NHL
The Philadelphia Flyers have spots that need to be filled, but it’s unclear whether it will be by free agents, trades, or pulling from their talent in the AHL. This season’s free agent pool isn’t as deep as previous years, so it might be that they choose a different option.
Overall
There will be a spot available for a defenseman, but it should be filled from within the Flyers system. Travis Sanheim or Philippe Myers will be the two most likely to step into the lineup. Sanheim already has NHL experience and Myers has shown progress from last year during development camp this past week.
Sam Morin would have been another option. Morin was recently signed to a three-year contract, but is recovering from surgery for a torn ACL. He is unavailable until February.
Adding a quality third-line center could be something to consider with Valtteri Filppula becoming an unrestricted free agent. Tyler Bozak and Riley Nash are two options with a good fit. With $21 million in cap space, money isn’t an issue. However, Nash comes with a much lower price tag than Bozak. Bozak could be added to the second power play unit and Nash would be utilized on the penalty kill—something the Flyers are struggling with.
Penalty Kill
After four seasons of being unable to rank above 20 out of all NHL teams for penalty kill, it’s time to address the problem. Last year was the worst of those four. The Flyers were only 75.8% effective on the penalty kill, sitting them at 29th out of 31 teams. They need a boost.
Right now, all eyes are on Michael Grabner for this role. The Flyers have speed in their young team members, but the veterans could use a little extra. Grabner will be able to bring that, along with some goal-scoring power. Of 36 points during 2017-18, 27 of them were goals. On top of that, a few of them have been shorthanded goals, which the Flyers could desperately use.
Another potential would be Tobias Rieder, but he could be more expensive and have less impact. His previous contract was worth about $2.2 million versus Grabner’s $1.6 million. Philadelphia has not been in contact with Rieder yet, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be if Grabner doesn’t pan out. Rieder logged time on both the penalty kill and power play, making him a flexible addition to the Flyers special teams.
Goaltending
The one thing that Ron Hextall doesn’t need to do is bring in another goalie. Unless the situation proves dire at the start of the season, just leave it alone.
Brian Elliott had core surgery during February that kept him out for six weeks. He did return for the final two games of the season and the first round of the playoffs, but there was discussion of a second surgery during the offseason. If he is healthy, that’s good enough.
Michal Neuvirth can be a solid 30-game backup goalie as long as he comes into the season healthy and stays that way. His long history of injury makes it difficult to predict how future seasons will play out, however.
Regardless, the free-agent goalie market isn’t strong enough to provide something better than what the Flyers already have. If something does happen to Elliott or Neuvirth, Alex Lyon gave a decent showing in his 11 games last season. A .905 save percentage and 2.75 goals against average indicate that with a little more training, he can be ready for another NHL stint.
Bringing in another goalie like they did with Petr Mrazek is just going to tie up unnecessary cap space. If the Flyers can hold on for another season or two with the three goalies they have, goalie of the future Carter Hart will likely be ready to make his NHL debut.
