For the second time in the last 18 years, the Philadelphia Flyers missed the playoffs. With the win today and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow philosophy the team employs, that isn’t going to sit well with owner Ed Snider.
Snider wants to win -- at least that’s what he what he wants his fans to believe. Snider has always given his general manager the go-ahead to acquire big names and spend tons of money. Before the salary cap, this wasn’t a problem. There was no limit on team’s payrolls.
The richer organizations could outspend the less fortunate organizations, which resulted in a dominance on the ice and the idea of parody didn’t really exist. In the pre-cap era, there were a handful of teams you expected to be in the running for the Stanley Cup. The Flyers were one of them.
As a result of the 2004-05 lockout, the salary cap was introduced to curb this. The National Hockey League wanted all its teams to be in contention for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Parody equals more fans in more cities, which equates to more money coming into the pockets of the owners and
the league.
With more competitive teams and a salary cap, teams have to adapt and operate differently. Some have done so better than others. The Flyers have done okay given the circumstances. But that way of doing business will eventually catch up to them.
The Flyers have now missed the playoffs twice in the last eight seasons. For any franchise to make the playoffs six out of eight seasons is an accomplishment, but after the last missed postseason, the Flyers blew things up. Blowing things up is possible again.
What this past season showed was that the Flyers’ defense needs improvement, their goaltending has been inconsistent (and it’s expensive) and they need to get bigger up front. These are all things to be addressed this summer.
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren already started the process by acquiring the rights to Mark Streit from the Islanders. Streit’s an excellent puck-moving defender with good speed and a solid transition game. He’ll add secondary power play scoring and a quality offensive defenseman to pair with Luke Schenn or Braydon Coburn (assuming he stays).
The Flyers have exclusive rights to talk with Streit before he hits unrestricted free agency on July 5. It’s clear the Flyers view Streit as an upgrade and want to sign him, and Streit has said that he wants to be a Flyer. A contract will likely get done.
Shortly after acquiring his rights, the Flyers agreed to terms on a new contract with Streit, though they can’t announce it until they get in compliance with the salary cap. Streit’s deal is for four years, $21 million.
Streit helps the Flyers’ defense, but he doesn’t solve all its problems. Philadelphia still needs a No. 1 defenseman that can log 25 minutes per game, shutdown opponent’s top players and provide offense to boot. Holmgren will be in the market for defensemen.
With Streit acquired and signed, the Flyers have acquired the top unrestricted option available. To further upgrade the defense, Holmgren will look in the trade market and in the draft.
The Flyers are in a bit of a pickle with the salary cap, even with buying Danny Briere out. The Upper Limit for next season is $64.3 million, and the Flyers still are $1,485,189 million over the ceiling with Briere’s cap hit off the books.
The question that remains is whether or not the Flyers will use their second compliance buyout on Ilya Bryzgalov.
With the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final, the buyout period begins on Wednesday around 11 p.m. There isn’t any rush to buy out players, so it’s plausible that the Flyers wait until closer to the actual deadline.
With Briere bought out, the 35-year-old will be paid about $3.3 million from Philly and is now an unrestricted free agent who reportedly will have many suitors. He still can help a team and is a proven playoff performer. He just doesn’t fit with the Flyers anymore.
His production has declined and his lack of versatility and chemistry with the team coupled with his cap hit makes it an easy decision. The buyout had to happen.
Bryzgalov is a curious case. The 32-year-old netminder enters the third year of a nine-year, $51 million contract next season.
His first two years with the orange and black have consisted of inconsistent play, throwing teammates under the bus and plenty of run-ins with the media, which like it or not factors into the decision. There have been whispers players don’t like him, either.
This past season is evidence of that. Bryzgalov started the year keeping the Flyers in games. He was brilliant in the first month of the season, but as the season crept on, “Bryz” began being inconsistent.
The eyes tell you that the players in front of him stopped playing for him in the latter portion of the schedule. After the Flyers acquired Steve Mason from Columbus, the team compete was much higher with him in net than “Bryz.”
ESPN previously stated Holmgren saying that a buyout will not be extended to the Russian goalie, and Snider has twice publically backed Bryzgalov as well (he also praised Mason when asked to defend Bryzgalov as well).
A more recent report from TSN’s Bob McKenzie says the opposite. “It’s not carved in stone,” McKenzie said on Twitter, “but in spite of what has been said in past, I expect PHI is likely to use compliance buyout on Ilya Bryzgalov.”
