QUICK HITS: JULY 27, 2018
1) While Flyers GM Ron Hextall said he was likely done with the unrestricted free agent market this summer, he is not ruling out the possibility of a free-agent tryout invite at camp in September. He has also hinted at exploring trade possibilities for a bottom six forward (most likely, a third-line center). Hextall has said that if no outside candidates whom he'd consider an upgrade on in-house options present as feasible acquisitions, he is comfortable seeing if internal candidates (he's named Jordan Weal as a possibility several times, as well as Scott Laughton and Phantoms second-year center Mikhail Vorobyev) can take the job and run with it. While the GM said he did not anticipate Claude Giroux moving back to center after a career year as a left winger, that option is also open if needed.
2) Hextall said on Thursday that he has discussed a two-year contract with the agent for restricted free agent defenseman Robert Hägg. The two sides are not believed to be far apart. Once Hägg is signed, the Flyers will have 48 players under contract.
3) The GM said on Thursday that he is not in a rush to get contract extensions done for Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim. All three players will finish their entry-level contracts in 2018-19 and are eligible for restricted free agency on July 1, 2019. It is believed that Provorov's agent, Mark Gandler, also prefers to wait rather than to negotiate an extension this summer. Hextall said on the
Real Deal Hockey with Bundy and Bill podcast last Friday that Provorov "is going to be a Flyer for a long time" and that he hopes to come to terms on an extension prior to July 1 of next summer.
4) Having been asked this question several times in recent days, I'll address it here. No, I do not believe the Flyers are discussing Travis Konecny or putting together a package deal in effort to acquire Columbus Blue Jackets winger Artemi Panarin.
First of all, unless Panarin and his agent have a change of heart about a contract extension, no team is going to even ponder trading a cost-controlled young scoring line talent plus draft picks for a one-year rental of the impending unrestricted free agent. Thus far, he has declined to consider an extension with the Blue Jackets. Since he could name his own destination next summer, there really would be no impetus for him to extend with another team, either, unless it's his number one choice.
One would also figure that Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen would strongly prefer not to trade Panarin within the Metro Division if it comes down to moving him as a rental. Such a move would be far more likely to happen close to the NHL trade deadline rather than before the season.
The Flyers are first going to see in upcoming weeks/months whether they can come to an agreement with Eustace King (Wayne Simmonds' agent) on the term and cap hit of a new contract. In and of itself, that would not preclude a push to sign Panarin next summer. However, the Flyers would probably not be among the favorites to sign him. Theoretically, the team would need take a big step over the next season, vaulting from a playoff spot contender to the brink of becoming bonafide Stanley Cup threat in order to sell a top UFA on being "one big acquisition" away from going over the top with him.
While Panarin is a good enough -- and still young enough -- player whereby Hextall would probably have interest and be willing to go long-term on a contract if he is on the open market and if there is interest on the player's part, he is more likely to wait and see what develops internally over the next year rather than make a blockbuster trade to land a star player. Hextall has been very clear about what his plan is, and hasn't deviated from it.
5) Something that the small but vocal "Flyers whiffed on John Tavares" crowd doesn't grasp is that the first step in courting an unrestricted free agent is to gauge if the player has interest playing there. Tavares was not interested in Philly.
Rather than the Flyers revisiting what happened in the early summer of 2012, when they were the highest bidders on a disinterested Ryan Suter (who had his heart set on signing with Minnesota) and Zach Parise (who was at least somewhat interested but who also preferred to sign with the Wild along with Suter), they focused instead on a player they had a better chance to sign. The Flyers were the first team to contact James van Riemsdyk and, when it was clear there was mutual interest in a return to Philadelphia, they were aggressive. Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek further boosted the effort by doing a little recruiting of their old teammate.
That's how deals get gone. It's not always about being the team with the highest contract offer. There has to be interest in the first place. If there's no interest, formulate a different plan. Otherwise, you'll not only miss out on the player who is not interested in your team but also potentially wait too long to move on a good player you could've signed had you been proactive.
6) Over on the Flyers' official website, there is an article on how James van Riemsdyk feels he has evolved as a player over the course of his NHL career. At Wednesday's press conference, he discussed the league has changed over the course of the last nine years, what he learned from the vets who were on the Flyers for the team's run to the Stanley Cup Final during his rookie season and why he chose to keep his Toronto jersey number (No. 25) rather than asking Scott Laughton if he could re-claim the No. 21 sweater that JVR wore during his first stint in Philly. For more,
click here.
