Flying Forward: Flyers’ Offseason Wish List

Chuck Fletcher is in his first offseason as general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers, and he will look to make it an aggressive one to fill the needs of his team. This offseason is going to be an important one for the Flyers, who can best be described as inconsistent for the past few years. The team was cap strapped at one point, but former general manager Ron Hextall, helped the team out of cap hell, but he took a patient approach with his prospects, and made some bad decisions with signings. 

The Flyers will have some money to play with under the cap and they will need it to make a few offers to free agents to improve this team heading into next season. If necessary, they also have the prospects on the defensive end to make a trade to fill some roles. Fletcher has some work to do and here is what should be on the Flyers offseason wish list. 

1) Second Line Center/Top 9 Winger

Fletcher has already made a tree to try to secure the team’s second line center for next season. He acquired the rights to Kevin Hayes from the Winnipeg Jets for a 2019 5th round pick in the NHL Entry Draft. In making this move, the Flyers essentially now have exclusive rights to the unrestricted free agent until June 23 when other teams can start talking to him about a contract. There is no guarantee that Hayes and the Flyers will get a deal done, but Fletcher is taking the aggressive approach early this offseason. Hayes is coming off of one of his better seasons in the NHL, so he will be looking to get paid. The Flyers need to be realistic about the type of player he can be and not overpay him based on one really good season.

The top nine needs to be solidified with the addition of a solid winger, who can play both sides of the puck. The Flyers lack of depth scoring killed them early in the season, but after the kids got some playing time, they looked better. The team still could use another veteran player who can produce at a decent level and possibly contribute to the penalty kill. It would be nice to get a third line player, who won’t break the bank with his cap hit.

2) Experienced Puck Moving Defenseman

The Flyers are young on the blue line and if they keep this crop together, they’ll be good for a long time. They have had their struggles but have made strides in their game after seeing more playing time. Radko Gudas, who is more known for his physical play, was the Flyers’ most consistent defenseman last season. The Flyers are still going to have to add another puck moving defenseman, who can play top four minutes. Alain Vigneualt’s teams are known for pushing the pace and that starts with good breakouts from the team’s own end so another puck moving defenseman is an offseason must get.

There isn’t much out there on the free agent market to fit this bill in the way of big names. One name is Tyler Myers, but the Flyers need to stay away from him. He is a big body out there, but his game is declining and he is a slow skater. Myers could also be an expensive option and he is an older player. Another big name out there is Erik Karlsson, but he is too injury-prone for my liking so the Flyers should stay away from him as well.

3) Back Up Goaltender

The Flyers will likely rely on young goaltender Carter Hart a lot this season, but they still need a veteran that can back him up. The Flyers traded for Cam Talbot last season, but he didn’t see much playing time because the Flyers were out of the playoff race and Brian Elliott was playing good in goal. The problem with even attempting to re-sign Elliott to back up is that he is injury prone and is used to being in the starter’s net. Elliott would be a cheap, familiar option, but he has a history of hip problems the past few seasons and that’s not the best thing for a goalie.

Talbot would make sense to be the backup for the Flyers in a lot of ways. He is the goalie that Hart looked up to as a kid. Talbot also played two seasons  (2013-2014 & 2014-2015) under Vigneault while he was the head coach of the New York Rangers. Talbot had his break out season under Vigneault, and then was promptly traded to the Edmonton Oilers that summer. 

4) Do Not Trade Shayne Gostisbehere

The Flyers blue line is riddled with young, up-and-coming players, and Shayne Gostisbehere is one of them. Gostisbehere made his NHL debut during the 2015-16 season, and he finished second on the Calder Trophy race to 24-year-old Artemi Panarin. Ghost quickly showed off his offensive abilities and racked up 17 goals, 29 assists and 46 points in just 64 games played. He was a major reason for the team’s turnaround that season and making the postseason. 

Yes, he has struggled in his game since that brilliant rookie season, but the Flyers haven’t exactly help his cause by switching his defensive partners every few games. There were even times that he was up in the press box as a healthy scratch when he shouldn’t have been. There have been glimpses of the complete player that he can be throughout his career, but he needs to develop better game-to-game consistency. He is still young and has the potential to be a solid top four defenseman so I hope the Flyers don’t trade him for a veteran player who can help now. 

5) Sign Restricted Free Agents to Bridge Deals

The Flyers have some big name restricted free agents to try to get deals done with this summer. They include Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, Ryan Hartman, and Travis Sanheim. Laughton and Sanheim are coming off solid years and both players improved as the season went on. Hartman played about half a season with the Flyers and was decent. Provorov and Konecny were inconsistent last season, mainly due to some bad luck. Provorov was coming off of a shoulder injury and Konecny just couldn’t find the back of the net early in the season.

Even though Provorov was decent in his first two seasons in the NHL, he just wasn’t himself last season, and that’s why I think a bridge deal may be better for him, just to see if he returns to himself once it is not a contract year. I would let the other four kids prove themselves more before committing long-term to them and make sure that they develop into the kind of players that you want on the team.