Earlier this season, we reviewed all of the players that could become free agents for the Philadelphia Flyers this season. The team has a bunch of key players who could be playing their last few months donning the orange and black. Since then, Flyers GM Danny Briere has taken one of these potential free agents off the market when he locked Christian Dvorak in to a relatively cheap five-year deal. Rumors have it that the two sides have been talking for a few weeks and the Flyers have given Dvorak a place tocall home for, what should be, the remainder of his career.
Dvorak has been a great, under the radar signing this offseason. Combined with Dan Vladar, Briere has been hitting jackpot after jackpot and not hitting snake eyes. The next move he needs to make should be an obvious one.
Trevor Zegras will become a restricted free agent this offseason. If you want to know why the Flyers committed to Dvorak first, that's probably the biggest reason. If Dvorak wanted to test the market first or leave town come July, it's best to know now so the team could make plans to move him at the trade deadline. With Zegras, the team has some flexibility as they can make an offer to him and keep him under control.
However, you don't want to do that with Zegras as you may damage the goodwill that has been building. Zegras leads the Flyers with 17 goals, 24 assists, and 41 points. For a guy who has been injury prone the last few seasons in Anaheim, he has appeared in every game this season and has been averaging just under 19 minuts of ice time.
Much like Dvorak, Zegras is a versatile forward who can play left wing or center. Dvorak is the better man in the faceoff circle and has played more in that roll, however Zegras has been a deadly shot on the wing. Still, he can play a spell as center when needed.
Both players have quickly adapted to their new teams and fit in well. The chemistry they have with each other and with their teammates is obvious and is one of the reasons why this team has been successful.
While there are other players the Flyers will need to make decisions on, such as Jamie Drysdale, it is obvious what needs to be done. Lock up Zegras, either to a short-term bridge deal or a long term contract. With Zegras locked in, that will have the Flyers committed to several key players for a while and keep the core of this team together for years to come. At the same time, it allows for young players like Denver Barkey to continue to make their presence felt at this level.
The Flyers' future is starting to look bright. It will look even brighter once Zegras is signed long term.