specialist. However, there is just as good a chance that his power play dependency and lack of a complete game could make $3MM hurt down the line if the Flyers are looking to add. Again, a one-year flier was the way to go in this case.
Flyers Sign Zayde Wisdom To Entry-Level Contract
The Philadelphia Flyers have worked quickly to sign a recent draft selection. The team has announced that 2020 fourth-round pick Zayde Wisdom has signed his entry-level contract. It is a three year deal with an $826K cap hit and the following salary breakdown, according to CapFriendly:
2020-21: $700K base salary and $92.5K signing bonus ($70K minors)
2021-22: $750K base salary and $92.5K signing bonus ($70K minors)
2022-23: $750K base salary and $92.5K signing bonus ($70K minors)
Wisdom, 18, is likely to return to the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs, in which case his ELC could slide. Playing another year or two in junior doesn’t mean that the Flyers don’t see the skilled forward as a promising prospect though – in fact, quite the opposite. Philadelphia traded up to the top of the fourth round to select Widsom, who finished second in goals and points for the Frontenacs last season, improving greatly on his previous season’s totals.
In the Flyer’s press release, GM Chuck Fletcher again reiterated the team’s excitement to have Wisdom. “Somewhat surprising to us, Wisdom was still available in the late third and we scrambled to try to pick up an extra pick there to select him,” said Fletcher. “I think he’s got an understated skill level. His hands are pretty good. He has a good shot. He has good instincts. He goes to the right places on the ice. When you combine that with his relentless pursuit of pucks, his ability to forecheck and finish checks, it’s a pretty attractive package.”
Flyers Sign Derrick Pouliot
The Philadelphia Flyers have added some defensive depth to their system, announcing (Twitter link) the signing of defenseman Derrick Pouliot to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700K.
Pouliot, 26, is a cautionary draft story for those who believe their top-10 picks are destined to be impact players at the NHL level. In 2012, after Alex Galchenyuk was taken third overall by the Montreal Canadiens, seven consecutive defensemen were taken. All of them came with huge potential and huge expectations, and many—Morgan Rielly, Hampus Lindholm, Matt Dumba, and Jacob Trouba specifically—lived up to them. Pouliot, unfortunately, did not.
Picked eighth overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pouliot was a high-flying defenseman from the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. He had just scored 76 points in 94 games, won gold with the Canadian U18 team and was named to the CHL Top Prospects Game. He would make it to the Memorial Cup the following season and win the CHL Defenseman of the Year award in 2013-14. Things would take a sharp downturn when he hit the professional ranks however, with Pouliot struggling as a young player for the Penguins.
While he did rebound some with the Vancouver Canucks, Pouliot still has just 202 NHL games under his belt and has registered just 48 points. He spent last season in the minor leagues with the San Antonio Rampage, playing just two games for the St. Louis Blues.
Still, as a depth defenseman for the Flyers, you could have done worse. The team won’t be expecting him to log regular minutes on the NHL blue line, instead only recalling him when there is an injury. He can help the Lehigh Valley Phantoms whenever the AHL season gets underway, or be another layer of NHL experience behind their regular lineup.
Philadelphia Flyers Issue Qualifying Offers
The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that Nolan Patrick, Mikhail Vorobyev and Philippe Myers have received qualifying offers, keeping their negotiating rights in the organization. Nathan Noel, the team’s only other pending restricted free agent, did not receive an offer and will become an unrestricted free agent on Friday.
The decisions made today shouldn’t surprise anyone, but that doesn’t mean the work is finished for GM Chuck Fletcher and the Flyers front office. Patrick in particular is a very interesting case to follow as he becomes a restricted free agent this offseason. Because he has been limited so much by injuries, Patrick is not actually eligible to sign an offer sheet and without arbitration rights is at the mercy of the Flyers. They don’t need to necessarily work out a multi-year deal with the top draft pick, though perhaps they could get some savings if they do.
If Patrick is healthy, he has already proven his worth in the NHL. The second overall pick in 2017 played in the NHL as a teenager, scoring 13 goals and 30 points in his rookie season. While that certainly didn’t blow the doors off the building, holding your own as a center in the league at that age is still impressive. Patrick returned in 2018-19 and once again posted 13 goals and 31 points in 72 games, but unfortunately, those would be the last games he played to this point. All of 2019-20 was lost to a migraine issue, and though Patrick has been skating for months it’s still hard to know if he’ll actually be ready to start next season.
If he is, perhaps the Flyers could try to lock up several of his RFA years right now at a bargain bin price. If there is still doubt in his ability to stay on the ice, a one-year deal makes a lot more sense.
Free Agent Focus: Philadelphia Flyers
With free agency now just a few days away, teams are preparing for a frenzy of action. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. The Flyers will be entering free agency with a relatively light list of players needing new contracts but they will have a few to retain or replace.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Nolan Patrick – Technically, his designation is simply unsigned as because he missed all of this past season, he doesn’t have enough service time to technically become an RFA (that’s eligible for an offer sheet). It’s safe to say that Patrick will be tendered an offer, especially since GM Chuck Fletcher expressed optimism that he’d be able to return next season. However, after two relatively quiet seasons and now an entire year away from the game, it’s safe to say that the 2017 second-overall selection is heading for a cheap short-term contract until he can show that he has fully recovered from his migraines and is ready to become a part of their core forwards.
D Philippe Myers – The 23-year-old hasn’t yet played a full season with the Flyers but he has already become an important part of their back end and logged just over 20 minutes per night in the playoffs. The sudden retirement of Matt Niskanen just opened up an even bigger opportunity for Myers to seize next season as he now stands as their top right-shot defender. With that in mind, it may make sense from his perspective to take a short-term contract and hit arbitration coming off of what should be a career year. From Philadelphia’s perspective, they’d be wise to try to lock him up long-term now before the cost inevitably goes up. They now have the cap room to do such a move without significantly affecting their cap situation with Niskanen’s $5.75MM set to come off the books. For a player with just 87 career games played (regular season and playoffs), this is quickly becoming an intriguing contract.
Other RFAs: F Nathan Noel, F Mikhail Vorobyev
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Tyler Pitlick – After a down season with Dallas in 2018-19, the change of scenery helped Pitlick as he posted the second-best offensive numbers of his career despite the pandemic wiping out a month of the regular season. He can kill penalties and play with some edge in a bottom-six role and even with a flattened cap likely hurting the role player market, he should be able to land a deal that’s a bit higher than the $1MM he made over each of the last three seasons.
F Derek Grant – Very quietly, Grant put up 15 goals this past season, the most in his career and fourth-most among pending UFA centers. Of course, considering that accounts for more than half of his career total, no one should be expecting a repeat in 2020-21. But what he can provide at the very least is some strong work at the faceoff dot and an ability to play the penalty kill. That sounds like a prototypical fourth-line center but Grant’s offensive success this season should help him stand out amongst the crowd.
F Nate Thompson – The 36-year-old came over from Montreal as a depth addition but wound up playing a largely regular role after being acquired. Thompson has played in 13 NHL seasons and has posted a faceoff percentage that’s better than 50 in all of them. That’s his calling card and at the very least, it should help him earn an end-of-roster spot with someone for next season with a chance to play his way back into a regular spot on the fourth line.
Other UFAs: F Kurtis Gabriel, D Andy Welinski, D Reece Willcox
Projected Cap Space
Following Niskanen’s retirement and the recent re-signing of Justin Braun, the Flyers have a little under $73MM in commitments to 18 players. With Myers being the only notable player in need of a new deal at this time, Fletcher will have an opportunity to venture into the free agent market or take on a bit of money in a trade to give Philadelphia a boost heading into next season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.