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Grading the Philadelphia Flyers Offseason So Far

By Drew Wheeler

TAMPA, FLORIDA - APRIL 01: Cam Atkinson #13 of the Columbus Blue Jackets looks to pass during a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on April 01, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - APRIL 01: Cam Atkinson #13 of the Columbus Blue Jackets looks to pass during a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on April 01, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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Over the past six days, Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher seems to have had his cellphone glued to his hand as the Philadelphia Flyers have completely overhauled their roster.

Fletcher in these past six days has made four trades, in which he has acquired three new players, and shipped out five Flyers players who all played significant time last season for the team. He has also parted ways with two second round picks, a 7th round pick, and the coveted 13th overall pick in this year’s NHL draft. For a team that was looking for a change, Fletcher went out and made it happen.

TRADE 1: Phil Myers and Nolan Patrick for Ryan Ellis

The Flyers’ biggest problem last season was the blueline. With Matt Niskanen retiring at the end of the 2019-2020 season, and the hole he left being filled by Erik Gustafsson, the Flyers defense was much worse and fluid than it had been the season before. Ivan Provorov had been put with multiple different defensemen all season after his steady partner from the season before left.

To fix this problem, Fletcher went out and got the best available RHD not named Dougie Hamilton to pair with the Flyers’ #1 defenseman. And by only trading away two underperforming players for Ryan Ellis, they were able to keep hold of their top prospects and the #13 pick.

TRADE 2: Shayne Gostisbehere, 2022 2nd Round Pick, 2022 7th round pick for… Cap Space

In his post-trade press conference, Chuck Fletcher specifically talked about how this trade was purely a cap move. After three underwhelming seasons, Gostisbehere was finally traded after years of speculation about his future. The Flyers adding on two picks for the struggling defenseman shows how invaluable NHL GMs saw Gostisbehere. In a season where he was placed on waivers and left untouched, this trade needed to happen for both the team and player to move on.

Trade 3: Robert Hägg, 2021 1st Round Pick, 2023 2nd round pick for Rasmus Ristolainen

This trade was a bit of a head-scratcher as Ristolainen had performed pretty poorly during his tenure in Buffalo. Adding in this year’s first round pick is what was the biggest shock as many saw Ristolainen as not worth that; however, a big-bodied physical defenseman is what the Flyers seemed to be missing though as many fans called the team “soft” last season.

As we saw, Sam Morin came in last season and was an immediate fan favorite, and as we’ve seen with many other Sabres players, once they leave Buffalo they seem to magically become competent hockey players again such as Taylor Hall and Ryan O’Reilly. Hopefully the same can be said about Ristolainen when it is all said and done.

Trade 4: Jake Voracek for Cam Atkinson

This trade was probably Fletcher’s best of the offseason so far. Jake Voracek carried an $8.25M cap hit over the next three seasons, which seemingly handcuffed Fletcher from making future moves in this flat cap league. With the Flyers not retaining any of Voracek’s salary on this deal they saved about $2.4 million of cap space.

Atkinson also brings a shoot-first mentality that the Flyers didn’t have under Voracek. A reliable penalty killer as well we see that Fletcher’s goal this offseason was defense. Atkinson does have one extra year on his contract compared to Voracek, but the cap space saved in the long term is worth the extra year.

OVERALL GRADE: A-

When looking at the overall assets gained and lost this offseason we see the bigger picture of why Fletcher has had a fantastic offseason.

The Flyers have traded away:

  • Nolan Patrick
  • Phil Myers
  • Shayne Gostisbehere
  • Robert Hägg
  • Jake Voracek
  • 2021 1st Round Pick
  • 2022 2nd Round Pick
  • 2023 2nd Round Pick
  • 2022 7th Round Pick

And have added:

  • Ryan Ellis
  • Rasmus Ristolainen
  • Cam Atkinson
  • $625K of cap space

Firstly, when looking at the three players Fletcher brought in, all three had worn a letter on their jersey the previous season with their respective teams. Bringing in these veteran leaders to help stabilize a clubhouse that last season apparently had an accountability issue is a massive sign of a culture change taking place.

Secondly, in this flat cap era the NHL is in right now, obtaining the pieces needed to improve the team while gaining cap space (even if it is only $625K) is huge. With $12M left in the cap, and the Flyers only really needing contracts for Sanheim, Hart, and another goalie at this point, Chuck Fletcher deserves all the credit for transforming this roster in a positive way.

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