The 2024 offseason has already begun for the Flyers, but there’s still nearly two months before the fun begins. It leaves plenty of time to guess and predict exactly what Danny Briere has up his sleeve as the agonizing wait for the draft and free agency begins. So what exactly do the Flyers need to prioritize this summer?
Number 5: Who Gets Bought Out?
We’ve explored the various buyout options the Flyers have to consider already, but it will soon be time to put the potential outcomes into action. Cam Atkinson, Ryan Johansen and Cal Petersen headline this year’s class and there’s a case for all three to get removed from the organization, individually or together. The front office does need to be thinking through which players are of highest priority to move on from, which ones make the most financial sense and which ones they can grit their teeth through for another season and just deal with it. It’ll be a test for Briere’s skills as a thinking man’s GM and show how open to change the team actually is.
Number 4: Main Roster Movement
On a broader scale from buyouts, the Flyers already have 21 main roster players under contract for next season, a number that gets higher if factoring in guys like Bobby Brink, Olle Lycksell and Emil Andrae. They didn’t leave themselves with much space for naturally occurring subtractions and additions, so of they want to make any improvements at all, they will first have to find a way to remove some players of their roster in order to make that happen. Making sweeping changes has not exactly been the strong suit of the Flyers’ for over a decade, so will this be the summer for movement to occur?
Number 3: Travis Konecny’s Extension
Whether it’s a good idea or not, the Flyers are probably going to re-sign forward Travis Konecny. He’s eligible to sign a new deal at the start of the league year in July. They’ll have nearly a calendar year to put pen to paper, but the Flyers have a history of not waiting to ink players to new deals and it’s probably safe to assume that strategy won’t change. It’s probably not “if” Konecny will re-sign, it’s just a matter of when and how badly are they going to screw their future selves in the process.
Number 2: Where Do They Draft?
The Flyers will end up selecting 12th overall in the draft with their own pick, and they also possess Florida’s as well, and considering they’re still in the playoffs, their selection will fall in the late 20s at least. If they stick at 12 and wherever Florida ultimately finishes do they attempt to move either of those picks, Either for main roster help or potentially packaging the picks together to move up into a more favorable position? If they’re serious about either rebuilding or becoming a playoff team, moving up to a better pick, or dealing them for immediate main roster help are both outcomes that should be on the table.
Number 1: Do They Address the Power Play?
Despite the fact that the Flyers finished dead last in the league on the powerplay for a third consecutive season with a measly 12.2% (one of the worst by-percentage stats of all time) GM Danny Briere sure downplayed the need to fix the powerplay at his end-of-season press conference. He stated that assistant coach Rocky Thompson, who’s in charge of the power play, would be returning and the team’s general stance against adding talent doesn’t paint the best picture that the Flyers are going to even attempt to drag themselves out of the basement next season. Have they already resigned themselves to another season of failure, or is it all a ploy to cover a major addition they’ve got up their sleeve? It’s probably the former.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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