The 2024 NHL offseason is more or less in the books as July drags on and the fun and excitement of the draft and free agency are in the rearview. As the dust settles, the Philadelphia Flyers look nearly identical to the 2023-24 version of themselves which has sparked more questions than answers.
Number 5: So… About the Power Play
The Flyers have had the worst power play in the league for the last three seasons and they addressed that by doing literally nothing during the 2024 offseason. It was a dumb decision when they kept Rocky Thompson employed, but maybe it was because they had a roster move up their sleeve… Nope. It’s the same dysfunctional players with the same idiot coach and nothing is going to change. If they’re lucky Matvei Michkov can take them from 32nd to 31st in the rankings. OooOOOooooOOOO. Progress.
Number 4: Center Depth
If there was one thing the Flyers could’ve… should’ve done during the 2024 offseason it’s address their piss poor center depth. The foursome of Sean Couturier, Scott Laughton, Morgan Frost and Ryan Poehling is probably the least intimidating group in the NHL, and now with Matvei Michkov in tow, it’s borderline criminal that they didn’t find one half decent top six center for him to line up with. Their internal pipeline is still barren and their last “notable” outside addition was Kevin Hayes five years ago. How they can continue to ignore such an important position is beyond logic.
Number 3: Who Plays with Michkov?
Matvei Michkov’s arrival is like putting a diamond on a gigantic turd. He’s expected to be the best player by a hefty margin, but will inevitably be held back by the black hole of talent surrounding him. What’s the best line the Flyers could manufacture right now? Foerster-Frost-Michkov? Konecny on his off side with a 174-year-old Sean Couturier and Michkov? Their center depth, as noted above, is terrible and all their wingers are more or less interchangeable 50-point dudes. Not exactly an ideal situation for your supposed superstar to walk into. Are they really expecting the 19-year-old Russian kid to put the entire team on his back immediately?
Number 2: Travis Konecny’s Extension
You remember the scene in Saving Private Ryan when the guy gets shot in the helmet, then takes his helmet off the look at the damage and then gets shot in the head again and killed?
That feels very similar to the Flyers’ looming extension with Travis Konecny.
They made it through the opening days of the new league year without an extension to their top forward, which was a pleasant surprise, but we all know his $8-$10 million aav deal will drop sooner or later. It’s a move that’s the compete anthesis of what their “rebuilding” goal is supposed to be, but they’re not actually rebuilding, you see.
Number 1: What Awaits in 2025?
The Flyers’ front office punted the entirety of their 2024 offseason duties away until 2025, and the biggest question emerging from that is what exactly do they have up their sleeve? As of now, the free agency pool looks kinda deep, but that it will dry up immensely by the time next summer rolls around. The draft is theoretically deeper, but as with most years, any pick outside of the top 10 or so is still a crapshoot. On top of all that, the organization hasn’t made a substantial trade or free agent signing in well over a decade, so just believing that next year turns into a summer of 2007-esque offseason is kind of a hard notion to believe, especially because they picked the path of least resistance during the summer of 2024.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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