Owen Tippett and the Flyers have agreed on a new contract that will keep him in orange and black for the next two seasons. The two year extension will be for $1.5 million per season.
Tippett was the prize, taken from the Florida Panthers, along with a 2024 first round pick and 2023 third round pick, for Claude Giroux, Connor Bunnaman, and German Rubtsov. Tippett would score four goals and three assists in 21 games after the trade. While his stats weren’t eye-popping, not many forwards on the 2021-22 Flyers put up numbers that would impress many.
Still, Tippett is 23 years old and was a highly regarded prospect in the 2017 draft. He has yet to showcase the talents that made NHL scouts excited as a junior player, but he has been relegated to mostly bottom line roles on the Panthers. The Flyers are hoping that he can capture that promise for them soon.
The two year extension shows a commitment on behalf of the Flyers. After dealing one of their all time greats, they are putting a lot of stock in young Tippett. True, it is most likely probable that he won’t become the next coming of Giroux. But if he can turn into a star player worthy of a 10th overall draft pick, the move will prove to be a savvy one by the Flyers.
There was something about Tippett that the Flyers scouts liked when they made the trade with Florida. If he can translate those skills over this year, the Flyers will benefit greatly. As part of a reboot/rebuilding effort, this team is looking to a lot of young players.
Team management has come out several times and said that this will be a crucial year for players like Morgan Frost and Cam York. And with other players, like Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee, and Ryan Ellis all dealing with major health issues, this could be a great opportunity for Tippett to showcase his skills.
With Tippett signed, that just leaves Zack MacEwen as the only unsigned player on the NHL roster He has an arbitration date set for August 8th. The extension also puts the Flyers $1,598,107 over the salary cap, according to CapFriendly.
This puts the team in a bit of a pickle. If they don’t want to be punished by the league, they are going to have to find some creative way to clear cap space. The season starts in early October with training camp starting in six weeks. We’ll see what moves the Flyers make before then.