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Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Philadelphia’s sluggish start, the top offseason acquisitions, and much more.  If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in our last mailbag.

Emoney123: The Flyers rebuild has stalled… how does it begin again? Ersson, Fedotov, and Kolosov seem like a circus in goal; scoring and defense are horrible… will the 2025 draft offer hope since they hold their own, Colorado, and potentially Edmonton’s [top-12 protected] first-round pick plus three second-round picks? Is Tortorella the right coach or Briere as GM? One playoff appearance in seven years, and that was six years ago.

I feel like the Flyers are a victim of misplaced expectations.  Going into last season, pretty much everyone thought they’d be one of the bottom feeders in the East.  But they proved to be more competitive early on and while they fell off the proverbial cliff down the stretch, they didn’t miss the playoffs by much.  That led to higher expectations for this season which was a mistake.

This is still a team that, on paper, isn’t all that good.  Yes, they added Matvei Michkov.  But this team wasn’t a rookie-season Michkov away from being a legitimate playoff threat.

So, has the rebuild really stalled?  Or is it actually back where it was supposed to be last season where they were expected to bottom out?

Will the draft provide some hope?  It should as their own selection should be relatively high and while the other two first-rounders are likely to be closer to the back, they still should get players who project to be NHL-quality pieces.  Three second-rounders give them a chance to deepen the prospect pool or to try to trade up from those late firsts to get a few spots higher.  The rebuild will be in better shape when the draft is completed.

I’ll hold off on the Tortorella part of your question (it comes up in the next one) but as for Daniel Briere, this is his second full season on the job.  Rebuilds take a lot longer than that to try to assess and as much as they didn’t have much success before then, they weren’t really in a full-scale rebuild either.  Realistically, it’s probably two years too early to really sit down and evaluate if they’re going in the right direction or not.  I think they’re in the right direction though and while the goaltending isn’t pretty right now, this is what they need to learn.  Will one of the three find another gear and show he’s part of the future plans?  They need to find that out but the process of getting to that answer isn’t always pretty.

Black Ace57: How do you think the season will go with Torts and Michkov? I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all to hold him accountable and bench him at times if he’s making mistakes or not putting in effort. Saying that, sometimes Torts goes too far with the Couturier benching last year being a good example. Do you think Torts will manage Michkov well or do you think he will be fired before the season is over?

I’m a bit old-school by nature and still think there’s a place for Tortorella-type coaches in the NHL.  I actually think he’s a good fit for Michkov in the youngsters’ early career.  Tortorella is generally viewed as firm but fair with his players; there isn’t much favoritism.  That means there shouldn’t be any thought that when Tortorella sits Michkov down that he’s going out of his way to pick on the youngster; he’s doing what he’d do with just about anyone.

I’ve always thought of Tortorella as someone who really wants to focus on the fundamentals and good work habits.  Isn’t that exactly what Michkov needs?  Learning to best weaponize his offensive skills will come over time but having someone really drill home the other stuff in the early stages of his career should only pay dividends down the road.

Going back to the Tortorella part of the last question, I think he’s a good fit for this group (including Michkov) for now.  But he generally doesn’t have a long shelf life with his teams and he’s probably not the coach who will lead them out of the rebuild.  I think he lasts the rest of this season but an offseason change wouldn’t shock me if they stay on this trajectory for the rest of the season.

Jaysen: Jake Evans is attracting a lot of interest right now. Personally, I don’t want my beloved Habitants to trade him. Really like the player. I hope they re-sign him. 3 yrs/3.5aav would be the max in terms of yrs and AAV.

The Habs are also looking for a forward with edge. What would be your top three targets that would fit with our rebuild/progression?

Let’s talk about Evans.  He’s off to a decent start to his season but he only has reached eight goals or more once and is on pace for 17 this year so this is probably an outlier of a start.  Going to that high of a price tag for someone with a track record of very limited production might not be the wisest move, especially with Owen Beck and Oliver Kapanen waiting in the wings.  I believe Montreal would like to keep him at the right price as an insurance policy and a capable defensive player but I’d be surprised if that number starts with a three.

On the other side of the coin, knowing that this is his first trip through unrestricted free agency, why would Evans limit himself to a three-year deal at this point?  Chances are he can get longer than that on the open market so if Montreal does want to lock him up, it’s probably going to take more years than three to get him.

