The Philadelphia Flyers still need to finalize their offseason roster moves with just under two months before NHL training camps begin in September. The decision on restricted free agent (RFA) Morgan Frost will be the most impactful of the remaining moves for rookie general manager (GM) Danny Briere. No news has leaked about Frost yet, so expect it almost immediately after this article goes live.
Jim Jackson On Playoff Odds, Season Expectations
Long-time Flyers play-by-play announcer Jim Jackson is the eternal optimist. He studies talented hockey players making a living playing in the best league in the world, and he compliments their incredible abilities on the ice. He stuck to that mantra during an interview with Hunter Brody this week talking about how the Flyers will not finish at the bottom of the league in 2023-24. Even if they do, the veteran announcer pointed out that it won’t be on purpose.
“They are now, obviously, on the way up with younger players, with prospects, (and) with draft picks. Maybe it’s because the Sixers just did that (tanked) people think the Flyers are going to do that (tank). They’re not going to do that. Next year, the team should absolutely finish higher than they did last year,” Jackson said.
“I’m not saying they’re going to be considered a Stanley Cup contender this year or next year, but to contend for a playoff spot, you basically have to be a little over hockey .500,” he continued. “I don’t think it should be taboo to say that.”
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Jackson made a fair point to say that remaining in contention for the playoffs until the final stretch of the regular season isn’t the loftiest goal. He also expressed confidence in the healthy return of Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson as a key boost. The additions of Garnet Hathaway, Marc Staal, and Ryan Poehling should also breed some optimism in Philadelphia after the Flyers finished 26th in the league standings last season.
FanDuel Sports Book has the Flyers at +600 to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which isn’t as much of a longshot as most Flyers fans might’ve guessed. However, their offensive firepower didn’t measure up against the competition in 2022-23. Briere dealt Kevin Hayes, who finished second on the team in points. The blue line lost their two leaders in ice time without any key arrivals to replace them. The Flyers are making some progress in an overall sense as an organization, but reaching the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs is a pipe dream.
Murky Situation for Sanheim
Dom Luszczyszyn listed Travis Sanheim as the player with the seventh-worst contract in the NHL based on projected value determined by age and recent play (from The Athletic, NHL’s 10 worst contracts, 2023 edition: Seth Jones, Colton Parayko and more, 7/26/23). His new eight-year, $50 million extension kicked in on July 1, just days after a reported trade involving Sanheim fell through.
The 6-foot-4 defenseman has underperformed in two of the past three seasons, and he will enter 2023-24 with a lot to prove to head coach John Tortorella. The fiery bench boss already sat Sanheim as a healthy scratch with his family members in attendance in Calgary on Feb. 20. The Flyers face a potentially tumultuous situation cleaning up the mess of Chuck Fletcher’s bullish decision to extend Sanheim if they don’t see drastic improvement in 2023-24. The trade discussions certainly didn’t help him get on the right track.
“I think he was shaken by everything that happened. One of the things I heard was the Flyers were really trying to keep the Sanheim stuff (trade negotiations) quiet because I think they knew how he might react. Well, now it got out,” Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts.
Loose Pucks
The Flyers signed Alexis Gendron to a three-year entry-level contract. The 19-year-old hit an incredible scoring surge after a midseason trade in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He scored 33 goals and added 14 assists in only 34 games after the trade for the Gatineau Olympiques, where Claude Giroux spent most of his junior hockey career.
Tony DeAngelo signed with the Carolina Hurricanes on a one-year deal worth $1.67 million, the same amount it cost him when the Flyers officially bought him out on July 15. The Flyers and Hurricanes had a trade involving DeAngelo fall through in late June. Charlie O’Connor believes the deal would’ve included prospect Massimo Rizzo, a seventh-round pick in 2019, if the original trade had been executed. Although Rizzo has produced well offensively at the University of Denver the last two seasons, the technicality that canceled the trade doesn’t seriously handcuff the Flyers moving forward.