The 2024–25 season wasn’t easy for the Philadelphia Flyers. Finishing with the fourth-worst record in the league, a franchise once synonymous with winning tied its record for consecutive playoff misses: five, dating back to 2020–21.
In that time frame, the Flyers have accumulated promising young assets and maintained a semi-competitive roster, evidenced by a near-playoff berth in 2023–24. Lack of success in this most recent season aside, the team is poised for growth. Thus, it wasn’t surprising that general manager Daniel Brière’s end-of-season press conference had a more uplifting tone. It appears he’s looking to start adding this summer.
To Brière’s credit, he has reason to be optimistic. The Flyers’ turnaround in their final nine games under interim head coach Brad Shaw gave fans a taste of what could be possible with more firepower.
Despite considerable flaws in the team’s construction due to being an active seller at the trade deadline, and coming off 14 consecutive games without a regulation or overtime victory, Shaw had a 5–3–1 record behind the bench. Most importantly, rookie Matvei Michkov looked and produced like a superstar under more lenient guidance—six goals and as many assists in that time frame.
With a guaranteed top-six draft choice at their disposal and about one-fifth odds to sneak inside the top two, the Flyers are likely to land another core piece. But with Michkov’s late-season excellence, it’s hard to imagine the team finishing in the basement again.
So, with this context in mind, Philadelphia being pegged as the offer sheet team for the 2025 offseason isn’t such a surprise. At this point, acquiring high-end draft picks is probably out of the question—a good problem to have if someone like Michkov is leading the charge.
With seven picks in the opening two rounds of the 2025 NHL Draft, even the Flyers’ own 2026 first-round choice is expendable for the right price. The right restricted free agent, to be more specific. Which offer sheet-eligible skaters this summer should the Orange and Black be after?
Evan Bouchard, Edmonton Oilers
This one’s a long shot, admittedly, and may require several years of first-round picks. But if there was anyone to throw caution to the wind for, it’d be Edmonton Oilers right-shot defenseman Evan Bouchard. He had 67 points in 82 games this season with a plus-14 rating.
The vast amount of media criticism Bouchard receives in Edmonton is unjust, and a reason why this move could be manageable. I made a piece a couple of months ago in his defense, but the quick rundown is that his superstar offensive contributions are ignored. Instead, his defensive shortcomings are attacked. That is, even though the Oilers allow about as many goals per minute when he’s off the ice versus on it (and score a lot more).
Related: Oilers’ Evan Bouchard Deserves Greater Appreciation
Bouchard excels at getting the puck up the ice and into dangerous situations for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. As a result, the forwards are both significantly less impactful when not stapled to the 25-year-old defender. Combined, they have a 64.53% goal share at 5-on-5 when on the ice with Bouchard over the last two seasons, including the playoffs. Without him, though, that goal share falls to 51.37%—a cratering in their effectiveness.
But many don’t recognize that. Turnover-happiness, which should be expected from a play-driving defenseman, is what gets the attention. So, Bouchard is a rather unpopular figure among Edmontonians, at least from the looks of it.
What a fan base or media thinks doesn’t necessarily matter, but that could be the chance for the Flyers to land their first franchise defenseman in decades. He’d dramatically increase Michkov’s puck touches, possibly turning a young star into a young face of the NHL. Bouchard makes superstars’ lives easier.
As for the cost, it’d be pricey—guaranteed. The best-case scenario is that the Flyers offer $11,452,293 in annual salary and thus sacrifice two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and a third-round pick for compensation. This avoids the highest tier of compensation (four first-round picks) while also presenting a difficult decision for Edmonton.
Marco Rossi, Minnesota Wild
He’s a smaller center, so that may bring some pause, but Marco Rossi from the Minnesota Wild could do wonders for the Flyers. The 23-year-old put up career-highs across the board in his sophomore campaign, scoring 24 goals and 36 assists for 60 points in an 82-game slate.
On the Worst Seats in the House podcast a little over a month ago, The Athletic‘s Michael Russo and Wild play-by-play commentator Anthony LaPanta discussed the team’s potential offseason moves. Rossi’s name came up, to which Russo said he feels there’s more than a 70% chance he gets moved. Consequently, this is a realistic suggestion.
The Flyers didn’t have a 60-point center on their roster last season, nor even a 50-point one. Getting a player down the middle with Rossi’s skill and processing ability would bring immediate and long-term dividends. Though only 5-foot-9, that can be overlooked for the positives. Adding a legitimate top-six center could help the Orange and Black surge up the standings.
Rossi may be traded before his offer sheet window even opens, mind you. But if the Wild don’t want to go the trade path, the Flyers can swoop in and land themselves a key piece. At a cost of $6,871,373 per season, Minnesota would receive a first- and third-round pick as compensation. Perhaps they’re not willing to pay that much for someone on their trade block—that’s the path to making this a reality.
Mason McTavish, Anaheim Ducks
Again, the Flyers need centers, especially after trading both Morgan Frost and Scott Laughton in-season. The Anaheim Ducks’ Mason McTavish, a 23-year-old with a nice blend of passing upside, power, and overall skill, could change that. While the Ducks likely aren’t itching to part ways with the 2021 third-overall draft choice, enough money could change their feelings.
Recording 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points in 76 games, McTavish put up promising numbers for someone his age. But he shone brighter in the second half. From Jan. 21 onward, he scored at a rate of 3.16 points per 60 minutes of ice time. That put him in the 91st percentile for forwards with at least 250 minutes of usage in that span, showcasing substantial upside.
Despite the growth, McTavish is not the Ducks’ first-line center of the future. That honor belongs to Leo Carlsson. So, the thought process here is that a second-line center isn’t worth whatever ludicrous cap hit the Flyers may be offering. With plentiful draft picks being the compensation, the choice for Anaheim isn’t so clear-cut. It’s something they’d have to think about.
The dollar amount you may be looking at here is $9,161,833. The Ducks would receive a first-, second-, and third-round pick for the trouble. A dollar more, and they’d receive Bouchard’s compensation. Although the cost is steep, McTavish could do wonders for the Flyers’ center problem. This could be a win-win trade-off, but it’s hard to imagine Anaheim being happy about it.
Over the next three draft classes, the Flyers have three first-round picks of their own and three from other teams (two in 2025 and one in 2027). Does parting ways with one or two of the former, knowing the team may not reach the playoffs in 2025–26, make sense? Or should they maintain ownership of those picks in case disaster strikes? Feel free to let us know your thoughts!
Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick
