In 2020, the Flyers selected Emil Andrae in the second round of the NHL draft, taking him 54th overall. His scouting reports all talk about his great ability to pass the puck and advance the play forward. He was seen as an offensive first defender with a lot of vision. He may have been a bit on the smaller side when drafted, coming in at 5'9" and 183 lbs, but his speed was his gift. After all, that's roughly the same size that Kimmo Timmonen was, and Andrae was billed to be the next Timmonen.
The next time we heard about him, he had taken a puck off the face. He missed some time during the 2022-23 season to recover from that. Still, the Flyers liked what they saw and brought him over to the US, where he played for the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms, appearing in ten games, scoring two goals with four assists.
He would spend the 2023-24 season with the Phantoms and would take a four-game call-up with Philly when defenders got hurt. The following season, he'd split time between Philly and Allentown, playing 42 games with the Flyers and 21 for the Phantoms. In parts of three seasons, the 24-year-old defender has appeared in 104 games for the Flyers with three goals and seventeen assists.
The Flyers need to make an Emil Andrae decision soon
It's decision time for the Flyers and Andrae. As far as the young defensive corps goes, he has the most NHL experience. David Jiricek has played in 84 games, Oliver Bonk has appeared in just one regular-season game and one postseason game, Helge Grans has played in five games, and Adam Ginning has seen action in 16. Â
However, Andrae is starting to fall out of favor. Maybe it is his size. Maybe it is his inconsistency. There are some games where Andrae looks like a solid player. There are other games where he looks totally lost and confused. While it is understandable that a young player may think/act/play like that, he has over 100 games under his belt and is 24 years old.Â
As an RFA, is he someone the Flyers should extend? His salary is $925,000. As an RFA ready for his next contract, the Flyers have three options here.
Option 1: Re-sign Him ---Â He's still young yet and can mature. A bridge deal, like two or three years, around $1-$1.25 million would not be unreasonable. It's still cheap. He is still under control. If you have to move him later on, he'd be an easy move. Who knows, maybe he can become a good defender. After all, it took Sanheim a while to figure out how to be a top defender in the NHL.
Option 2: Trade Him ---Â Before the draft, trade his rights to another team. Maybe as part of a package deal for someone else or for a mid-tier draft pick (3rd or 4th round). That would save the team money and would open up a space for Jiricek on the roster.
Option 3: Cut Him ---Â Just straight up let him walk. This is the least attractive of the options, as the team gets nothing for him. However, it might be the only option they end up with. To be fair, though, the Flyers let Ginning walk last year and re-signed him as an AHL depth piece in August. The difference is that Andrae is a younger former second-round pick, whereas Ginning is an older former second-rounder.
The time is ticking on Andrae. Has he done enough to stick around? I don't honestly know. If you've paid attention over the past year, the Flyers have added a lot of young defenders through trades. Besides Jiricek, they've also acquired via trades Artem Guryev (former 5th rounder) and Christian Kyrou (former 2nd rounder). Both are bigger and younger than Andrae.
Personally, I think that the first two options are the best. Either you give him a chance to develop and improve his game, or you trade him for something and get something in return. Either way, this is going to be one of the more subtle decisions that Daniel Briere has to make.
Andrae could be a foundational piece moving forward, a player who will spend just a spell here or gone soon. Solving his employment as a Flyer is not as critical as re-signing and extending Dan Vladar, Jamie Drysdale, and Trevor Zegras. Still, it is important because it will show where the defense could be heading next season. It will be interesting to see what happens in the weeks ahead.
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