(EDITORS NOTE: And was right! Courtesy of The Fourth Period who reported this back on June 13)
The fact is Bryzgalov is owed $34.1 million over the next seven seasons. He holds a reasonable cap hit ($5.6 million) and is a system goalie. He’s the best option right now, but his play with the team hasn’t lived up to money being spent.
Also, there’s not indication that Ilya Bryzgalov wants to stay in Philadelphia. He thinks the city is “old,” and the media has ripped him. There’s a good chance Bryzgalov doesn’t want to stay, and a better chance the team doesn’t want him.
It wouldn’t be the first time Holmgren didn’t completely tell the truth. Rick Curran, Jeff Carter’s agent, said that Holmgren promised Carter that the Flyers would not trade him when he signed an 11-year extension with the Flyers. The Flyers traded Jeff Carter.
With the Flyers likely having big plans this summer, buying both Briere and Bryzgalov out makes the most sense from a money viewpoint. Both players being bought out would give Holmgren about $9.5 million in cap space to sign Streit and other free agents.
Couple that $9.5 million with Chris Pronger being placed on LTIR, the Flyers should have roughly $12 million to operate with. That should be enough money for Holmgren to tinker with his roster without having to worry about the salary cap.
The Flyers have the 11th pick in the first round on June 30th’s draft. The obvious thinking is that the orange and black will look at defenseman at No. 11, but the Flyers have always abided to take the best player available.
If a forward is the best player at 11, Holmgren will take him. If a goalie is the best player, Holmgren will take him. If a defenseman is the best player available, Holmgren will take him. If Holmgren has his eyes on someone that requires trading him, he’ll do that.
And if he thinks he can get the player he wants by trading down, that’s an option too. Oh, let’s not forget, if Holmgren get use the No. 11 pick as trade bait in a package to acquire a No. 1 defenseman, he’ll definitely go down that avenue as well.
Trading first-round picks isn’t something the Flyers have been afraid to do. But with the draft in Philadelphia next year, you can expect Holmgren to hold onto that first-rounder. One would think the Flyers want to have a first-round pick with the draft in town.
In terms of prospects who the Flyers could look at, there should be a defenseman that’s available at No. 11 that will intrigue Holmgren. This year’s draft rivals the 2003 draft, which has proven to be the best in league history.
After Seth Jones -- the top ranked defensive prospect who is expected to go either No. 1 or No. 2 -- there are plenty of legitimate prospects in this draft. Donovan McNabb’s nephew, Darnell Nurse, possibly could fall to 11 in which the Flyers could grab him.
A few other names to look at: Ryan Pulock, Nikita Zadorov and Robert Hagg.
The point there is that the best player available could be a defenseman or, at the very least, the difference between the forward prospect and the defensive prospect will be so minute that the Flyers should go with the need over the best player available.
It’s not written in stone that the Flyers will pick at 11. They may keep the pick. They made trade up. They may move down or move the pick altogether.
The Flyers haven’t been bad drafters, at least at the forward position. They have a long, rich history of drafting quality, and often, top forwards, even when they are picking in near the end of the first round.
Mike Richards and Carter were both drafted in 2003. They were the faces of the franchise before they blew it up in 2011. Simon Gagne was a late first rounder. Claude Giroux was another. Sean Couturier was a first-rounder. Scott Laughton was picked last year.
The Flyers don’t have a history of picking first-round defensemen. Historically, the Flyers haven’t picked many defensemen in the first round. The Flyers have only drafted 10 defensemen in the first round in their 46 years.
Philadelphia’s draft philosophy hasn’t hurt the team. They consistently draft top forwards. It can improve, starting this year, by drafting better defensive prospects. The player the Flyers pick in the first round this year likely will be a good player.
That Sunday at the Prudential Center in New Jersey will be a busy day for the NHL. The Flyers will be busy, working the phones as will every other team. There is expected to be a ton of movement at the draft, and perhaps the Flyers find their No. 1 defenseman.
What hurts the Flyers isn’t their draft philosophy. It’s their lack of patience. Their lack of going through growing pains with young players, not panicking when they have a good core in place and seeing the results.
Once they learn patience, the likelihood of a Stanley Cup will follow. They already lost a Vezina winning goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky because of the impatient owners. They can’t continue to go forward trying to buy championships.
Because it doesn’t work, it hurts.