7 Potential UFAs The Flyers Can Actually Afford
With the 2022 NHL season already gathering loads of excitement after the NHL Draft came with a few surprises, it is just the beginning of what will be a hectic off-season, which could see tons of big, familiar names moving to new locations. The Philadelphia Flyers are one of the NHL’s franchises who are currently strapped for cash, but also in desperate need of roster improvement. Though there are a lot of famous names in this summer’s unrestricted free agency pool, plenty of them will be too expensive for Philadelphia to be able to sign. Despite this, GM Chuck Fletcher will still have plenty of players to set his sights on bringing to Broad Street.
Here are seven unrestricted free agents who Chuck Fletcher and the Philadelphia Flyers can easily afford, especially with the help of a trade or two to offload salary and create some valuable cap room.
Originally drafted 84th overall back in 2009 by the Los Angeles Kings in the 3rd-round, the now unrestricted free agent veteran winger is a perfect fit for new HC John Tortorella’s system. Deslauriers would provide a very physical 4th line enforcer presence that the Flyers could desperately use. At 6’1” 220 lbs, his value as Tortorella’s bulldog could be limitless to a team like Philadelphia that lacks a necessary size, strength and ability to intimidate and wear down their opponent.
Deslauriers has never taken up much cap room throughout his career and is coming off of a two-year deal worth $2 million that he signed with Anaheim before moving to Minnesota at last year’s trade deadline in March. It’s more than reasonable to believe the Flyers could ink Deslauriers, 31, to a short-term deal worth around $1 million or less—especially if he’s got interest in playing for a coach like John Tortorella, who would surely put the veteran winger’s style to good use.
It’s no secret that one of Philadelphia’s biggest weaknesses last year was the defense playing in front of goalies Carter Hart and backup Martin Jones, as well as how they were coached. There were also injuries throughout the year to the Flyers’ defense, most notably to veteran Ryan Ellis, who the Flyers acquired last summer. Ellis only played four games during the 2021-22 NHL season due to a “multilayered” injury to the defenseman’s pelvic region and there’s still not a definite timetable for his return as the 2022-23 regular season approaches.
With Philadelphia’s top 6 defensemen seeming weak defensively and battered with injuries to key defenders, even with the newly acquired South Jersey native Tony DeAngelo, signing a big-bodied blue-liner like Nikita Zadorov could be a necessary move if Ellis cannot return early—or at all—this season. Zadorov would surely solidify Philadelphia’s 3rd pairing that is currently projected to be Cam York and Nick Seeler while Ellis is out for the future. He would likely cost around $4M per year so this is surely a move Fletcher should only make if Ellis is unable to return and feels the Flyers simply cannot compete by using Seeler or a prospect for that final slot in the defense.
The only other defenseman on this list, veteran Justin Braun, would be a great and inexpensive signing for Fletcher to make with Ellis out indefinitely and no defensive prospect to feel confident about running that third
pairing with Cam York. Braun played for Philadelphia from the 2019-20 season until the March trade deadline last year when he was dealt to the New York Rangers as Fletcher attempted to acquire draft compensation in exchange for allowing some of his veteran upcoming free agents to chase after the Stanley Cup. Braun and the Rangers were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Bringing Justin Braun back to Broad St. would be a genius and inexpensive short-term way to work around the unsure timetable of Ryan Ellis’ recovery and return from injury. Zadorov just might be the better solution long-term if Philadelphia will lose Ellis and they have no prospect to replace him, but he will also cost twice as much as Braun would, then the Flyers could use their available cap in the following offseason to make a move.
Undrafted and signed by Toronto back in 2019 before being traded to the Florida Panthers, Mason Marchment broke out last season when he recorded 47 points in 54 games played with the Panthers. Though there is not much to go off of, Marchment comes in at 6’4” 209 lbs and had a cap hit last year at $800k. The big winger presumably would not cost much at all against the cap, and could be a solid replacement should the Flyers choose to unload salary cap in the form of a James Van Riemsdyk or Oskar Lindblom trade.