As for the forward with edge, I’ve seen that report as well, coupled with the notion that it needs to be someone who fits their rebuild timeline.  In essence, they’re looking for a 23-year-old power forward (or someone around that age).  Those are in short supply and I’m not sure there’s a single one who realistically would be available.  This feels like the type of thing a front office leaks to make it look like they’re trying to add while knowing they’re basically looking for a unicorn so I can’t give you three suggestions there unfortunately; I can’t even come up with one that might plausibly be had.

Having said that, I think they might be open to a Denis Gurianov type of pickup like they did a couple of years ago for someone that’s a bit older than their prospect pool.  He was a younger player who had a bit of success in the past and they felt he could be a possible reclamation project.  And if that player happens to play with a bit of bite, even better.  We’re still a bit early in the season to know which younger players will be in this situation.  Frankly, my first inclinations of who could be in that spot in the coming weeks/months (Pontus Holmberg and Rasmus Kupari) don’t play with much jam.  If Buffalo decides to move on from Peyton Krebs though, he might be one they look at but generally speaking, players in this type of category are sell-low and I’m doubtful the Sabres are at that point with him yet.

Schwa: How is Spencer Knight viewed relative to other top young goalies at this point?

It wasn’t that long ago that Knight was viewed as one of the top young goalies in the league.  After a strong college career, he impressed in his first taste of action in the pros and was rightfully seen as Florida’s goalie of the future.  The three-year, $13.5MM contract he signed back in 2022 hasn’t aged well, however, and that deal might be influencing his perception a little bit.

For those who haven’t followed him, Knight missed a big chunk of the 2022-23 campaign after enrolling in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  Ken Campbell of The Hockey News interviewed him if you want to learn more about why he was in there.  Then the following year, Florida opted to bring in Anthony Stolarz as the backup to Sergei Bobrovsky (a move that worked out quite well) to allow Knight to get a bigger workload in the minors.  He had a 2.41 GAA with a .905 SV% in 41 games with AHL Charlotte last season, numbers that were decent but not at the level of a top prospect either.

This year, Knight has been around NHL average in his first six outings with a 2.85 GAA and a .897 SV%.  Again, those numbers are decent (the average save percentage is hovering around .900 league-wide) but that’s not great bang for their buck.  Frankly, if he stays around that level, I wonder if Florida considers a buyout next summer, a move that would save them $3.75MM on the cap next season while adding $750K for 2026-27.  I don’t know if they’d do it but I think it’d be considered.

If I’m musing about a buyout, it’s fair to say he isn’t in the tier of other top young goalies anymore.  But with only 63 career NHL appearances, he’s not that far removed from prospect status either.  I expect Knight will get a little better as the season goes on and while he won’t get back to that top tier (where Yaroslav Askarov and Jesper Wallstedt are, for example), he’ll show enough to stay in Florida’s plans.

Gmm8811: I think the Blues have proved to be exactly what everyone thought they would be this year. How much further do they sink before Army starts showcasing youth and moving older vets for draft picks?

I don’t expect they’re going to sink much lower than they are, to be honest.  They’re 12th in the West which feels about where they should be and I agree, they’ve played up to a reasonable level of expectation so far.

But I don’t expect a sell-off to come anytime soon.  For starters, it’s too early in the year.  Teams with cap space don’t want to blow it this early unless it’s a highly impactful piece and St. Louis probably isn’t moving any of those.  The second is that the Blues don’t exactly have a whole lot to offer up veteran-wise.

Their most prominent rental up front is Radek Faksa and Dallas gave him away for free four months ago; it’s not as if he carries a lot of trade value.  With retention, maybe they get a late-round pick but that’s someone’s Plan C or D at the trade deadline, not now.  On the back end, Ryan Suter will be a solid trade chip but teams will want more of his games played bonuses to be reached before acquiring him which pushes him closer to a deadline move as well.

Among non-rentals, Brandon Saad has some value but at $4.5MM, that’s a hard salary to fit on the books this early in the season.  I could see him fetching a good return in late February/early March though when his remaining salary for this season is a lot lower.  Jordan Binnington at $6MM through 2026-27 could be a trade candidate but he might be easier to move in the summer than now.

I just don’t see a big sell-off from this team.  They’re going to want to keep most of their core guys and avoid a longer-scale rebuild which means most of what they have to offer are supporting pieces.  In the meantime, if they want to open up a spot for a youngster, it might come through someone landing on waivers (much like Kasperi Kapanen) and the prospect coming up into that vacated position.

