The NHL free agency market for this offseason doesn't have a lot of big names. Check that...not a lot of young big names. You could open the wallet for an Evgeni Malkin or Patrick Kane. Perhaps you are still yearning for a reunion with Claude Giroux. And while they are still good players, they aren't worth putting the Flyers back in salary cap hell.
For the most part, the Flyers just need to re-sign their available pieces. It helps that Trevor Zegras wants to return. The team has built a cast of young players who look ready to contribute. Combinations of Zegras, Porter Martone, Travis Konecny, Alex Bump, Denver Barkey, Christian Dvorak, Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, Matvei Michkov, and Owen Tippett are all enough to make fans happy and opponents cringe.
However, they need just one more piece to make the jump from playoff team to legit contender. The funny thing is, the team did this once before with great results. With luck, they can do it again.
The Historical Precedent
The 2006-07 Flyers were the worst in team history. Saying that team stunk is being kind. Despite a horrific season, the team was stocked with young talent that was up and coming: Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, and RJ Umberger. The team also had reliable vets like Mike Knuble, Peter Forsberg, and Simon Gagne.
The following season, Forsberg was flipped for Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timmonen. Also, a young Giroux appeared in his first two games. However, it was a free agent signing that season that turned the fortunes of the team around. His name was Daniel Briere.
A year after scoring 32 goals and 95 points with Buffalo, Briere would score 31 goals and 75 points with Philly in his first season. And just like with the Sabres the season before, he took the Flyers to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they fell to the Penguins in five games. Buffalo would sink into mediocrity soon thereafter, and the Flyers would go on to make a resurgence over the next few years.
Briere Needs to Target Alex Tuch
Again, the Flyers can capitalize by stealing a great player from Buffalo. If anyone can do it, Briere can. It involves snagging Alex Tuch from the Sabres.
Tuch, who just turned 30, has put up back-to-back 30+ goals with Buffalo. He is a fast flier down the ice and is a menace on the left wing. He could provide the sort of speed a Martone or Michkov could be paired up with. He also has seven power-play goals this season, which would easily be second on Philly this past year. In the postseason thus far, Tuch has four goals with three assists to help push the Sabres deep into the playoffs. He has just the sort of skills that the Flyers need on the left side.
Because of the law of supply and demand, Tuch may be overpaid this offseason. He is currently being paid over $4 million. Since he has been a major part of Buffalo's resurrection, he could easily command $10 million. Keep in mind that the Sabres will probably do everything they can to keep him there in Western New York instead of letting yet another talented player leave. The Sabres have come a long way to get back into the playoffs and won't let him go easily.
However, after the Flyers re-sign Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, and with the expected salary cap increase, they just might have enough to try to entice Tuch to come south. Perhaps Briere can induce him by talking about why he left Buffalo for Philadelphia. Maybe it could be enough.
The reason Tuch would be a good fit is because it adds another speedy player who can be a sniper on the outside. This wouldn't hinder any of the young players' development. Instead, it would help to enhance their growth as players. A veteran like Tuch could be the sort of player who could push the Flyers to that next level. Whereas most of the other free agents would just be pricey additions, he would truly enhance them and could be a staple of the team for the next three to five years. By that time, most of the older vets would be gone, and the current young players would have assumed the roles of team leaders.
Most of the other free agents the Flyers could/might get are probably just depth pieces to bolster a line or the defense in case someone gets hurt. Tuch would be the one stretch that would truly and greatly improve this team's fortunes. At least it would be worth checking in on. Who knows, maybe Briere might be able to convince him that cheesesteaks are better than wings and Philly is greater than Buffalo.
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