On Tuesday the National Hockey League revealed what the cost would be regarding offer sheets and the compensation needed to land the player in question. Teams could begin discussing deals with restricted free agents on the night of June 30, but the deal could not be inked until free agency begins on July 1. The tiers were divided into the following, with obviously the bigger offer sheet Average Annual Value (AAV) resulting in a team coughing up more draft picks.
| Offer Sheet AAV | Compensation |
| $1,575,969 or less | None |
| $1,575,969 to $2,387,832 | Third-round pick |
| $2,387,832 to $4,775,666 | Second-round pick |
| $4,775,666 to $7,163,498 | First-round and third-round pick |
| $7,163,498 to $9,551,332 | First-round, second-round, and third-round pick |
| $9,551,332 to $11,939,166 | Two first-round picks, second-round, and third-round pick |
| $11,939,166 or more | Four first-round picks |
The Flyers historically have made three offer sheets. Two were matched (Ryan Kessler by the Canucks in 2006, and the 2012 attempt to land Nashville’s Shea Weber for 14 years), while one was successful (Chris Gratton from Tampa Bay in 1997). Generally, it’s rarely used by general managers to lure a player from elsewhere. But the last two attempts went unmatched as the St. Louis Blues signed Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg from Edmonton who were essentially in cap hell and unwilling to see the duo get sizeable raises. In addition, the rising salary cap is a double-edged sword with offer sheets. Generally teams will have more money to keep restricted free agents in the fold when negotiations take place. However, the rising cap could also give other teams more cash to lure players and drive up the Average Annual Value of their contracts.
There are a handful of big names who will be restricted free agents this summer but shouldn’t be on the radar for the Flyers. Nobody should expect four first-round picks from Philadelphia going anywhere this summer and Chicago’s Connor Bedard donning a Flyers jersey in July. However, there are a few lesser names Flyers general manager Danny Briere and his staff could take a good hard look at. The cost wouldn’t be as steep for those players, and they could prove to be pieces moving forward. Or at worst, reasonable replacements should Philadelphia ship out some personnel in the hopes of securing a top-line center. Here then, in no particular order, are three players who are a tier or two below the big names who are restricted free agents.
Michael Kesselring, RD
Traded last season from Utah to Buffalo along with Josh Doan for John Peterka, Michael Kesselring had a trying 2025-26. He played just one post-season game which sort of mirrored much of this campaign. Namely, he wasn’t in the lineup often, although in the playoffs he was primarily a healthy scratch as Buffalo opted to go with Luke Schenn in some instances. Kesselring, who turned 26 in January, played 34 games and had a pair of assists in a season plagued with a core injury and high ankle sprain. Some might look at his year and see the 6’5″, 215-pound defenseman as injury-prone, maybe resembling a current Flyer (and former Sabre) blueliner who has had his share of mishaps and surgeries. Yet Kesselring played all 82 games in 2024-25, and close to 70 the previous season.
According to NHL Edge, Kesselring has a hard shot (94.57 miles per hour this year but was 103.77 mph in 2024-25, landing in the 99th percentile league-wide). A shot like that would certainly be advantageous on the power play, although he’s rarely been used on that special team in his career. His speed is also slightly above average for a blueliner. So he certainly checks some boxes in terms of a big, steady, defenseman. The narrative also seems to be right in line with what Briere loves to do: pick up so-called reclamation projects and see what can be done to transform them into impact players.
With Rasmus Ristolainen possibly on the way out of town, and Cam York or Nick Seeler also possible pieces of a package deal to land a key piece up front, Kesselring would seem to be a decent offer sheet prospect. His Average Annual Value was $1.4 million, so an offer sheet for Kesselring would probably only set Philadelphia back a second-round pick (roughly between $2.4 to $4.8 million AAV) and at that price, it certainly doesn’t seem like a bad option.
The Flyers would also have to weigh whether an offer sheet would be the best route to acquire Kesselring, or if a trade where it wouldn’t cost them a second-round pick might be more viable. A trade would give Philadelphia his rights, and most likely wouldn’t result in a higher AAV on inking a contract than it would with an offer sheet proposal.