DevilShark: Sample size is getting reasonable now… I’m curious who you think have been the best acquisitions at each position this season (FA or trade) in terms of driving their teams’ success.

Goalie: It’s hard not to pick Jacob Markstrom here.  Last season, injuries and bad goaltending were costly on a team that talent-wise should have been in the playoff mix.  Markstrom has come in and given them that stable goaltending and they’re first in the division.  And yet, he’s not my pick.  Instead, it’s Anthony Stolarz in Toronto.  With Joseph Woll injured to start the year, Stolarz took the starting job and has run with it and is once again among the league leaders in GAA and SV%.  If he wasn’t up to the task, they could easily be on the outside looking in at the playoffs right now.

Defense: Considering the Kraken are a .500 team, it’s hard to pick Brandon Montour here but I’m going to anyway.  His addition raised some eyebrows as he was coming off a tough year by recent standards in Florida.  But with Seattle, he is an all-situations impactful player which is exactly what they needed.  With Vince Dunn on LTIR, he absorbed even more responsibility.  I’d say his play is a big reason why they are where they are right now and not even lower in the standings.

Forward: This one’s a bit harder as some of the top performers statistically with new teams (such as Sean Monahan) are on teams who have struggled so far while others (someone like Stefan Noesen) are doing well but are in supporting roles.  So I’m going to use a different definition of success than you probably intended with this pick of Tyler Toffoli in San Jose.  The Sharks wanted to be more competitive this season and they have been; they’re far from the easy win they were a year ago.  They brought him in to be a leader on a young group and help take some offensive pressure off of them.  He checks both of those boxes and sits second on the team in scoring.  For what their goals are for this season, Toffoli is doing exactly what San Jose wants from him.

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Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include why the time might not be right for Dallas to look into defensive help, speculating on possible trade targets for Tampa Bay, and much more.  If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in next weekend’s mailbag.

PyramidHeadcrab: With Columbus potentially looking to take on a big contract and San Jose actively improving by adding some talented misfits from other teams, who are some players you could see bound for each team as the season progresses?

And if Columbus does take on a big contract, do you think it will be another team paying to unload an overpayment contract, or a team like the Leafs offloading a decent contract as a result of their cap crunch?

I think Columbus is open to both options, as long as the contract they take on is a short-term one (see Dante Fabbro).  Knowing that they’ve typically been more of a budget team, they’re probably not going to want to spend some of their financial capital on a long-term pickup whose primary purpose is to add a draft pick or two.  But something for a year or two could be manageable.

In terms of who that could be, one of the names that comes to mind is Oliver Bjorkstrand who was healthy scratched recently.  Moved to Seattle as a cap-clearing move originally, he’s someone who should be comfortable in the market and it wouldn’t shock me if the Kraken try to move out a pricey contract to give themselves some cap flexibility as they’re really tight when everyone’s healthy.   I could see them being open to taking the final years of Ryan Ellis’ LTIR contract if Philadelphia wants to bank more cap space (or Ryan Johansen wins his grievance later on and gets at least part of his deal back on the books).  With that deal being insured, the actual cost outlay would be minimal in that sense.

I suspect they’d be open to taking a more reasonable deal off a cap-strapped team like Toronto but the Maple Leafs will be looking to move those pieces for some value while the Blue Jackets are probably looking to get a player plus a sweetener for taking a contract on.  With that in mind, I’m not sure that lines up at this point trade-wise for those teams.

Frankly, there aren’t a ton of pricey contracts out there that fit the bill.  When I wrote the piece about them last weekend talking about their willingness to do this, I didn’t bother getting into speculation as I don’t see a lot of fits for them.  Unless they’re willing to take on a longer-term agreement, I don’t necessarily see them accomplishing this in the coming months.

I don’t see the Sharks actively trying to add any other veteran players for a while.  They’re also a budget team and right now, they’re going to want to see how some of their younger pieces fare.  If some of them falter too much, then perhaps they look to see if there’s a rental veteran to bridge the gap but there are a lot of rental veterans out there.  At the trade deadline, perhaps they take on an expiring contract from a team that needs to move money to make a bigger splash but again, that could be a lot of players.  If another Timothy Liljegren-type trade comes around where they can get a mid-20s player with some control for a low cost, that might be their preferred route.  Before the season, I’d have said someone like Kaapo Kakko who was in trade speculation but that’s probably not an option at the moment.

vincent k. mcmahon: With the recent injury to Broberg and Leddy still out, do the Blues call up another d-man if they can or do they hold out until Leddy returns?  Also, do you think this might cause an issue with the chemistry of the d-pairings?

