The Philadelphia Flyers are not going to be big players in free agency this week, but they could peruse around the edges of the pool and try to dip their toes in to feel the temperature.
We are expecting them to address the goaltending position, by adding one of the very few worthwhile options in between the pipes in free agency, or by giving up some mediocre assets for a possibly younger netminder that is blocked in his current organization. And, maybe they will also add a fourth-line center to replace Ryan Poehling. Those two acquisitions are at the top of the Flyers’ list, but they could be involved in adding other types of talent, if they really strive on improving this team.
It’s evident that the Flyers don’t want to be picking sixth overall again — or even potentially in the top 10 next year. After taking a boatload of draft picks and adding several new prospects last week, the Flyers want to pivot and take the next step in the rebuilding plan. That can take on many forms — well, adding an actual NHL goaltender is doing that — but what it can include is trying to add maybe more of a veteran presence for depth, instead of banking on some young players or people already in the organization to fill that role.
That is what they need to avoid, and these are two players that fit that potenital mistake.
Corey Perry
We weren’t even thinking about Corey Perry playing for the Flyers until Elliotte Friedman hit publish on his pre-free agency blog and tried to attempt some matchmaking. In a run of predictions, Friedman wrote that the Flyers have interest in Perry but he’s not sure of the likelihood. That shook us a little bit.
Perry is coming off of a renaissance season with the Edmonton Oilers, getting to piggyback on the best players of the world passing him the puck and scoring 19 goals at literally 40 years old. Again, he is FORTY years old. Perry should be going out there and trying to play 30 games on a Stanley Cup contender, hang out in the press box the other 52 times, and then try to collect a ring in the summer. In Philadelphia, he will not have that chance.
From the Flyers’ point of view, this could be seen as a desire to bring some more veteran leadership to your team but it would be like trying to do that with someone who hasn’t even really had to do that. Every successful stop, there’s been someone above him.
And even on the ice, what would he provide? He’s not a center, so are we saying that the Flyers want him just in case Garnet Hathaway is injured and Nic Deslauriers isn’t to be seen? It feels like a useless signing if it would happen. So, just don’t do it.
Brent Burns
This is one player we have not seen directly linked to the Flyers but it feels like someone this time might try to get. With Erik Johnson’s departure, someone will need to fill the role of “the seventh defenseman that is very old but is fun to be around” and while Burns fits that mold, when the 40-year-old right-handed blueliner (there is a theme here) was on the ice for the Hurricanes this past year, it was not a pretty sight.
Burns had fine underlyings, and it showed that the Hurricanes were the better team compared to their opponents, whenever the veteran defenseman was on the ice. But he was in the lower half among all Carolina blueliners in those metrics at 5-on-5. Shot attempt share, unblocked shot attempt share, expected goals share — Burns looks good but so did everyone on that team.
What would happen if Burns left that environment? Could he really have the same effect under Rick Tocchet? Maybe, but it feels like a risk and injecting that into the team feels like a risk, compared to just going with Egor Zamula as a seventh defenseman or thinking Jon Merrill is a fine free agent signing instead.
We would probably love to have Burns’s personality on the team and it would be fun to see Travis Konecny have another Wild Ontario Boy on the team, but it feels like a weird fit.