Perhaps the Flyers look at moving one of their own restricted free agents in Emil Andrae. Andrae is looking more and more like he’s going to be the odd man out given that most of the back end is set for next season. Meanwhile, David Jiricek, Oliver Bonk, and Hunter McDonald could be looking to make the leap from the Phantoms to the Flyers. So a swap of Andrae for Kesselring might be enough to swing a trade, giving both players a fresh start elsewhere.
Barrett Hayton, C
The fifth overall pick in 2018, center Barrett Hayton just completed his two-year, $5.3 million deal ($2.65 million AAV) and is looking for more term, and probable a sizeable raise. Hayton didn’t have a solid year this season, with just 10 goals and 15 assists in 60 games. The season prior, he scored 20 goals to go with 26 assists in a full season. He played just one playoff game for the Mammoth, his first taste of post-season action since 2019-20 when he played three games for Arizona. Hayton, who suffered from an upper-body injury late in the season, isn’t afraid to go to the hard parts to get shots off. He had 58 shots in high danger areas according to NHL Edge, a zone where the league average was 32 shots. The forward also has a bit of size, and would certainly improve the Flyers depth down the middle. He also holds his own on the faceoff dot, with two seasons at 54.1 and 52.6 per cent effectiveness.
He’s not the top-tier center Philadelphia (and nearly every other team) so desperately covets. Like Kesselring, he could help the Flyers depth. With his age (he turns 26 in June) and his cap hit, it would certainly be a player Briere and his staff take a good, hard look at. The offer sheet most likely would be in the range of Philadelphia forking over a first-round pick as well as a third-round pick (roughly $4.78 million to $7.16 million AAV). The high end of that range puts him behind Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny in terms of forward salaries. And most likely behind Trevor Zegras should “Ziggy” and the team agree on a long-term extension. On the other hand, having another capable center eases the pressure on prospects like Jack Berglund or Jett Luchanko being pushed to the big club too soon. He’s not quite a reclamation project, but a new start in Philadelphia might be just what the doctor ordered.
Arber Xhekaj, LD
Arber Xhekaj doesn’t have a lot of offensive upside. But he is big, and can be bruising. At 6’4″ and 240 pounds, he has a mean streak, and can protect himself and his teammates if the time arises. Xhekaj was an undrafted player who the Canadiens signed in 2021. His first two seasons with Montreal weren’t full campaigns, with the blueliner spending time in Laval for 17 games in 2023-24. Since then, Xhekaj has been inked into the Habs lineup, playing 65 games this past season.
He’s not going to generate much offense with just 10 goals in 230 NHL games to date. He is going to be a team’s enforcer, and is starting to hone his stay-at-home game a little more in recent years. His Corsi For percentage increased slightly to 47.49 per cent, his goals for percentage also rose marginally (42.59), but it’s not like he’s a play-driving defender. His size and grit is what might make him appealing, particularly to a Flyers fanbase who has rarely been averse to that time of enforcement activity. With Montreal in the third round against Carolina, Xhekaj is averaging roughly eight minutes of ice time a game, typical third-pairing minutes for a defenseman of that ilk.
Xhekaj, who turns 26 this coming January, cut down on his giveaway by about 40 per cent this season over 2024-25 (35 down from 59) and had nearly 180 hits this season, with almost a third of them in his last 15 regular season games. And his shot isn’t too bad, registering at 98.97 miles per hour in the regular season, putting him in the 93rd percentile.
He just completed a two-year deal with a $1.4 million AAV. It could end up that Xhekaj would be in the tier for a second-round pick compensation, but just like Kesselring, is the player actually worth that much in the trade market. He could possibly be a solid replacement for a defenseman like Nick Seeler should he be on the move for an improvement on the forward end. He won’t find himself playing top pairing minutes with Travis Sanheim, but having a guy who could do the job Nic Deslauriers, Seeler, and Garnet Hathaway occasionally did (punching people in the face) might be worth checking out.
Stats courtesy of NHL Edge, Natural Stat Trick, and Capwages.
