With the Seattle Expansion Draft just a few days away, we have a much clearer picture of who could be taken. All teams, except for Vegas, submitted their lists to the NHL last night. Along with the subsequent trade freeze, the time has almost come. The Flyers big trade for Ryan Ellis helped paved the way for some of their protection plans.
With Nolan Patrick and Phil Myers no longer in Philadelphia, that opened up two extra spots. The first one was easy as it simply went to Ellis. With an extra forward spot open, that’s where things got interesting. It was already made known that Jakub Voracek would be left unprotected. He has three years remaining on an eight year deal and holds an 8.25M cap hit. With no clauses in his contract, the Flyers were able to simply leave him off their list.
It would be the end of an era if Voracek has played his last game in Philadelphia. He was a part of the blockbuster trade that sent Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Since then, he has been among the best playmakers in the league. He hit 80+ points twice and was named to the All-Star team in 2015.
He has climbed the ranks of a few franchise record. Most notably, he ranks fifth all-time in assists. It has been a solid 10 seasons in Philadelphia for Voracek. If this is the end for him, he has left his mark on the Flyers.
The question then went over to James van Riemsdyk and what they would do with him. If Patrick had remained in Philadelphia after the trade freeze, no doubt he would have taken that final protection spot, leaving van Riemsdyk exposed as well. His 7M cap hit is on the books for the next two seasons. The thought was Seattle would possibly be enticed to take either him or Voracek in that scenario.
In his second stint with Philadelphia, van Riemsdyk still proved to be close to a 20-goal scorer and a 40+ point player. His work on the power-play fluctuated, but he was still among one of the top scorers on the team. With a high cap hit, there is plenty of criticism around that the Flyers could use more from him. He can be a streaky scorer and has often had lengthy cold spells. Alain Vigneault wasn’t afraid to say he needed more from the veteran forward.
Shayne Gostisbehere has been long rumored to be expected to be the one taken by Seattle. There is a very high chance that could be what happens. But Seattle will have quite a few option to choose from. One thing is for sure, the Flyers will certainly be losing a higher-caliber player than they did when Vegas entered the league.
As quite a few teams surprisingly went the eight skaters route, the Flyers went with a similar route to what they did before. And that would be taking the 7-3-1 option that was laid before them. So seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender. Most, if not just about all, of the choices were easy while a few simply had to be done. Claude Giroux and Kevin Hayes have no-movement clauses, meaning they had to be protected unless there was an agreement to waive it.
Forwards like Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny and Oskar Lindblom are the clear future of the Flyers. Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim will continue to grow on the backend. The addition of Ellis will certainly aid them in that as well. And Carter Hart is poised for a bounce back campaign after a subpar third season in the NHL. So there weren’t really many tough decisions for the team to make.
Flyers Expansion Protection List
Forwards: Claude Giroux, Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Oskar Lindblom, Scott Laughton, Travis Konecny
Defensemen: Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Ryan Ellis
Goaltender: Carter Hart
Notable Omissions: Jakub Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere, James van Riemsdyk, Justin Braun and Robert Hagg
The expansion draft will take place on July 21st with the NHL Draft to follow beginning on July 23rd. With a much shorter off-season than normal, things will no doubt be chaotic in the coming weeks. The Flyers will still be looking to upgrade the team in multiple areas and could possibly add another new face or two before next season begins.