The free agency frenzy in the NHL begins on July 1. Monday at noon, teams can officially announce the signings of unrestricted free agents, typically causing a great deal of shuffling of NHL rosters at the peak of the offseason.
But for the Flyers, the 2024 free agency frenzy will hardly be that. It’s expected to be fairly quiet for the Orange and Black.
“I still expect it to be slow,” GM Danny Briere said on Saturday following the draft. “It can always change, but I expect it to be slow on our part, even with buying out Cam. We had no choice to buy out Cam, just to put us in a decent position. We’re not out of the woods with the salary cap, so don’t expect too much.”
Briere has been consistent on this belief. He stated the same in his pre-draft availability, and as far back as the NHL Combine. The Flyers cap situation is a big reason why.
The Flyers currently have approximately $4.32 million in cap space. Much of that cap space will go towards re-signing restricted free agents and potentially adding Matvei Michkov on an entry-level deal in the coming days.
The Flyers extended qualifying offers to their two restricted free agents on Sunday, Egor Zamula and Bobby Brink. They are expected to get new contracts at some point this offseason.
Similarly, July 1 marks the first day that the Flyers can sign Travis Konecny to an extension, something Briere has indicated to be the priority of the offseason. Konecny is entering the final season of his contract, so the cap hit from an extension would not kick in until the 2025-26 season.
Other than that, the Flyers are not expected to be big players in free agency. They have remained in contact with Erik Johnson, and are expected to bring him back in a veteran role at the back end of the blue line, similar to the role Marc Staal held last season. The Flyers may also look to add another veteran forward to the mix as well. One of their UFAs, Denis Gurianov, was not expected to return and a signing of this nature could be used to fill that role.
