Danny Briere and the Flyers made a pretty big move over the weekend when they traded (the totally real, definitely not a figment of our collective imaginations) Ryan Ellis and his contract to the San Jose Sharks, and that cleared the full $6.25 million cap hit for this season and next from the Flyers’ books.
That leaves them with a whopping $7 million in cap space entering the season, which is the eighth most in the NHL. While that breathing room is kinda neat compared to the financial crunch the organization typically finds itself in, whoever has the most free money isn’t how teams win championships.
So what is the Danny Briere’s plan with his team’s new found wealth?
Trade Deadline Wheelers & Dealers
Now that the salary cap is on the rise again, there may be less need for having third party swing teams involved in salary retention for trade deadline deals, but it’s the most immediate benefit of having this much freed up money will bring the Flyers.
They’ve actually only one retention slot left considering Scott Laughton and Kevin Hayes are still on the books, so they’d have to make it count, but adding a free draft pick or two for carrying a couple million of retained dollars to make some playoff team’s dream come true is worth it if they can do it with ease.
There’s also the possibility the Flyers could be buyers themselves at the deadline. They may not be in the market for a rental yet, but if they could hunt down, say, a restricted free agent like Jason Robertson if the Stars are dumb enough to actually move him, kinda like the Devils did with Timo Meier a few years back, it’d be a great use of that space for today and in the future.
Contract Extensions
The Flyers don’t really have a ton of internal contract to worry about in 2026. The two most notable are Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale.
Zegras is already making $5.7 million, so it’s not like his AAV is going to be much higher than it already was. Drysdale is making $2.3 million this season and his next contract could fluctuate wildly depending on how he plays during the 2025-26 season. But even still, it won’t be obscene or anything compared to some defenseman in the league these days… or shouldn’t be, anyway.
But either way, if they don’t make any roster additions at the deadline, at least they’re in line for an easy summer to keep their team together without having to jump through any financial hoops to make it happen. It may not be the sexiest option, but it’s rare the word “easy” gets used when talking about this team’s strategy.
2026 Offseason
Ultimately, this is where the most intrigue comes from.
Now, with Kaprizov and McDavid already off the board, and Eichel likely committed to Vegas despite not officially re-signing as of this publishing, it really deflates the fun that the 2026 offseason could’ve been, no matter how unlikely they would’ve been to hit free agency (and choose the Flyers) in the first place.
But regardless, the 2026 offseason is going to have to be the summer where the Flyers finally step up and make a couple big time additions to propel the roster forward, and entering the the most amount of money possible helps their chances to sign a free agent, or send an offer sheet, or make a blockbuster trade.
Will they do it? TBD, but they’ve certainly now set themselves up where it’s more believable that 2026 could be the year when things actually change for the better in Flyerland.
By: Dan Esche (@DantheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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