The Philadelphia Flyers had one of the busiest offseasons of any team in the NHL last season. Although it did not come with an overhaul of the team’s roster, it showed a change in philosophy and a completely different way of going about drafting and making signings.
From the end of the team’s 2022-23 campaign until now, what has the Orange and Black done to put themselves in a better situation moving forward?
A New Era of Orange
The Flyers made much of their offseason about them transitioning to a ‘new era’. After the firing of former general manager (GM) Chuck Fletcher in March, Philadelphia went from calling their process an aggressive retool to a full-scale rebuild under a new GM Danny Briere. In part to show that the organization had changed, the Flyers adopted new uniforms in June that were a mix between their modern era of jerseys and also those that they wore in the 80s and 90s.
The significance of the uniform change not only symbolizes that the team is going into a rebuilding phase, but that they are also leaving the failures of the Ron Hextall and Fletcher GM eras in the past. With a new man at the helm, the team is ready to create a new identity and go back to what made them great.
Flyers’ New Leadership
Over the course of the offseason, the Flyers brought in many notable figures to their organization. All of the most widely reported were former players, and all of which donned the Orange and Black at some point. These additions were highlighted by analyst Keith Jones who became the team’s president of hockey operations. He had associated with the Flyers’ organization for several years not just as an analyst, but as a player before being brought in.
In the past, Jones has been critical of the Flyers and their direction. He was right about a lot of the things he felt, one being that the team needed an identity shift and that their direction in 2020-21 was headed towards disaster. Even though he stated that their situation was “not something you fix overnight”, the aggression that the team showed in the two following offseasons suggested the complete opposite of this thought process. Now, the team is rebuilding, and he is one of the major pieces that can make it a success.
On top of Jones, the Flyers added John LeClair and Patrick Sharp to be special advisers to hockey operations. All of the additions have many years of experience at the NHL level, but none at the managerial level. Philadelphia is banking on potential and some younger but smart hockey minds to lead the direction of the rebuild.
Briere Ships Off Veterans, Brings in Draft Capital
Before the end of the Stanley Cup Final, Briere made one of the biggest trades of the offseason when he sent minute-crunching defenseman Ivan Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a three-way deal. The GM’s first-ever trade was not only the first of the offseason, but it was one in which he displayed some creativity. He immediately set the tone for what Philadelphia was trying to do.
Provorov, who had struggled after a stellar 2019-20 season with the Flyers, proved that a first-pairing role might not be best suited for him. Despite a rather expensive $6.75 million cap hit, he was able to get the deal done without having to retain a cent on his contract. With only three retention slots for each given season, this was a huge win for the Flyers, as they were able to acquire a first-round draft pick in 2023 and one in the second round for 2024.
In the trade, they also acquired goaltender Cal Petersen, defenseman Sean Walker, defensive prospect Helge Grans, and a second-round draft pick in the 2024 NHL Draft from the Los Angeles Kings for no cost whatsoever. All teams involved got what they wanted, but the Flyers made out handsomely for a defender that was underachieving with them.
Related: Grading Blockbuster 3-Team Trade Involving Flyers’ Ivan Provorov
In addition, the Flyers sent forward Kevin Hayes to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick in 2024. Philadelphia had to eat half of his seven-year, $50 million contract that now has three years left on it. It came at a big cost, but the Flyers were able to ship a veteran that they not only no longer needed, but one that had a playstyle that contradicted what his coach wanted.
Philadelphia also bought out the last year of defenseman Tony DeAngelo’s contract, who was traded for by Fletcher just a year prior in a deal that included three draft choices.
Finally, Briere made a surprising move that sent forward David Kase to the Carolina Hurricanes for prospect Massimo Rizzo and a 2025 fifth-round pick. The 26-year-old has only played in seven NHL games in his career, and none of which have come in the last two seasons. Philadelphia got a pretty good haul for a player that never had true NHL aspirations for their team, which is a win even though there was not much included in this deal.
