Ryan Ellis
After a busy offseason, is there still a chance for young players to make their impact on the Flyers roster this season? The possibility exists for sure. It always does. The road to get there is just going to be much more difficult this time around.
While this development camp is really not the place to do full evaluations of players and where they stand in their journey to the NHL, it is a chance to see their skills up close. Mike O’Connell, hired this offseason as a Senior Advisor to the GM and Player Development, spoke on Tuesday in detail about a number of Flyers prospects, many of which impressed him.
The Flyers appear to be done for the offseason, outside of re-signing Carter Hart and Travis Sanheim, and are hoping a majority of their acquisitions turn out to be wins on “quality bets.”
Veteran forward Nate Thompson returns to the Flyers as another free agent acquisition, signing a one-year, $800,000 deal.
As the market opens, the Flyers are still not finished yet. They will definitely be signing a goalie, likely on the opening day of free agency on Wednesday. Don’t rule out the addition of another forward as well to provide some added depth in that department. With those things in mind, here are a few candidates at each position that the Flyers could target in free agency.
Kyle Collington and Kevin Durso are here to discuss the four trades the Flyers made this week, going through each trade, as well as looking at GM Chuck Fletcher’s comments about gaining more energy and changing the mood in the locker room.
For the better part of a decade, the Flyers have utilized the same core group and struggled to consistently put together successful seasons. After their most frustrating one to date, Fletcher knew action was necessary. “We just can’t keep bringing the same players back year after year and expect different results. We had to make changes this year,” Fletcher said.
On Saturday, just prior to making their first pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, the Flyers made yet another trade, sending Jake Voracek to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Cam Atkinson. The trade is one-for-one and no salary was retained.
On the Flyers end, the selection by the Seattle Kraken was rather surprising. While many focused on names like Jake Voracek, James van Riemsdyk, Shayne Gostisbehere, Justin Braun and Robert Hagg, who were left unprotected, the Kraken selected forward Carsen Twarynski as their pick from Philadelphia.
Who will it be? Will Seattle simply select a player or is there a side deal that could be in place? There are three potential outcomes for the Flyers in Wednesday night’s expansion draft, and we’ll detail each possibility and how it could impact the Flyers offseason plans.
