Free agency officially opens in just a few hours as the NHL world will bid for the best available players. For the Flyers, it is a time when they may not be active players when it comes to outside players, but more about retaining their own.
There will be two parts to free agency for the Flyers. For one, they are essentially bringing back a similar team to last year, especially after extending qualifying offers to five players on Monday.
Here is a preview of what the opening weekend of free agency could be like for the Flyers.
Retaining Current Players
The biggest move the Flyers may make on the opening day of free agency isn’t a player that may be newly available to the Flyers, but one they are looking to keep, potentially long term. Brayden Schenn received a qualifying offer on Monday from the Flyers and is expected to remain with the Flyers on a new deal.
While other teams will be looking to add new players, the Flyers biggest move of free agency could be solidifying a place for Schenn in the lineup.
Additionally, restricted free agents Nick Cousins, Brandon Manning and Jordan Weal could sign as early as this weekend as well and unrestricted free agent Ryan White has expressed a desire to return, even if it means taking less money.
Free Agent Targets
The Flyers aren’t going to have a lot of cap space available once they re-sign their restricted free agents, so there won’t be a splash signing from the Flyers among the available players. So eliminate the possibility of Milan Lucic, Kyle Okposo, Loui Eriksson and David Backes being on the Flyers radar.
But the mid-range free agents could be right in their wheelhouse and it wouldn’t be a surprise for the Flyers to try to add one or even two new players to the fold. Here are a few targets.
Jamie McGinn – The Flyers need scoring, and McGinn has become a more consistent goal scorer over his last four seasons. He set a new career high last season with 22 goals between the Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks. He missed much of 2014-15 with an injury, playing in just 19 games, but scored 19 goals in the 2013-14 season, 11 goals in the lockout-shortened 2013 season and 20 goals in the 2011-12 season. The brother of former Flyers Tye McGinn has a much better track record at the NHL level. Tye has scored just nine career goals and played in 89 career games. Jamie has scored 91 career goals in 450 career games. Last season, McGinn had a cap hit of $2.95 million. If the Flyers can keep his cap hit at a similar rate or find even just the slightest bit of an increase for McGinn, he would be a fit for a team looking to increase scoring.
Brandon Pirri – Also a free agent from Anaheim, Pirri could be an addition at a cheap cost for the Flyers. He made just under $1 million last season while scoring 14 goals and adding 15 assists between Florida and Anaheim. In the 2014-15 season, despite missing nearly half the season, Pirri scored 22 goals, a career high. He's a hit or miss kind of player, but the Flyers may be interested given the low price tag.
P.A. Parenteau – In his first season with Toronto, Parenteau returned to scoring form that made him a player to watch in his early years entering the league. He scored 20 goals and added 21 assists for the Maple Leafs last season. In his first three full seasons in the NHL, two with the Islanders and one with the Avalanche, he scored 20 goals as a rookie and 18 goals in each of his next two seasons. Last season, Parenteau had a cap hit of $1.5 million.
Thomas Vanek – Though he was a lofty cap hit for the Minnesota Wild at $6.5 million last season, Vanek is free to sign with any team after being bought out. The 11-year veteran is on the back end of his career, but is still scoring at a solid rate. He scored 18 goals in 74 games last season, his first below the 20-goal mark in his career. Just two seasons earlier, he scored 27 goals in a year where he bounced around between the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens. If his cap hit can be significantly lowered, the Flyers could add a solid scoring winger on a short-term deal looking to prove he still has plenty of goals left in him.
Dale Weise – Never one to play a big chunk of ice time, the Flyers could essentially vault Weise into a third-line role, which could equate to more scoring. He scored 14 goals last season, all with Montreal despite being traded during the season to Chicago, and had 10 goals the season before. He may not solve the Flyers scoring woes, but he would be an upgrade nonetheless over some of the other forwards on the roster.
Andrew Ladd – Ladd has consistently become a strong scorer in the league, with five straight seasons of 20-plus goals — if you exclude the lockout-shortened 2013 season, where he scored 18 goals in 48 games. Ladd would be a perfect fit on the Flyers second line and be an instant upgrade and scoring threat. The big concern here is the cap hit. Ladd made $4.4 million last season with the Winnipeg Jets and was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for the final 19 games of the season. The Flyers may not have that much money to play with and Ladd is due for a raise.
Matt Martin – This could be another cost-effective signing for the Flyers, but hinges on what happens with Ryan White, who is likely to resign. The Flyers won't have a need for two players of very similar playing styles. So if it isn't White returning, Martin would be a perfect replacement. Last season, he scored 10 goals and had 19 points and was a $1 million cap hit.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