Flyers Become the Story of the Draft
After finishing the 2021-22 season with the fourth-worst record in the league, there was a belief that the Flyers could be the worst team in the NHL in 2022-23. This would have given them the chance to select one of the plentiful game-changing prospects in the draft regardless of how the draft lottery unfolded. They ended up finishing with the seventh-worst record in the league, and had to settle with the seventh-overall selection in the draft.
While there was certainly talk that the Flyers could land generational forward prospect Matvei Michkov, it still seemed a bit outlandish given his record-breaking statistics in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in his draft year. After he had not been taken within the first six selections of the 2023 NHL Draft, it came time for Briere and the Flyers to make their choice. With the hockey world waiting to see where he would be selected, the Flyers wasted no time taking the home run pick of the draft.
The major reason why Michkov fell so far in the draft was his alliance to the KHL through the 2025-26 season. Him being under contract means that he will likely be staying in Russia to develop. Ordinarily, this would not be an issue if he was not frequently scratched by the coach of his club despite him clearly being ready for a high workload. After recently being loaned to another club in HC Sochi, there is hope that he can develop properly.
Related: Flyers Should Be Hopeful in Michkov’s Loan to HC Sochi
With some of the other selections in the draft, the Flyers took defenseman Oliver Bonk with a first-round selection, goaltenders Carson Bjarnason and Yegor Zavragin in the second and third rounds respectively, and got what is looking to be a nice pickup in Denver Barkey in the third as well.
A Quiet Free Agency Period
Since the team is in a rebuild, the Flyers were rather quiet when it came to free agency. They let veteran winger James van Riemsdyk test the market and splashed on a few depth players to add something to the team. Their free agency moves were highlighted by winger Garnet Hathaway, who they gave a two-year, $4.75 million contract to bolster their fourth line and perhaps play on the penalty kill.
To bring some more stability to the team’s depth, the Flyers added 25-year-old center Ryan Poehling to see if he still has some potential. On defense, they added 36-year-old Marc Staal to be a mentor for the young players but also eat some of the minutes that they lost from Provorov. After playing 103 games for the Florida Panthers in their run to the Stanley Cup Final last season, he definitely has the knowledge of what it takes to win in the NHL. They also added American Hockey League (AHL) depth that could theoretically play for the Flyers in Rhett Gardner and Victor Mete.
It was known that the Flyers would likely not make many moves, but they still tried to give the team relative strength in their offensive depth. Free agency periods won’t always be quiet for Philadelphia, but the team did not do much in the first year of the rebuild plan.
Short-Term Deals for Youngsters
The Flyers had several key restricted free agent (RFA) players to sign entering the 2023-24 season. Many of them, including forwards Noah Cates, Morgan Frost, and defenseman Cam York, were key factors for the team. Each one of them earned a two-year deal worth a combined total of just $6.385 million per season.
The first contract that was tackled was York’s, which came around to a low $1.6 million cap hit for the next two seasons. Cates and Frost, who had top-six roles with the team and fit in them pretty seamlessly, each got a bit over $2 million each season, with their totals coming out to $2.625 million and $2.1 million respectively.
Goaltender Samuel Ersson, who was set to be an RFA following this season, was given a two-year extension as well at just $1.45 million per season. Forward Olle Lycksell and defenseman Ronnie Attard also received two years on their deals, giving Philadelphia a longer timeline to assess where some of their older prospects are at.
One of the players that they did not give a contract to was 2018 first-round draft pick Jay O’Brien. The good news for this is that Philadelphia will be awarded a second-round pick in this upcoming draft as compensation for this, and having fuel to either make a trade for a young player, a higher draft pick, or make a selection of their own.
The offseason is officially winding down to a close, and the last few months have been incredibly eventful for Philadelphia. With them now transitioning to the regular season in a short amount of time, there will be more exciting moves and changes to be made once it becomes apparent what Briere and his team are working with.
