3 players that the Flyers could realistically target with an offer sheet

The Flyers may publicly deny that they initially pinned their hopes on signing a big-name free agent in the summer of 2026, only to see that possibility dry up thanks to the wave of players who decided they’d rather re-sign with their current clubs around the league rather than hit the open market. But no matter what they had planned to do, the Flyers (and the rest of the league) are faced with a very thin group of unrestricted free agents who will become officially available this July 1.

Enter the offer sheet.

You remember this, don’t you? It’s what the Flyers extended to Shea Weber back in 2012, succeeding only in ruining Nashville’s finances while failing to acquire a star player. They also came up short on an offer sheet to Ryan Kesler in 2006. You have to go all the way back to 1997 for the only time that the Flyers’ offer sheet efforts have ever paid off, when they successfully pried Chris Gratton from the Lightning. Unfortunately, that didn’t go so well.

Things are different now, however, with the NHL salary cap shooting up for next season, which puts bigger market teams like the Flyers in a good position to potentially poach young talent from other clubs who may not want to spend up to the new threshold. The Flyers are also one of just 11 teams that have retained enough of their own draft picks to extend an offer sheet to any qualifying player.

The Flyers might be in just the right situation to nab a core player if they extend a strategic offer sheet this summer

Among the top restricted free agents who are eligible to be offer sheeted this summer, the pie-in-the-sky is Connor Bedard, but anyone with any sense would have to think that the Blackhawks would match anything presented to him. It’s also widely believed that the Ducks would do everything in their power to retain Leo Carlsson should he sign an offer sheet, as Flyers fans dream of ways that they can somehow knock him loose from the West Coast.

With these wild goose chases largely dismissed, perhaps Jason Robertson of the Stars would be a real possibility, given the way Dallas has seemed unconvinced about him for years now. He would obviously command a big salary and some primo draft pick compensation as a result. Still, if you look a little deeper at the RFA list, a few more legitimate targets are in there, players that the Flyers could use immediately and incorporate into their long-term core.

Three in particular stand out:.

Pavel Dorofeyev

As the Vegas Golden Knights trek through this year’s playoffs, the 25-year-old Dorofeyev is earning himself more money by the game thanks to his star turn on the heels of a 37-goal regular season. The guy can put the puck in the net, and his 20 power-play goals are an especially attractive line item for a team with a moribund man advantage like the Flyers. The drawback here is that Dorofeyev wouldn’t solve the Flyers’ center problem, and you wonder about the stylistic fit with the current players on the roster. Would he gel on a line with fellow countryman Matvei Michkov? And what players, if any, would his signing make expendable?

Many teams around the league will be able to match high-dollar offers thanks to the salary cap rising from $95.5 million to $104 million. However, Vegas has the most money already committed for next year and could present the rare case of pricing a team out, even for an important player such as Dorofeyev. Vegas has nine players already under contract for $5 million or more next year, and they’ll have to add Dorofeyev to that mix if they hope to retain him. A lot of this could depend on whether the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup or not, but an offer to him in the $8-$10 million range by the Flyers could be enough to pry a young scorer away from his club.

Zach Benson

After some steady progression during his first three NHL seasons, the 21-year-old Benson got his first taste of playoff action this spring and put up five goals and four assists in 13 games for the Sabres. Benson, a 2023 first-round pick by Buffalo, is a future building block for their club and won’t come cheap, but the Sabres have a surprisingly large amount of dollars tied up for next season already. And that’s even before a final decision on pending UFA Alex Tuch.

Tuch can probably make some big money on the free agent market due to how bare the cupboard is, but if the Sabres re-sign him before then, it could be a prime opportunity for a club to swoop in on Benson. As a smaller winger, he’s not exactly the kind of guy you picture becoming a franchise player, but the Flyers could pair his acquisition with another move or two to recoup some of the draft capital that they’d have to spend to get Benson. Bringing him in doesn’t have to ruin the future pipeline. You’re also not going to find a player this young with this much upside very often, at least in terms of being realistically available.

Cole Perfetti

Time may be running out to turn the 24-year-old Perfetti into a legit NHL center rather than the wing he’s become in Winnipeg, but any new team may want to give it a shot. He’s also a bit of a distressed asset, putting up just 32 points this past season following a semi-breakout 50-point campaign in 2024-25. Finances are always an issue in Winnipeg, and the Jets will likely bristle at the idea of spending anywhere near the new cap number for next year. Their best players are locked into mostly reasonable deals, but this time could be ripe to take Perfetti off their hands.

It’s hard to say what an appropriate number would be, but there is seemingly no way that the Jets would give Perfetti more than the $7.5 million they currently allot for 30-goal man Gabe Vilardi. You wonder, if the Flyers were to offer something at or near $7,163,498 per season, could it get the job done? That figure represents the upper limit where they’d surrender two picks (a 1st and a 3rd) in 2027, and it might be enough for the Jets to relent.

Then again, it’s unclear how much the Flyers or any club weighing offer sheets would value Perfetti, or if they would target one of the aforementioned players or even someone like Adam Fantilli or Mavrik Bourque instead of him. At any rate, Perfetti could be a feasible fallback option, and he is a more attractive piece than just about anyone on the open market.

In all likelihood, GMs around the NHL will overpay in free agency and decline to use the offer sheet tool they have at their disposal. But the best front offices will explore every avenue and then use them if and when their initial plans fall through. For the Flyers, it might mean acquiring an important piece of the core this offseason that can be part of a competitive window for the team. They have glaring needs, and an offer sheet might be a shrewd way to address some areas before the start of next season.

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