By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Typically in years past, when the dawn of free agency hit, fans would wait for the Flyers to be active in some way. Sometimes it was landing the big free-agent prize. Others, it was a minor move here or there for a player who was recognizable, but hardly a headliner.
In some cases, the dawn of free agency can be a double-edged sword. Yes, teams can make big splashes and send fan bases stirring with excitement. But down the road, those can be the deals that are looked back upon and make fans cringe — see Vincent Lecavalier.
For the Flyers this offseason, Ron Hextall has seemingly taken the drama and excitement out of free agency. The Flyers re-signed Jordan Weal two days before the signing period opened. They are expected to make a deal with goalie Brian Elliott official when the signing period opens at noon.
And that’s it.
For a change, there will be no surprises from the Flyers, no big names, big deals, big questions about how it impacts the future. In the end, the Flyers re-signed their top offensive unrestricted free agent and found a new goalie. Check both items off the list and move on.
That’s seemingly what Hextall is doing, and for a GM who has thrived during Draft weekend, but had some signings come and go with fans pining for a way to see them leave. Instead of potentially making another deal like that, the Flyers kept it in house with the skaters and found a stop-gap goalie.
The goalie situation may not be what fans want it to be. But this is reality. The Flyers are waiting for a goalie like Carter Hart or Felix Sandstrom to be ready to step in at the NHL level, but that won’t happen overnight. So it’s the Brian Elliott-Michal Neuvirth tandem for the next two years, a perfectly reasonable timeline for the two prospect goalies.
As for the forwards, Weal provides more clarity to that group. The Flyers were linked to veteran forward Justin Williams, but that was maybe more of a backup plan if Weal didn’t return.
Hextall said on Friday that he wasn’t going to sign free agents that would “box the young guys out of the lineup.” This is a continuing philosophy we’ve seen from Hextall this offseason. He openly admitted there were spots open on the blue line. Now he’s saying the same up front as well with the forward group.
The Flyers have spent several seasons stocking the pipeline. Now they start to turn the corner with youth. And if that means a fairly predictable free agency period while the other 30 teams are in a frenzy, that’s perfectly fine.
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