After a Free Agency Flurry, Who's Left For Flyers to Sign?

It's been a crazy first day of the NHL free agency period. The top guys have already signed. Some teams are loading up for next year and look to have built a pretty impressive roster. The Flyers, as we know, are cash-strapped and can't compete financially with most of the NHL's big spenders. We are supposed to be content with the arrival of Matvei Michkov, which is great news, don't get me wrong. It would just help if he had some help.

According to CapFriendly, (while we are still allowed to use it), Philly has just over $2.3 million to spend, barring a trade. So far, Daniel Briere has spent money to re-sign and extend players for years to come, although Travis Konecny hasn't been one yet. We also must be reminded that the team still needs to re-sign Egor Zamula and Bobby Brink, the last remaining RFA's to re-up. And to be fair, that's pretty much where our remaining funds will probably go if they are given contracts north of $1 million. Now, if some other team makes an offer to them and Philly can't match it, we lose out on a rising player but gain some potential cap room.

So, who's left? Who could the Flyers sign? What needs do they have? Who's services could they still use?

Flyers options in free agency

Well, we'll start with a trade. Washington has found themselves to be a staggering $13 million over the cap. They need to clear cap space and are going to be kind of at the mercy of other teams. This means that you can either trade someone for a full salary for next to nothing or trade something a little higher for them to eat some salary. Preferably, they'd like the salary to disappear. For one of our lower picks (6th or 7th round), we could probably be able to acquire Nic Dowd and his $1.3 million salary. The nine-year vet is a solid two-way forward, something the Flyers need. He's not a strong scorer, scoring 12 goals last year, but he is great in the faceoff circle. Plus, he has just one year on his contract, so you wouldn't be stuck with a long commitment.

As far as other centers go, there is not a lot to offer that's left. Either they will be too much to afford. The RFA market has some intriguing options. The Flyers could potentially steal Cole Sillinger from Columbus or 2020 first-round pick Dylan Holloway from Edmonton. Both had been paid under $2 million previously. Columbus has plenty of cap room, so if they wanted to retain Sillinger, they could easily match. Edmonton is also over the cap, like Washington, so they probably wouldn't be able to match anything Philly gave Holloway. If the Flyers were to offer Holloway a $1.4 and he were to accept, the Flyers wouldn't owe the Oilers anything. Anything over that would cost the Flyers a third-round pick. Could be worth it.

As far as wingers go, you could see if Cal Clutterbuck or Milan Lucic would take a chance on the Flyers. They are older vets looking for one more year in the NHL, perhaps. Their best years are behind them, but they could still offer the team something. Dylan Sprong, a 27-year-old, scored 18 goals last year for Detroit. It's unlikely he'd settle for a $2.3 million salary, but if he sits on the market for a while, he may have to.

That's pretty much it. When your well is dry, you don't have a lot of options. The Flyers don't have a lot to spend and therefore, their choices are limited. To be honest, outside of cleaning up our own RFA market, the Flyers are probably done.