Rapid Rewind: Grading the Flyers’ Offseason

The Philadelphia Flyers went into the offseason with a new general manager at the helm. Chuck Fletcher’s first job was to find a head coach, and he did in Alain Vigneault. Vigneault had the difficult task of choosing his assistant coaches, who were Michel Therien and Mike Yeo. It was time for Fletcher to get to work making improvements to get this team back to the postseason.

Fletcher had something that the Flyers haven’t had in a while, and that was cap space to work with, even after he signed the team’s restricted free agents. It was expected that Fletcher would be aggressive to fill some gaps in the lineup. It may not have been in the way some fans expected or wanted, but the goal was to improve the on-ice product for the upcoming season, and he did just that with trades and signings in the offseason.

Free Agency

There was one big piece that was needed to get this roster in a better spot and it was a second-line center. Sean Couturier thrived as the team’s top center. Nolan Patrick had another down season as the team’s second-line center, when healthy. A true second-line center who could also play a 200-foot game would solidify the lines and give the Flyers better matchups against the opposition.

Enter Kevin Hayes. The Flyers traded a 2019 5th round draft pick to the Winnipeg Jets for the rights to Hayes, who eventually signed a seven-year deal with the team. The deal has a cap hit of $7 million per season to the dismay of many Flyers fans. Hayes was coming off a career year so it was expected that he would get paid. Sure, the Flyers overpaid a little bit to get him, but Hayes will make a world of a difference while playing with James van Riemsdyk and Jakub Voracek on the second line. The addition of Hayes will make it easier for Patrick, who should thrive in the third center role due to different matchups.

The Flyers bought out defenseman Andrew MacDonald’s final season and re-signed goalie Brian Elliott as the team’s back up to the youngster, Carter Hart. There were also other small moves made during free agency, but those moves were mostly made to improve the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Trades

Fletcher made two moves to bring in veteran players to help a young defensive corps that struggled at times last season. The first move brought Matt Niskanen to the Flyers and sent Radko Gudas to the Washington Capitals. The second move sent two draft picks to the San Jose Sharks for Justin Braun. The moves should help with leadership on the back end, and they will settle the defense pairings especially since the Flyers now have three right-handed shots, and three left-handed shots. A righty and lefty can play their natural sides, and that should make it easier to get some pucks on net. 

The third and final trade was to dump some potential salary. Ryan Hartman would have made more than the $1 million that Tyler Pitlick was slated to get paid this season. The Flyers sent Hartman to the Dallas Stars for Pitlick, who will likely play a pivotal role on the fourth line this season. Pitlick will also add some speed to the bottom six, and he isn’t afraid to play a gritty game.

 Restricted Free Agents

The Flyers decided to not tender right wing Justin Bailey and defenseman Jacob Graves, making them unrestricted free agents. Fletcher agreed to two-year extensions with center Scott Laughton and defenseman Travis Sanhiem, who blossomed last season while playing with Ivan Provorov. Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who spent most of his time with the Phantoms last season, got a one year contract.

There are still two big pieces who have yet to sign new contracts for the upcoming season and beyond. Defenseman Ivan Provorov and winger Travis Konecny are proving to be difficult to sign because it seems that this restricted free agent class won’t budge until the market can be set by one big-name player being signed. Provorov and Konecny are major parts of this team and would be hard to replace if they aren’t ready for the start of the season.

Overall Offseason Grade: C

There is no doubt that the moves made by Fletcher, and company put this team in a spot to be successful, but there are flaws in the plan. 

The team is putting a lot of faith in the young kids to build on the success of last season, but what happens if one of them hits a big slump. Will Vigneault give the kids the ice time they need to develop and become better, or will they be in the press box in favor of a veteran at the first sign of struggles? The Flyers also lost their only physical presence when they traded Gudas to the Capitals. Who plays the role of the hitter and enforcer should someone start messing with the team? Robert Hagg and Samuel Morin are possibilities, but those two might see limited to no ice time this season.

The biggest reasons for the C grade is that they are putting a lot of faith in a bounce-back season for Niskanen and that Hayes can continue the success that he had last season with the New York Rangers and Jets.