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For a fifth straight season, the Philadelphia Flyers failed to make the playoffs. They have already made moves to remedy their playoff drought, as the Flyers have hired Rick Tocchet as their new head coach. Further, the Flyers have plenty of cap space, plus a surplus of draft capital. This is the dream scenario for the Flyers in the 2025 NHL Free Agency period.
The Flyers have already made moves this offseason, re-signing Noah Cates to a four-year contract worth $16 million. The Flyers have a lot of work to do to get back into playoff contention. They need offensive help, as they were 24th in the NHL in goals per game this past season. They were also 30th in the NHL on the power play. Meanwhile, the defense needs help, sitting 28th in the NHL in goals against per game and 20th on the penalty kill.
Philadelphia has plenty of assets coming into this offseason. They have three picks in the first round of the NHL draft this year, while also having four picks in the second round. The Flyers can use those picks to sign a restricted free agent to an offer sheet. Also, the Flyers are expected to have over $25 million in cap space this offseason. They have plenty of needs to fill with that cap space, including improving their defense and adding to top-level scoring options.
The Flyers improve their blue line
The Flyers currently have five defensive players under NHL contracts, plus Cam York as a restricted free agent. Still, they need to find a way to improve their blue line. The top defensive pairing this year featured Travis Sanheim and Nick Seeler. Sanheim was solid, with 30 points, but a minus-six rating. Seeler had 20 points and a plus-ten rating overall. Still, the left side defense struggled further down in the defensive rotations. York and Egor Zamula were the two other left-side defenders towards the end of the year.
York scored 17 points, but had a minus-eight rating this year, while Zamula had 15 points and a minus-14 rating on the season. The Flyers need to bring in a defender who can play the left side, be stronger on defense, but also provide offensive firepower. Ivan Provorov would be a perfect fit for the Flyers this offseason. To begin with, he played most of the season on the left-hand side, which is the area of need for the Flyers. He has also played top-four defensive player minutes, and could pair well with Sanheim on the top pairing, or slide well into the second pairing.
Provorov scored seven goals with 26 assists this year, scoring over 30 points for the third time in four years. Provorov was drafted with the seventh overall pick in the 2015 draft by the Flyers. He would spend his first seven seasons with the team. Provorov has shown to be dependable as well, playing in all 82 games for three straight seasons. His time in Philly also showed he can play well on the power play, and he has grown as a defender on the penalty kill. At a cost of $7 million per year, the Flyers would be able to pay the contract and bring Provorov back to Philly.
Mikael Granlund is a dream fit in Philadelphia
The Flyers just re-signed the center who was playing on their top line in Cates. Cates was not great this year, though, scoring 16 goals with 21 assists, while also having a goal and two assists on the power play. Meanwhile, Sean Couturier was also a top-line center, pairing often with Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny. He scored 15 goals and added 30 assists, while having a goal and three assists on the power play.
Cates can play on the left wing, giving the Flyers the flexibility to bring in a top-line center. Granlund would be the perfect fit in Philly. First, he would bring help to the power play. Last season, he scored five goals and added 14 assists on the power play. His 19 power-play points would have been the most on the Flyers. He has also produced on sub-par powerplay units in the past. In the 2023-24 season, while playing for the Sharks, he scored once and added 22 assists on the power play.
Meanwhile, Granlund has been highly productive, scoring over 60 points in each of the last two seasons and three of the last four seasons overall. He has done this while playing for the Sharks, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Dallas Stars. Only one of those teams has been a consistent playoff team in recent years. Granlund has shown to be productive in difficult situations in the past and could bolster this Flyers team. At a cost of just under $5 million per year, he is affordable and would be a perfect fit in Philly.
The Flyers grab a restricted free agent
In order to sign a restricted free agent to an offer sheet, the team making the offer must be willing to part with draft capital. The Flyers are one of a handful of teams that have the draft capital to sign any restricted free agent at any offer sheet price point. Marco Rossi would be a perfect fit in Philadelphia. The Wild are exploring the option of trading Rossi, but the Flyers could sign him to an offer sheet.
Rossi has been great the last two seasons and is showing consistent improvement in his career. In the 2023-24 season, he scored 21 goals and added 19 assists. Then, last season, he scored 24 times while adding 36 assists. Further, he added seven goals and nine assists on the power play. Rossi was also third on the team in high-danger chances created last season and led the team in high-danger chances converted to goals. He has shown the ability to play on multiple lines as well. While he has primarily played center in his career, he could slide in on the second or third line if the Flyers bring in Granlund. He could also slide over to a wing spot on a top line.
The Flyers have plenty of room for improvement this year. Philadelphia has the ability to make that improvement under its new head coach, Tocchet. They can use their cap space to bring in a top-four defender and a top-line center. They will also be using their draft capital to bring in a young cornerstone in Rossi.