I’m a little surprised St. Louis hasn’t brought up a blueliner at this point, to be honest.  They’re already into LTIR so there isn’t a cap-related element to them electing not to do so.  Tyler Tucker is quite familiar with the systems already and would be a safe option to have as a seventh/reserve option while Corey Schueneman has experience in that role as well with Montreal and Colorado (to a lesser extent).  One of them easily could be up as insurance.

I wouldn’t be too worried about the chemistry of the defense pairings.  When Nick Leddy returns – which should be relatively soon – he will go back into the lineup and play a prominent role, deservedly so.  There will be injuries throughout the year or players struggling that will necessitate changes so it’s unlikely the defense pairings will stay together for any sort of extended stretch over the course of the season.

That’s a league-wide observation too, not a Blues-specific one.  Even teams with a proven defensive group will mix things up from time to time as you never know when you might be forced into making a change when injuries strike so St. Louis, a team whose back end is much less secure, shouldn’t have any concerns about needing to mix up their pairings.

bottlesup: Dallas making any calls on defenders? Fowler, Provorov, or even maybe Arber Xhekaj? Which would require the most in return then the one that would require the least?

I’m sure they’re making calls on defensemen but I doubt they’re seriously pursuing any at this time.  At the moment, per PuckPedia, Dallas can only add someone making around $1.7MM.  If their roster remains relatively unchanged, they could have the ability to add someone making more than $6MM.  Those are two very different pools to shop in.  In the first price range, maybe there’s a third-pairing upgrade.  That’s useful but doesn’t move the needle too much.  But at the deadline, being able to pick up $6MM opens up a lot more options, especially at a time when more teams are open to retaining salary.

I don’t see Cam Fowler being a viable option for the Stars solely because of the extra year on his contract.  Dallas can’t afford a $6.5MM player on the books for next season when Jake Oettinger’s big raise kicks in while Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn are among their free agents.  Unless Anaheim paid down half the contract (which would probably up the asking price to a first-round pick and then some), it’s probably not a great fit.

I don’t mind the Ivan Provorov option though.  While he’s a left-shot defender, he’s playing on the right in Columbus and that’s the side the Stars need an upgrade on.  Could he go in and cover 20-plus minutes a night and kill penalties?  I think so and that’s the type of player they need to take some pressure off the top options.  The Blue Jackets will likely be seeking a first-round pick and something else but should be willing to pay down half of their portion of his contract ($4.725MM) which should give them a long list of suitors.

Xhekaj is an odd fit.  He’s also a left-shot blueliner and hasn’t fared great when moved to his off-side.  He’s certainly cheaper ($1.3MM through next season) and has more club control but at most, he might crack the third pairing.  He’s also a hard player to peg value-wise.  I think there are teams who don’t view him as an NHL player and others who would pay a fairly high price tag given his physicality and a decent track record of offense at the lower levels.  It probably doesn’t get to the level of Provorov’s likely price tag but I don’t feel he’s the type of blueliner they should be going after.

mikeyziggy: With the latest update on Landeskog it certainly sounds like if it doesn’t happen this season it doesn’t happen at all. What team is going to take on his contract to free the Avs from the cap hit in the event he can’t play? That $7mil could go a long way in helping fix some of the problems up front.

For those who didn’t see the news earlier this week, the latest update on Gabriel Landeskog certainly wasn’t an ideal one.  Head coach Jared Bednar indicated that Landeskog had a setback as he continues to try to work his way back from a knee injury that has kept him out for the last couple of years.  However, Landeskog is still hoping to suit up at some point this season which doesn’t help the Avalanche in terms of the cap as they can’t spend that money on other players if they think he’s going to play before the playoffs begin.

Let’s use the scenario that says he can’t come back.  Frankly, that feels more and more like the probable scenario.  The Avs don’t necessarily have to trade him as they can just put him on LTIR and spend up to $7MM over the cap on their roster.  (It’s not quite that simplistic and involves optimal timing of placements and whatnot but that’s the gist of it.)  That’s not an ideal scenario to be in as it prevents them from banking in-season space and means any bonuses earned get charged the following season but it’s not as if that $7MM is unusable.