7) On Thursday, Adidas formally introduced the Flyers' 3rd jersey for the 2018-19 season. As long rumored, it is a primarily black jersey with orange striping.
8) Flyers goaltending prospect Kirill Ustimenko enjoyed a stellar campaign in the MHL (Russian junior league) last season. This season, he will try to move up a level to play in the VHL; the minor league circuit below the KHL. This can be a more advantageous arrangement for a young goaltender who has already excelled at the MHL level but is not yet likely to be more than a practice goalie and seldom-used (if he plays at all) backup for a KHL team.
On Thursday, Ustimenko took a solid first step in his desired direction after a very strong VHL preseason outing for Dynamo St. Petersburg in a 3-2 overtime win against PSK Sakhalin. His team was outchanced through much of the game and the goalie's play elevated the club.
Russia does not participate in the World Junior Summer Showcase but Ustimenko will be in the hunt for a WJC roster spot. Although born in Belarus, he represents Russia internationally (whereas Flyers forward prospect Maksim Sushko plays for the Belarusian team).
Although there are some communication issues (Ustimenko cannot yet speak more than a few words of English), Ustimenko showed promise at the recent Flyers Development Camp. Simply diregard his 3-on-3 "tournament" stats (13 GA in two games). The 3-on-3 event at the end of Development camp is for fun, not for player scouting. The play itself is a gleefully unstructured mini-version of pond hockey. In each game, the goalie on the center ice side doesn't even have a proper crease in which to get his positional bearings (the outer half-circle of the center ice faceoff area is the substitute).
9) If recently drafted Flyers goaltending prospect Samuel Ersson is to earn a roster spot on Team Sweden for the 2018-19 World Junior Championships, he will need to have a strong showing in the World Junior Summer Showcase tournament (July 28 to Aug 4) and during the first half of the season for Allsvenskan team Västerås IK. Of the three goalies on Sweden's roster at the Showcase, Ersson has the least international experience (four junior national team games).
Nineteen-year-old Anaheim Ducks prospect Olle Eriksson Ek (Joel's younger brother) has the inside track among the three to become the WJC starter for the Swedes. He was on last year's WJC team as a backup goalie and has dressed in 51 national junior games. Eriksson Ek was above Ersson on the Small Crowns' depth chart at the U18 Worlds in 2017. The Anaheim prospect, who will start next season on loan from Färjestad (SHL) to Karlskroga (Allsvenskan), also has 11 games of Allsvenskan experience under his belt.
The other goalie on the roster is 19-year-old HV71 (SHL)/ Oskarshamn (Allsvenskan) goaltender Adam Åhman, who has 20 national junior teams of experience including five games played at the U18 Worlds in 2017. He's the smallest of the three goalies on roster at a shade under 6-feet tall and 163 pounds. Correspondingly, the only one of the three not drafted by an NHL team. However, Åhman held his own in three SHL games last season for HV71 and he was a backup goalie (did not play) for the men's national team in four games during the Euro Hockey Tour last season.
The way the Tre Kronor WJC goalie grooming cycle often -- but not always -- goes is for the same depth chart to essentially filter upwards through the age categories to the U20 level. The same young goalie who gets the "apprenticeship" nod as a backup on the U20 or senior national team one year often has the inside track for a more prominent spot on the U20 team the next year.
Ersson was the number 3 goalie on Sweden's depth chart at the 2017 U18s and played in three U19 games last year while being looked at as a potential U20 team goalie this year. He's got a shot if he excels but it's a bit of an uphill climb. He got into one SHL game last season for Brynäs but that is his lone pro appearance to date and he has not yet been selected to any U20 (or men's) national team tourneys before his Showcase tourney selection.
Ersson is going to have to convince his coaches (head coach Tomas Montén and goalie coach Nizze Landén) and general manager Jonas Fransson to elevate him in the depth chart. Whereas Felix Sandström was a WJC shoo-in at age 19 and had also seen game action in the tourney the previous year, Ersson has a battle on his hands to earn a trip to Vancouver/Victoria for the 2018-19 WJC.
10. The next edition of the Real Deal Hockey podcast will be recorded later today. We will once again have a special guest. On previous editions, Bundy and I were visited by James van Riemsdyk, Carter Hart and Hextall.
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