The NHL draft was a week ago. Free agency just begun and, for the most part, all the good players are pretty much taken. All that's left are the scraps. For a lot of Flyers fans who are tired of the never ending rebuild, we are wondering if they did enough in this offseason.
Forget about the draft, as we won't see the fruits of that for a few years. So far, we've gotten a new coach, extended some guys, traded for Trevor Zegras, and added pieces like Christian Dvorak and Dan Vlader in free agency. Is it enough?
The first thing we have to do is compare ourselves to our divisional rivals in the Metropolitan. Some have been quite busy. Others....not so much. How do the Flyers stack up with them and what does it mean moving forward?
New York Islanders
The Islanders started off the offseason facing an inordinate amount of RFAs, all of them good, and the inability to sign all of them. They then shocked everyone by trading away Noah Dobson for two first round picks, attempted to trade those picks to the Flyers for the #6 pick (in order to acquire James Hagens),and tried to do the same to Boston who chose Hagens.
In the meantime, the chose Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick. With their two traded picks, they selected Viktor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson. Eklund was projected to be a top five pick and Aitcheson was widely considered to be the third best defender in the draft.
So, in one fell swoop, they drafted two of the top three defenders in the draft, both of which could be NHL ready, and someone who was widely considered to be the bet European prospect in the draft. Add to this they picked up Maxim Shabanov. They signed most of their RFAs, including Alexander Romanov to an eight year deal, and then were able to bring in Jonathan Drouin. Heck, even Tony DeAngelo, who had a great year last year, re-signed with the Isles.
The Islanders missed the playoffs last year. This team has a funny habit of being good every other year. They have been a difficult team to figure out the last few seasons. One thing is for sure, they are building a team in the style of the Carolina Hurricanes in fashioning a suffocating defense in front of adequate goalies and an offense that is just good enough to win. The Isles may not be good this year, but wait until next year. They will be a problem in years to come. And speaking of the Hurricanes...
Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina has this funny ability to lose top players to free agency every year: Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce, Vincent Trocheck, Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Justin Faulk, Brady Skjei, and Jeff Skinner to name a few they've lost over the seasons. And yet, it doesn't seem to affect them in the least. This year, they lost Dmitri Orlov and Brent Burns, but replaced them with K'Andre Miller and Nikolaj Ehlers. Miller will shore up the defense for years while Ehlers will be a great compliment on the offense to Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and Logan Stankoven.
In the seven years that Rod Brind’Amour has taken over as head coach of the Canes, he has taken them to the playoffs in every season, including three trips to the Eastern Conference Finals. They will continue to be one of the better teams in the East. Their defense has gotten younger and their offense has gotten stronger. If the Isles are building a team to emulate the Canes, Carolina is trying to compete with Florida. They will continue to be a strong team in the Metro for years.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Columbus has had an interesting offseason. They re-signed former Flyer Ivan Provarov to a mega contract for seven years and Dante Fabbro for four. They also traded for Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood from Colorado and then shipped off goalie Daniil Tarasov to the Panthers. CBJ has spent most of its time shoring up its youthful core.
Here's the thing, the Jackets almost made the playoffs last year. Are they a playoff team now? No. If they make it, they would be a one-and-done team. However, they are a team on the rise and should be watched closely.
New York Rangers
Two years ago, the Rangers won the President's Cup and then fell to the Panthers in a seven-game Eastern Conference Final. Then last year happened. Injuries and poor years got the best of them. So, the Rangers fired their coach, traded Chris Kreider and K'Andre Miller, signed Vladmir Gavrikov, and then added some depth pieces. They also extended RFAs Matt Rempe and Will Cuyle.
It's hard to figure out what the Rangers are. They lost some great players, but still have enough to be dangerous. I don't think they are as good as they have been recently but could be one of the last team that enters the playoff race; largely depedning on how the Atlantic Division teams fare.
New Jersey Devils
Much like the Rangers, this is a team that is hard to get a read on. Two years ago, they were a scant few points from being the Presidents Trophy winner. Then they missed the playoffs. Last year, they were in third place. As a young team, they have spent much of the offseason focusing on their RFAs like Cody Glass and Luke Hughes. They also did everything they could to keep pending free agent Jake Allen in house.
They haven't made any major additions. They are running it back with what they had. Could their young guys, who are now becoming vets, carry forth and stay healthy or will it be another up and down season?
Pittsburgh Penguins
The mighty Penguins are not what they were. After missing the playoffs again, they are reduced to taking a chance with depth forwards as they are strapped for cash. They made need to part ways with some long term vets. There were even rumors that Sidney Crosby could be one of those vets before he squashed those rumors. They still have Erik Karlsson though.
They are frisky enough to win games, but not good enough to make the playoffs. None of their free agent moves are of any particular interest. This is a team that has been on the decline for about five or six years and they haven't figured that out yet. That's good for us.
Washington Capitals
A year after missing the playoffs, the Caps were the top team in the Eastern Conference. This year, will be an important one. Alex Ovechkin could be entering one of his final seasons. Did the Caps do enough to support him in one last Stanley Cup run?
They added Justin Sourdif and re-signed a bunch of their RFAs. Much like the Rangers, Devils, and Pens, they seem content to run it back with what they got. Will it help? Will the emotions of potentially losing Alex the Great be enough to inspire them? We'll see.
The Canes continue to be the top dog of the division. The Isles need to be paid attention to. Other than that, most of the teams in the Metro have been rather quiet. The bigger problem for the Flyers are moves that the Atlantic teams made. Florida has brought the band back together by re-signing all their UFAs. Tampa has made some additions as well to stay relevant, including signing former Flyer Jacob Pelletier.
Have the Flyers done enough to compete? We'll see. We'll have to see how the team responds to whatever new system Rick Tocchet employs here as well.