What a week for fans of the Philadelphia Flyers! First, Matvei Michkov arrives in Philly wearing a Phillies hat. Then, on Thursday, the Flyers signed Travis Konecny to an eight-year contract to become to team's highest-paid player at 8.75 million. That's not bad. It's a lot of money, but it's not going to cripple this team moving forward. It's also right around the price that we figured he'd be given.
It is possible he could have earned more had he hit the open market. Maybe he gave the Flyers a hometown discount. It does show a long-term trend of the Flyers trying to lock up their star players for years to come. We've seen it with Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Simon Gagne, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Jakub Voracek, and Claude Giroux. Now it is Konecny's turn. But he isn't the only one.
Sean Couturier is locked up through 2023. So are Owen Tippett and Travis Sanheim. Joel Farabee and Nick Seeler will be around, barring trades of course, until 2028. That makes five players that will make up the core of the Flyers team through the rest of this decade. That is a unit you can build around.
Konecny's contract extension shows Flyers commitment to reward their stars
With Michkov and the rise of other young stars, you can probably see more players getting locked up. Now that Konecny is locked up long-term, the Flyers can decide if other "contract year" players, such as Cam York, Morgan Frost, Noah Cates, and Tyson Foerster are worth keeping around.
More importantly, it sends a signal to the players, like Michkov. If you perform here and give it all you have, you will be rewarded. Every player in every sport wants security, a lot of money, and a long contract. We all know that sports is a short career. Few guys last longer than five years in any sport.
Konency has been here through good times and bad times, just like Sanheim, Couturier, and Scott Laughton. Yet, the Flyers want these guys together. They like the chemistry this team has. Rather than build a team with outsiders, they are banking on a core group of players who will lead this team forward. Konecny is counted on being one of those leaders.
Spotrac estimates that the salary cap will increase to $92 million for the NHL next year. That's not a bad assumption. If so, that opens up 17 million for the Flyers to play with next year. After some re-signings and bonuses, plus some dead salary cap buyouts coming off the books, the Flyers might be in a better position to bring in a semi-big named free agent into town.
What Daniel Briere has done here is genius. He locked up the leading scorer on a long-term deal. He is making the case to his young but improving corps of skaters that they too could get paid if they play well. More importantly, this is signaling to the rest of the NHL that the Flyers are back in business.
This is a sure commitment to the future. The torch from the Giroux-Era has been passed. This is now Konency's time, even if Couturier is the captain. This Flyers team is moving forward and is making sure that other players can see it too. They will reward progress, effort, and hustle. Watch for others on the team to step up and have a great year, be it a contract year or not. Watch for others to have the confidence knowing that they will be around a while instead of having constant trade rumors hovering over them. Furthermore, watch for them to be one of the better teams in the East this year.