5 Bargain RFAs Philadelphia Flyers Should Trade For

Despite the Philadelphia Flyers owning two first-round picks in this year’s draft, the real challenge for Daniel Briere is improving the team in other ways, which may include trading for RFAs looking for a new home. 

The NHL salary cap is only expected to increase by about $1 million this offseason, leaving commissioner Gary Bettman to wishful thinking for future endeavors. However, this means that opportunity fills the air for the Philadelphia Flyers. Daniel Briere’s first big move as Flyers GM saw Ivan Provorov jettisoned out of Philly, in exchange for assets, on top of more assets, thanks to the Los Angeles Kings needing to salary dump goalie Cal Petersen and defenseman Sean Walker. The Flyers still have some wiggle room with their own salary cap, despite all of the extra moving pieces they added. Now might be a good time for Briere to buy on the swing.

Just a year ago, Yegor Sharangovich was poised to be one of the NHL’s next breakout snipers, and then the 2022-23 season happened. Most Flyers fans should already be familiar with the Belarusian, who has scored five goals and five assists in 15 games against the Orange and Black. The only team Sharangovich has scored more points against is the New York Rangers, whom he has six goals and five assists against in 16 games. This season, Sharangovich managed just 13 goals and 30 points. That said, despite the down year for #17, the ability is certainly still there. He’s made plenty of highlight-reel plays despite mostly being relegated to third or fourth line duties and receiving almost no power-play time. Truthfully, Sharangovich is only involved in trade rumors thanks to New Jersey Devils coach Lindy Ruff’s wild mismanagement of the player. Like any player in the NHL, Sharangovich has his ups and downs, and strengths and weaknesses. He’s a great shooter with good foot speed and can use his reputation as a shooter to fool defenses. He struggles as a puck carrier and is weak along the boards for his size. Although Sharangovich struggles with his defense at even strength, he excels on the penalty-kill by being aggressive, having good spatial awareness, and using his long reach to clog passing lanes up high.

Sharangovich scored 26 goals in the 2021-22 season, which makes him the dream buy-low target. The problem though, for the Philadelphia Flyers as well as other teams, is that almost everyone wants him, besides the Devils. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and NHL insider Elliotte Friedman have both reported that the trade market for Sharangovich is heating up substantially. The Devils winger is also eligible for arbitration, which won’t make sense for New Jersey given Lindy Ruff’s reducing of his role in the regular season, and removal from the playoffs almost entirely. Obviously the Devils would like to get something for Sharangovich, and the Flyers could (and should) put in a trade offer. Sharangovich is certainly not a star, but he’d be a great complimentary piece for the next generation of Philadelphia Flyers talent.

I already named Alex Newhook as a potential trade option when the Kevin Hayes trade rumors started to take off, but time is starting to tick off of the clock for teams trying to get draft picks for their assets ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft. While Hayes isn’t a draft pick, he might come with one, especially considering that it seems his trade market seems to have cooled substantially between then and now. In addition to his report on Yegor Sharangovich on his 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliotte Friedman added that the Columbus Blue Jackets are starting to pull out of the race for Kevin Hayes, and to state the obvious, that there is no way back for Hayes in Philly.

The Colorado Avalanche certainly underachieved in the playoffs when they were eliminated by the Seattle Kraken in the first round. This is certainly not to blame Newhook, but his performance didn’t help their bid for a title defense all that much. In his playoff career, Newhook has just one goal and six assists in 27 games, and has a plus-minus of -3. His regular season numbers aren’t much better, as he posted 30 points in 82 games this year and regressed on the 33 he had in 71 games last year. Newhook is fast, has all the tools, and brings some moxie to the offensive zone, but it’s just not all there yet. The Avalanche’s bottom-six is barren as far as playmakers and scorers go, so it’s not all Newhook’s fault all the time.

The Avalanche only recently drafted Newhook 16th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, and it might behoove them to try and maximize the performances they get out of their youth instead of recycling them for veterans that might better compliment Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, and Nathan MacKinnon. It comes down to a toss-up on what the Avs front office feels is best for their team, and whether or not committing to another Cup run so soon will be worth the hassle. It’s entirely possible that Newhook never thrives as a third-liner and flames out as a Morgan Frost-type. We’ll never know unless he gets a run with real minutes, which is unlikely in Colorado. If the Avalanche are unwilling to continue to try and bring Newhook further along, that’ll be a red flag to teams aspiring to be as successful as the Avs. But, if I’m Daniel Briere, I’m at least considering putting some feelers out there. Kevin Hayes and a draft pick aren’t massive wagers to gamble away on an NHL talent.

Former Philadelphia Flyers enforcer Zac Rinaldo recently tweeted that the Flyers need a player that will electrify Wells Fargo Center. Fortunately for Rinaldo, Briere, and the Flyers, they might have the opportunity to scoop a guy that will do the trick for the low. The Boston Bruins are in what some might call “cap hell” right now. They have under $5 million in cap space to sign David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Bertuzzi, Trent Frederic, Dmitry Orlov, Connor Clifton, Jeremy Swayman, Garnet Hathaway, and Tomas Nosek, among others. That is a rather hefty portion of a record-breaking squad heading towards the exit signs after a monumental first round collapse against the Florida Panthers. Bergeron and Krejci calling it quits looks increasingly more likely, and the two Bruins legends earned a combined $3.5 million this year. That’s a lot more than a hometown discount.

Trent Frederic was instrumental in the Bruins’ record-breaking season. As a role player, he played his part and played it well. Frederic fights, hits, scores, and has some skill to boot. He just feels like a Flyer. Frederic is arbitration-eligible, and if he leaves, the Bruins will have Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle as their only two centers under contract. Conveniently, the Bruins do not have picks in the first two rounds of this year’s draft, and are also absent of their picks in the first three rounds of next year’s draft. Boston has bigger fish to fry than a bottom-sixer that had a good year, and they might need to make even more sacrifices to get their roster back in order. That may come in the form of another salary dump headed to Philadelphia.

Trent Frederic is what he is: a grinder who is fun to watch but not to play against. On the heels of a breakout year that included 17 goals and 31 points, the Bs cannot afford to keep him over a player like Jeremy Swayman. To make matters even worse for the Bruins, almost all of the aforementioned free agents have expressed a desire to test free agency, and the opportunity to reunite Bertuzzi and Frederic might be too good to pass up. The possibility of that hinges solely on the potential cost for Frederic, but as the famous saying goes, “beggars can’t be choosers”. The former 2016 first round pick Frederic should not cost the Flyers much at all, but it remains to be seen how many teams will be bidding for the Bruins’ agitator. If the Flyers don’t need to take another salary dump, adding Frederic and signing Bertuzzi would instantly inject life back into Wells Fargo Center.