With the team essentially at the lowest it has been in years, this is a low risk move for a team that can’t get much worse and has the potential upside of a 50+ point-scorer in a player signed to less than $2m annually. Marchment brings size and aggression to the wing, which the Flyers should be looking to add.
Most people who watched the Tampa Bay Lightning in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs should have no problem remembering the impact that forward Nick Paul had for the back-to-back champs before having their run ended in the Stanley Cup Final to the Avalanche. At 6’3” 224 lbs, the 27-year-old winger has proven himself to be an incredibly valuable bottom-six forward who contributes immensely on the penalty-killing unit.
The Flyers PK unit found themselves ranked in the bottom ten of the league and could use a winger that not only can play on the team’s shorthanded unit, but can absolutely thrive on it. Paul’s cap hit last year with Tampa Bay was $1.35m and is currently projected to get about $2-3m on his new contract. Nick Paul is a rare bottom-six forward who a team can lean on in times of need while still getting paid like a bottom-six guy.
Arguably one of the better signings to make on this list, Vincent Trocheck is a Pennsylvania native who is one of the best, if not the best, middle-six two-way centers in the entire league. At 5’10” 183 lbs, Trocheck is not the biggest guy but surely packs at punch with all of his on-ice capabilities. He has had 4 50-point season in the last 7 years, where two of his three seasons with less than 50-points were during the COVID-shortened seasons.
Drafted 64th overall by FLA in the 3rd-round of 2011 NHL Draft, Vincent Trocheck has likely already exceeded the original expectations for him when drafted, and he continues to grow more as a two-way player each year. Coming off of what is arguably his most well-balanced season of his career, Trocheck finished the 2021-22 regular season with 21 goals on 51 points in 81 games played. He also recorded 10 points in his 14 playoff games during this year’s Stanley Cup Finals.
Trocheck, 28, is a great two-way center to plug somewhere in the middle six of the forward lineup and he is projected to come with a cost of about $4m or so. That would only be $1 million more per year than the Flyers are currently paying Oskar Lindblom or Scott Laughton for a guy with a career FO% of 52% and consistently scores at least 50 points while also putting in work on the defensive end.
If only he wasn’t from Pittsburgh and Trocheck would be perfect!
It is no secret at all that Johnny Gaudreau has interest in playing for the Flyers, or that the feeling is very much mutual. Gaudreau grew up in South Jersey, a town called Salem, where he became a fan of the Philadelphia Flyers. While there is speculation that he could wind up moving to the New Jersey Devils, it is likely that Gaudreau prefers Philadelphia because they are the team he actually grew up watching and loving. The only concern is fitting him into an already cramped salary cap.
Johnny Gaudreau has played in 602 NHL regular season games and has recorded 609 total points throughout them. He won the Hobey Baker award back in 2014 with Boston College, and the Lady Byng Trophy in 2016-17 with the Calgary Flames. Gaudreau has also been an All-Star five times in his career so far and set a new career high in points during the 2021-22 season with 115 points.
Johnny Hockey is a guy who the Flyers cannot afford to miss out on. Not only that, but Philadelphia seems to be Gaudreau’s top destination, which has to be incredibly rare for a top UFA to willingly sign with a team who finished bottom-five in the league standings the year before. The biggest issue is the Flyers’ cap room, though. Gaudreau is coming off of a cap hit from 2021-22 of $6.75m with the Calgary Flames. The Flyers don’t even have the cap room to sign him at his old contract’s value, and Gaudreau is projected to make at least $10.8m with whoever he signs his new contract with.
Fletcher talked a lot over the last year about “retooling” the Flyers organization to compete again through smart trades and signings, which has yet to happen. Now is the time to put his money where his mouth is–literally–and get some moves executed that can create the necessary cap space to sign Gaudreau and a few others from this in order to make a splash in the upcoming season.