The big list of pending unrestricted free agents the Flyers can steal from their Metropolitan Division rivals
Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Forward/Washington Capitals
With nearly 24.4 hits per game, the Flyers are one of the NHL’s more physical hockey teams, but Nicolas Aube-Kubel carries more value than just being a pure hitter. He’s someone who won’t mind factoring in as a 13th or 14th forward, and his 30 takeaways in 55 matchups as of April 3rd shows you just how often he’s stopping opponents from making plays.
Overall, Aube-Kubel is a fourth-liner, and that’s all he should play, whether in Washington, Philadelphia, or in another division. Despite the limited ice time, it seems as though no matter where Aube-Kubel has played in the past, he’s always helping his team score more goals than they allow at 5-on-5 - even with a Washington Capitals team that’s minus-35 in goal differential.
In 2023-24, his on-ice goals for vs. goals against ratio is a sound 26 to 21 at 5-on-5, and it’s a near-identical 26 to 22 at even strength. His possession quality of minus-7.2 doesn’t tell the entire story, especially when you factor in his xGF sitting at just 18.6 vs. an xGA of 25.8. Regardless, Aube-Kubel has shown plenty of times that he gets the job done, and that should be good enough to target him in free agency if the Flyers need another lower-liner.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)