The Philadelphia Flyers may not manage to make a huge splash in NHL free agency thanks to cap constraints, but general manager Daniel Briere can always make the right personnel moves, which could warrant more space to land even a dream free agent.
Yes, it would be rather farfetched, but many of these team executives are forward-thinking and can make eye-popping moves that we may not think possible on the surface. So let’s list one dream free agent Briere could end up surprising us with and why he would be a good option for the Flyers.
We’ll also check out one realistic option at a position that, for the moment, seems locked down but at quite the risk. Finally, we got one bargain free agent listed who could, despite the cheaper price, make for an excellent addition to the Flyers blue line.
Dream Free Agent: Elias Lindholm, Vancouver Canucks
When I went into this piece, I was thinking defense all the way, but not so much that a potential forward wouldn’t have capabilities offensively. Enter Elias Lindholm, who, despite finishing with just 44 points and 15 goals last season, should return to form in 2024-25, whether he sticks around in Vancouver or goes somewhere like Philadelphia.
Lindholm, per Alexander MacLean of Dobber Hockey, should see his next cap hit sit around the $5 million to $5.1 million range, and that wouldn’t work for the Flyers in their current state. Nor would they afford even the ‘realistic’ or ‘bargain’ players listed. So Daniel Briere would need to find a way to make it work.
For this one, he should at least buyout Ryan Johansen’s contract, or perhaps even Cam Atkinson, the latter of whom would fetch them even more money, costing them roughly $1.758 million over the next two years. The only downside with bringing in Lindholm is that he will be heading into his age-30 season, and if the Flyers want to get younger, he may not quite fit what they’re looking for.
But Lindholm could also have another five solid seasons left, well within the timeframe it would take to fully prime this Flyers team for several playoff runs. Last season proved they could stick around the race, and in doing so, landing someone like Lindholm after making a transaction or two would be a good call.