But the other option of trading the contract probably isn’t a great one either.  Landeskog still has four years left on his contract after this one.  That’s a long time for a team to willingly carry a permanent LTIR deal and the one team that was willing to do so (Arizona) is now in Utah with an owner willing to spend so they won’t be doing that anymore.  Is there a team that knows they’re going to be well below the cap through at least the 2028-29 season so that taking on Landeskog’s contract is a low-risk proposition?  I’m not sure there is, to be honest.  Maybe when there are two years left it’s an option but I don’t see the Avs shedding that deal anytime soon if his playing days are numbered.

FeeltheThunder: In Tampa, Nick Paul was on the second line with Hagel and Cirelli, the line was very successful at controlling puck possession at 5-on-5 and was one of the most dominant lines in the NHL over the first couple of games of the season. However, since Paul was put back on the third line at center, his possession numbers at 5-on-5 are starting to look like last year. Over the two-game span against the Wild and the Jets, Paul had an 18.58 on-ice expected goals for percentage share (xGF%) at 5-on-5, ranked lowest on the roster. Furthermore, his 33.62 on-ice shots for percentage (SF%) ranked last on the team. In other words, with Paul on the ice, the Lightning gave up two shots for one they produced. As management starts to think about in-season acquisitions, a third-line scoring forward should be at the top of the list for Tampa especially since Mikey Eyssimont isn’t producing (he’s a better fourth line guy) though Mitchell Chaffee is playing solid; who would you think be some valid options for that third line to help Paul and Chaffee?

I wouldn’t be too concerned about a rough couple of games on a different trio (though admittedly, things didn’t get much better in their last outing).  When you’re shifting to a different role on a different line at a different position, you get a bit of leeway.  That said, there needs to be improvement on that front relatively soon.

As for potential pickups, I think Tampa Bay would prefer to shop on the rental market given that they already have nearly $82MM on the books for next season, per PuckPedia.  I suspect GM Julien BriseBois would like to leave himself some flexibility to try to make a splash again next summer so a one-and-done acquisition would help make that happen.  With that in mind, I’ll limit my picks here to the rental market.

The first name that comes to mind isn’t necessarily a scorer.  I could see Luke Kunin making sense for them.  He could plausibly play the role Paul has now, allowing Paul to move back to the second line.  Kunin also plays with an edge physically, an element they lost when they moved Tanner Jeannot to Los Angeles over the summer.  Assuming they don’t have too many injuries between now and the deadline, the Lightning should be able to absorb his $2.75MM AAV in full as the Sharks don’t have any retention slots remaining.  If they have ample cap space, perhaps they aim higher in San Jose and try for Mikael Granlund ($5MM) which would add some offensive upside to the bottom six and again, probably allow Paul to move up.

As for other options, if Nashville can’t get out of its tailspin and winds up selling, Gustav Nyquist would add some pop on the wing if the plan is to keep Paul down the middle.  If Buffalo finds itself selling again, Jordan Greenway would add some size and scoring potential on that trio as well.  Meanwhile, if they want to pivot the third line into more of an outright checking line, someone like Joel Armia could be a low-cost flyer with some playoff experience.

@SakariL89761: When teams ‘paper’ down players to the AHL or ‘bank’ cap space, does it affect the players financially and if so, can the union stop it in the next CBA?

If the player is on a two-way contract, yes, it affects them financially as they’d receive their AHL salary for the day over their NHL salary, a difference of several thousand dollars.  If they’re on a one-way deal, the player actually saves a bit of money as there is no escrow taken off when the player is in the minors.

I’m not sure there’s a great way to stop it.  Frankly, I’m not certain the NHLPA would necessarily want to stop it.  If you put a cap on the number of assignments to the minors (like MLB did to try to cut down on the roster churning for optionable pitchers a couple of years ago), you could wind up taking away opportunities from deserving players later in the year if they’re ‘out of options’ so to speak as a team won’t want to call up a player they can’t send down anymore.

Meanwhile, some of the opportunities created for the players on the fringes of the roster are because teams can do the paper transactions.  In essence, their final roster spot only costs part of the $775K minimum salary.  But if you can’t shuffle the players, how many of those teams just won’t bother to carry the extra body?  (Or how many might not be able to afford it?)  Now you might be taking away opportunities for players in the minors, even if they’re only on the NHL roster part-time.

In a cap system that’s pretty restrictive, I can’t see there being any desire from teams to put any restrictions on this and with the NHLPA likely realizing that changing the system will negatively affect some members as well, I can’t see it being a high-priority item for them in CBA talks when they potentially get underway next year.

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