The Philadelphia Flyers do not want to get their name out of the headlines, it seems. They have now signed two of their players who were on expiring deals, to fresh and new contracts beginning next season.
First, general manager Danny Briere re-signed blossoming winger Owen Tippett to an eight-year contract extension that will keep him in Philadelphia through his prime. And now, just hours later, it has been reported that the Flyers have re-signed depth forward Ryan Poehling to a two-year, $3.8-million contract extension that will hold a cap hit of $1.9 million.
Poehling, 25, joined the team as an unrestricted free agent last summer after not being qualifyed by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Due to his age and just signing a one-year, $1.4-million deal with the Flyers, the center was a pending restricted free agent. This new two-year deal takes him right to unrestricted free agency and he will hit the open market after the 2025-26 season, at 27 years old.
With such a low cap hit, there really isn’t much of a risk for the Flyers. They obviously like the player and what he has done so far — five goals and 14 points in a limited depth role — so they simply decided to keep him around for his prime playing years for not much of a pay raise. Comparing Poehling’s current contract and his extension, he is simply just getting a $500,000 per year raise for doing a very good job through the first several months in Philadelphia. Simple as.
And when thinking about how the NHL’s salary cap ceiling is set to reportedly rise from $83.5 million to $87.675, that contract’s financial significance shrinks even further. Currently, Poehling’s contract counts for 1.68 percent of the salary cap. This extension will count for a grand total of 2.16 percent (if the reported number is correct). The teeny tiny increase in Poehling’s size of the pie is probably what he deserves after continually playing just solid, Tortorella hockey.
Now that another expiring deal has been dealt with, the only players who are on expiring deals on this team are pending unrestricted free agents Sean Walker, Nick Seeler, and Marc Staal (who could all be dealt before the trade deadline), and then pending restricted free agents Egor Zamula, Bobby Brink, and a handful of AHL talent. Not a whole lot of business that needs to be done.
The dust is settling on who will be a part of this roster next season. Well, at least those who have contracts for next season — we still don’t know who will be traded away or not. Transactions, baby!
