4,811,148.
This number, in various contexts can appear quite large or small depending on the subject matter. In this context, it represents a dollar value, a projection on the amount of cap space the Flyers have to play with as free agency carries on. At face value, a total near five million dollars is a large sum of money, but with the Flyers still yet to sign RFA Phil Myers, this number is misleading.
Evolving Wild project Myers getting a two year deal at a $1.51 million AAV is the most likely outcome, and I’m inclined to believe that. Though some see Myers as a player the Flyers need to lock up long term, I have a feeling that we’re only going to see a two or three year deal for the RFA, as it benefits both the team in the short term due to saving salary, and Myers in the long term as he can bet on himself to secure a larger contract in the future.
Therefore, taking this into account, the Flyers will have just around $3.3 million dollars in cap space left should the two year projection for Myers prove to be somewhat accurate.
So where does that leave them? Well, unless a trade is in the works to take salary off of the Flyers’ books (likely with Gostisbehere), the Flyers don’t have a ton of wiggle room to bring in a meaningful impact player. Of the forwards still on the market, they are out of the price range, at the moment, for Mike Hoffman and potentially for Mikael Granlund, and it’s unlikely they’d bring in another defenseman. I also don’t think the Flyers will be in on aging veterans like Ilya Kovalchuck or Zdeno Chara. Though their cost would be minimal, and they could add to the mentorship needed for young players, there just isn’t a logical spot to put a guy like Kovalchuck in the lineup unless you’re putting him on the fourth line.
If the Flyers are looking to improve their center depth in case Nolan Patrick is not ready, a good option would be signing Erik Haula. He’s had injury issues and I don’t think would be in for a large raise, and with his previous cap hit coming in at $2.75 million, he’s definitely affordable. There’s also other options in Carl Soderberg, Derrick Brassard, and Dominik Kahun, For both Soderberg and Brassard, I think they could make it work with the cap space they have, but there would have to be compromises, where for Kahun, they could easily sign him, though I’m doubtful of Kahun’s ability. I’d rather have Scott Laughton play 3C with Kahun at 4C if that were the direction.
There are still impact players on the board, albeit in the Flyers situation, they won’t be singing anybody to play top six minutes. However, they could still easily address their potential weakness at 3C, and improve their depth if they choose to do so.
