Well, folks, we really are in the dog days of the off-season. It is quiet out here. So what does that mean? What are we doing? Going to the beach? Picking up a new hobby? Are you nuts? We’re spending too much time on Twitter. Naturally.
So we’re just sitting around, refreshing our phones, hoping for some kind of news to drop. The Flyers’ two big RFAs—Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov—still don’t have contracts, and we’re dying to know what’s going on. But we aren’t getting any news. The closest we have are the handful of rumors kicking around.
I checked in with someone in the know and was told Konecny is getting very close. Likely a bridge deal around 2–3 years about 4.5AAV. Provorov is stalled completely because the RFA market is also stalled. Agents and players playing the waiting game and no wants to sign first. https://t.co/YZeqPtTWXi
— Jason Myrtetus (@jasonmyrt) August 19, 2019
Like this one from this past Sunday. And this is one that, if true, we should kind of like? We could quibble over that cap hit, whether we’d rather see Konecny signed to closer to $4 million in AAV, or whether we’d prefer to have him locked up long term, but the key piece to take from that is a signing would appear to be imminent. The drama could be close to over.
But, what makes this even more interesting is that it pretty directly conflicts with what Flyers AGM Brent Flahr had to say yesterday.
On @SiriusXMNHL #Flyers AGM Brent Flahr says “it’s been pretty quiet” in terms of recent conversations with RFAs Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov. Cites the league-wide waiting game for other top RFAs but hopes to have them signed by training camp.
— Dave Isaac (@davegisaac) August 21, 2019
So either progress is being made or it isn’t. Contracts will be signed at some point, presumably. That’s what we know. Good talk.
The other interesting piece of that report that report of Konecny being likely to come in at an AAV of $4.5 million is that it certainly doesn’t leave room for, uh, this.
Also heard Provorov’s camp asked for $10m cap hit, which I’m hoping/guessing was attached to an eight-year deal.
So … #CBJ
— Brian Hedger (@BrianHedger) August 21, 2019
And we could spend an entire article talking about how this asking price is astronomical, but we’ll just leave it there—it’s astronomical. And if this is truly Provorov’s ask, we may well be in store for a longer hold out than we had initially imagined. Because this isn’t just a prive the Flyers are more than likely unwilling to pay, it’s one that they can’t pay. There simply isn’t the cap space. So negotiations will have to press on.
This is all speculation, at this point, but like we said, it’s the dog days of the off-season. We need content.
