Pro Hockey Rumors

Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2024-25 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.  We’re currently covering the Metropolitan Division, next up is the Flyers.

Philadelphia Flyers

Current Cap Hit: $84,829,763 (below the $88MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Tyson Foerster (one year, $863K)
F Matvei Michkov (three years, $950K)

Potential Bonuses
Michkov: $3.3MM

Michkov was able to get out of his contract two years early to the surprise of many, enabling him to come to North America this season.  Projected to be a key cog of their rebuild, he’s likely someone they’ll want to sign long-term by the time this deal is up.  From a bonus perspective, he has $1MM in ‘A’ bonuses, four at $250K apiece.  If he plays the prominent role it looks like he will this season, those could be reachable although the ‘B’ bonus is highly unlikely to be met.  Foerster’s first full NHL campaign was a solid one with 20 goals.  That said, he’d need a significant breakout to bypass a bridge deal, especially with this management group generally leaning toward using those.  In that case, something around the $3MM mark is where his next contract might land.

Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level

F Noah Cates ($2.625MM, RFA)
F Morgan Frost ($2.1MM, RFA)
D Erik Johnson ($1MM, UFA)
G Cal Petersen ($5MM, UFA)
D Cam York ($1.6MM, RFA)

Cates was someone who received a recent bridge contract, a move that looks wise on Philadelphia’s part given his struggles last season.  He’ll need to get back to at least his rookie-season numbers (38 points in 82 games) to have a shot at a qualifying offer when he’ll have arbitration rights as well.  Frost was no stranger to the rumor mill last season but still wound up with his second straight season of more than 40 points.  If he hangs around that number again, he could double his $2.4MM qualifying offer on his next deal, one that likely will buy out some UFA-eligible years.

York finished off last season on a high note, providing plenty of optimism heading into this season.  Yet another player who is on a bridge agreement, if he plays at the level that he finished at last year, tripling this price tag wouldn’t be out of the question while quadrupling it on a long-term deal could be doable as well.  Johnson was picked up at the deadline to give them a serviceable veteran at the back of their lineup and was extended to fill that role for this season.  He’ll be going year to year from here and considering he’s best served as a sixth defender, it’s unlikely he could command much more than this next time around.

Petersen has already cleared waivers and he’ll once again play in Lehigh Valley where he’ll carry a slightly reduced cap hit of $3.85MM.  It’s safe to say he won’t come anywhere near that next time around; a six-figure deal is more likely.

Signed Through 2025-26

F Bobby Brink ($1.5MM, RFA)
F Nicolas Deslauriers ($1.75MM, UFA)
D Jamie Drysdale ($2.3MM, RFA)
G Samuel Ersson ($1.45MM, RFA)
G Ivan Fedotov ($3.25MM, UFA)
F Scott Laughton ($3MM, UFA)
F Ryan Poehling ($1.9MM, UFA)
D Yegor Zamula ($1.7MM, RFA)

When Laughton signed this contract at the 2021 trade deadline (taking himself out of trade talks in the process), it seemed like somewhat of a team-friendly deal at the time.  It still is today.  The 30-year-old isn’t the biggest offensive threat (only reaching 40 points once in his career) but is a solid defensive player.  He should be able to add at least $1MM to this next time out on another multi-year agreement.  Poehling accepted this deal as a midseason extension back in January, giving him a bit of stability after starting the year on his third team in as many seasons.  He’s coming off his best offensive output (28 points) but will need to show that’s repeatable if he wants to get into that next tier of money.

Deslauriers got more money and term than many expected for an enforcer but his track record of scoring a bit more than a typical tough guy helped his marketability.  That’s a harder sell now at this point of his career coming off a one-goal, four-point campaign.  He still can fill that role but with the decline in production and the fact he’ll be 35 when this contract expires, it’s hard to see him getting this on his next deal.  Brink is yet another player on a bridge deal after a season that saw him establish himself as a regular.  He’ll have arbitration rights next time out and between that and ideally two more years of being a full-timer, he should at least get past $2MM, obviously more if he becomes more of a contributor offensively.

Drysdale was the key piece coming to Philadelphia in the Cutter Gauthier trade but as was the case at times in Anaheim, injuries limited him.  He’s someone who has shown flashes of being an above-average player at the NHL level and if he puts it together and stays healthy, pushing past $6MM isn’t out of the question.  But, if injuries continue to be an issue, a second one-year bridge agreement might be the safest play, one that would eclipse $3MM with arbitration rights.  Zamula inked this bridge deal in early July after locking down a regular role last season.  He’ll need to at least move past being more of a fifth or sixth defender over the next two seasons since his offensive game is somewhat limited (which will hurt him in an arbitration hearing).  Notably, his qualifying offer in 2026 is only $1.4MM since signing bonus money doesn’t count in calculating those offers.

After a long battle to get him to North America, Fedotov debuted late in the season (although he struggled in limited action) and quickly received this two-year agreement, a sign of the faith the team has in him.  He’ll need to establish himself as at least a 1B type of goaltender to hang around this price tag but if he plays up to expectations, this deal will be a team-friendly one for Philadelphia.  The early extension to Ersson raised some eyebrows but after becoming their starter, it’s a move that looks great for the Flyers already.  He will have one RFA-eligible season remaining once this deal expires and if he’s still in the starting role, it stands to reason that his next contract should be at least three times this one.

Signed Through 2026-27

D Ryan Ellis ($6.25MM, UFA)
F Garnet Hathaway ($2.375MM in 2024-25, $2.4MM in 2025-26 and 2026-27, UFA)
D Rasmus Ristolainen ($5.1MM, UFA)

Hathaway had a good first season for the Flyers while splitting time between the third and fourth lines.  Rather than see what his market value would be this coming summer, he accepted an early extension at pretty much the same money.  That gets him under contract through his age-35 season and at that point, it would be tough predicting that he’d get more than that if he’s still in that role.  Ellis, meanwhile, will remain on LTIR, giving the Flyers the ability to spend above the cap if needed.

Ristolainen remains one of the more polarizing defensemen in the league.  He’s someone who has played big minutes in all situations in the past and his contract is one where the price tag suggests that he should be in a second or third role.  However, that wasn’t the case last year.  His ice time – when healthy – was much more limited than usual and he responded with a decent performance in that role.  It’s probably not enough to give him any standalone trade value but if it’s a case where less is more for Ristolainen, the Flyers could still get at least a bit of value on this contract, albeit on an above-market price point relative to last season’s ice time.

Read more