There’s been a lot of smoke around the Philadelphia Flyers and offer sheets from the fans and even some reporters as the 2025 offseason is shaping up to be barren on both the free agent and trade front. While the pool of restricted free agents isn’t necessarily super deep either, it may be the Flyers’ (or rest of the leagues’) best bet to land a top young player.
The 2025 compensation chart is below. All picks start in 2026.
| Average Annual Value | Compensation | Flyers Meet Requirements |
| $1 – $1,511,701 | none | yes |
| $1,511,702 – $2,290,457 | 1 third round pick | yes |
| $2,290,458 – $4,580,917 | 1 second round pick | yes |
| $4,580,918 – $6,871,374 | 1 first round pick 1 third round pick | yes |
| $6,871,375 – $9,161,834 | 1 first round pick 1 second round pick 1 third round pick | yes |
| $9,161,835 – $11,452,294 | 2 first round picks 1 second round pick 1 third round pick | yes |
| Above $11,452,295 | 4 first round picks | yes |
The Long Shots
Noah Dobson
We’ve talked about how big of an addition it would be for the Flyers to land Dobson before. He checks plenty of boxes for the organization. He’s a minute-munching right-handed defenseman who has plenty of success on the power play is just what the Flyers need, especially with the news of Rasmus Ristolainen’s injury that will keep him out at least through training camp, the Flyers could use a body on the right side.
The 25-year-old Dobson switched agents back in early February which could signal a massive contract extension coming, be it with the Islanders or a new team. Given the disaster that the Islanders are, they could just end up trading him this summer if they know a contract can’t be reached. Either way, it’s going to be a large contract coming his way, which is going to be a tough add for the Flyers, but rarely does this kind of necessity-filling player become available, so they should be considering it regardless.
Marco Rossi
Earlier in the season, all the chatter was around 23-year-old Marco Rossi possibly being on the trade block. Then he had a breakout season posting 60 points in 82 games and the Wild made the playoffs (albeit ending in a quick first round exit) and now it doesn’t seem so likely that the team voluntarily moves him out of Minnesota.
Financially speaking, the Wild are set for better days as their buyout costs from Zach Parise and Ryan Suter go from $14.7 million a season down to just $1.6 million combined. That alone opens enough cap to re-sign Rossi, especially considering he’s their lone notable in-house contract coming in the 2025 offseason.
The Flyers need a top center and Rossi is the leading candidate in any market this summer. If there was ever anybody to throw a hail mary offer sheet to, Rossi’s their guy.
Luke Hughes
The Devils’ cap situation is not great, but Luke Hughes is one of those players they probably wouldn’t let get away, and there’s a good chance Luke wouldn’t want to leave his brother’s team anyway. If the Flyers were looking to just be spiteful and complicate the lives of a division rival, offer sheeting Luke Hughes to a larger offer sheet could be a fun offseason trick (which admittedly is something you’d never see in 2025.)
He’s a 21-year-old left-handed defenseman who’s good for 40+ points a season and nearly half of his 93 career points have come on the power play. The Flyers don’t *need* a left-handed defenseman at the moment, but a young rising star that addressed the weakness on the power play shouldn’t be easily overlooked either.
The Do-Able
Bowen Byram
The Flyers had interest in Byram back when they were shopping Cutter Gauthier before ultimately landing Jamie Drysdale, and he was a name the popped up around the trade deadline as the Sabres look to improve their overall roster.
2024-25 was a pretty decent season for the soon-to-be 24-year-old lefty. He played his first full 82-game campaign (his early career in Colorado was ravaged by serious injuries), he played a personal best in average TOI with 22:42, posted 38 points and had a +11 rating on the Sabres which was third best on the team.
There’s still some complaints about the music between the notes of his game, but he also plays for the Sabres, anybody that leaves that team tends to magically get better. If the Flyers are looking for an experienced young guy with upside whom they could snag to a realistic number, Byram makes just as much sense as anybody.
Mason McTavish
McTavish is 22-year-old center with 140 points in 229 games, but he has struggled to get out of a third line role with the Ducks.
The biggest problem with McTavish is that the Ducks have an ungodly amount of cap space, landing somewhere in the tens of millions of dollars (just shy of $40 million to be specific according to PuckPedia) even factoring in other in-house signings this summer.
If the Ducks organization likes McTavish, they can keep him no matter what, and is this player good enough to send such a stupidly gigantic amount of money to that the Ducks wouldn’t consider matching? He’s a center, so it needs to be considered, but it doesn’t feel like the planets are going to align with this one.
Gabe Vilardi
Soon-to-be 26-year-old Gabe Vilardi just posted a career-best season on a dominant Jets squad. 27 goals, 61 points in 71 games, 25 of which came on the power play. Now, he was playing on the right wing quiet a bit this season, and his point totals are by far the outlier of his career, as he only hit 40 points once in five NHL seasons. Plus, the Jets have nearly $26 million in cap space according to PuckPedia and no real hurdles to deal with this summer outside Nikolaj Ehlers.
The Under-The-Radar
Matthew Knies
If the Leafs re-sign both of John Tavares and Mitch Marner, they’re screwed cap wise and probably won’t be able to afford Knies. The 22-year-old has 94 points in 161 games with the Leafs over the last two years.
The pros: If you’re looking for a slam dunk offer sheet just to say you completed one, Knies is probably your best be to make it happen. He’s young and has plenty of upside.
The cons: He doesn’t play center and succeeding with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner is much different than being lined up with Ryan Poehling and Nic Deslauriers.
He’s definitely worth taking a gamble on, but investing another long-term, big-money contract into a winger that may be just a guy on the lesser Flyers’ roster is definitely not the misstep the organization needs right now.
JJ Paterka
22-year-old JJ Paterka posted a career best 68 points in 77 games in 2024-25 with the Sabres as the team’s second highest scorer. Spending two years as one of the top forwards on one of the worst teams in the league is intriguing when it comes to potentially bringing him to greener pastures, but just like Knies, Paterka does not play center, so it’d be more of a frivolous move than a necessary one for the Flyers.
Evan Bouchard
The Oilers’ 25-year-old right-handed defenseman has stepped up in a big way over the last couple seasons for Edmonton. He averaged over 23 minutes of TOI a night for a second consecutive season, broke the 60-point plateau in both campaigns and sees plenty of power play production.
The Oilers have less than $10 million in free cap space and half a dozen roster holes to fill. They could very well be vulnerable to another offer sheet, like the two that claimed Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg last summer. If the Flyers don’t enter the Dobson sweepstakes, Bouchard is a more than fine consolation prize.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit:
brotherlypuck.com 