Could Flyers be among teams interested in Evgeny Kuznetsov?

Could Danny Briere shift his sights to another KHL free agent?

Danny Briere and the Philadelphia Flyers have had a pretty solid offseason so far. Additions of Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak have bolstered the team up front, but the Flyers did miss out on one of their targets when Maxim Shabonov signed with the New York Islanders last week.

With one KHL free agent off the board, could the Flyers possibly turn to another Russian out of the KHL?

Longtime Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov had his contract with SKA St. Petersburg mutually terminated in April. We wrote about the possibility of the Flyers signing Kuznetsov back then, and while there would certainly be some risk involved, there are a few reasons why it could make sense for the Flyers.

Let’s get this out of the way first: in no way is Kuznetsov comparable to Shabanov in terms of playstyle or upside, and no one should be expecting him to return to the 50-point form he had in his last full season with the Capitals.

But he’s looking to come back to the NHL, and the Flyers have taken a chance on a Russian or two before.

Kuznetsov’s agent, Shumi Babaev, told RG Media what he thought of the former NHLer’s game last season.

“He asked for my opinion, and I’ve always said that the NHL is where he belongs,” Babev said. Last year, he was mentally and physically exhausted and wanted to come back to Russia. But even at 60–70% of his usual level, he was still one of the top players in the KHL.”

Kuznetsov had 12 goals and 25 assists for 37 points in 39 games with SKA. Despite being limited, he finished seventh on the team in points and added three points in six playoff games.

The fire is still there for Kuznetsov, but is the Flyer?

First of all, the Russian connection is an obvious one. Kuznetsov won the Stanley Cup with Alex Ovechkin in Washington and has been through the ups and downs of the NHL. There’s the potential risk of Kuznetsov poisoning the locker room, so to speak, and if the front office were to have any inkling of that in conversations, it’s obviously a no-go. But if Kuznetsov can return to the NHL as a crafty veteran in a middle-six (likely third-line) role?

And we can’t mention a Russian connection without pointing out that Kirill Kaprizov is among a stacked free-agent class next summer. We’ll see how many of those players actually hit the open market, but anything that could help a guy like Kaprizov come to Philadelphia is worth exploring.

Kuznetsov also has a link to Flyers assistant coach Todd Reirden. Reirden was an assistant coach in Washington from 2014 until 2018, when he was promoted to head coach for two seasons before getting fired in 2020. The Russian forward was on the Capitals for the entirety of Reirden’s tenure (and then some).

Rierden won’t be coaching the forwards, nor did he in Washington, but spending the better part of a decade in a locker room with somebody should provide more than enough insight for the Flyers.

If the Flyers thought that Shabonov would ultimately sign in Philadelphia, or that they at least had a good chance of landing him, the front office could be looking to add another piece. Shabanov going to Long Island, combined with the uncertain status of Tyson Foerster’s elbow infection, and letting Jakob Pelletier walk, opens up a roster spot or two.

While the Flyers have some young talent fighting to fill those spots, how many prospects do the Flyers really want making the jump to the NHL at the same time without any AHL experience? Guys like Alex Bump and Porter Martone would be exciting, and they could still work their way onto the roster even if the Flyers signed Kuznetsov.

As I stated above, you can never have too much center depth.

As of now, Sean Couturier, Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak, and Noah Cates are pencilled in as the Flyers’ four centers. But what if Zegras is actually better suited at wing? And it sure seems like Dvorak and Cates could make a great shutdown duo given the veteran’s expertise in the faceoff circle, which is one of the few areas that the latter struggles in.

That would open up a spot for Kuznetsov, who, honestly, might not even be a center himself at this point in his career. But as Danny Briere said, it’s a lot easier to put a center at wing rather than a winger down the middle.

It would also provide some true competition for Jett Luchanko. The 2024 first-round pick made the team out of camp last year with John Tortorella essentially saying, “I’m going to use the centers that I have,” but he ultimately returned to juniors and made some good strides with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at the end of the year.

Right now, the benchmark for Luchanko to clear is who, Rodrigo Abols? Karsen Dorwart? With all due respect to those guys, that’s not much of a competition. What if we raise that bar to beating out Kuznetsov for a job and forcing the Russian — or another center — pivot to wing?

Kuznetsov has made it clear that he won’t accept a tryout, so the Flyers couldn’t bring him to camp and see how he fits, but if the offseason continues and the Russian center remains out there? Perhaps he’d be interested in joining Michkov in Philadelphia.

There are a lot of ifs involved, including if Kuznetsov would even want to sign in Philadelphia, so as Danny Briere says: it has to make sense.