In the most recent Flyers mailbag, a question was asked about the perfect Flyers offseason. Of course, the question was answered, but because it was not the only question asked in the story, the answer was limited.
I had some fun answering that question, so I wanted to go into a little bit more depth.
With that, it’s time to describe what I think the perfect Flyers offseason entails.
First Things First, Get the Right Coach
This one is relatively self-explanatory. The first step for the Flyers to have the perfect offseason is to hire the right coach. This will be Danny Briere’s first head coaching hire, and just like every time you hire a coach, he’ll hope it’s his last one too.
Getting the right head coach for the Flyers is a critical factor in turning the rebuild around, and shifting into compete mode. You can have all of the talent in the world, but if you’re poorly managed, you still won’t reach your goals.
That said, the Flyers must find a coach who can get everything from his players every night. They need someone who goes to war with the team, not tells the team how to go to war. The Flyers will need a coach who is open to the offensive aggressiveness this team possesses.
A coach who does not care about defense is not what I am insisting. Rather, a coach who teaches his team how to be aggressive responsibly is crucial.
Lastly, a coach who understands how to coach young players is essential. The Flyers are entering the final stages of their rebuild. The roster will be full of young talent still needing coaching and development.
If you’re not picking up what I am putting down, I just described Pat Ferschweiler. Hiring him would be a homerun-hire.
You could make the case for David Carle (unrealistic), Brad Shaw (feels like settling), or even wait out the market and see if another surprise coach became available. To me, Ferschsweiler seems like a perfect match, and hiring him would be the first step of my perfect offseason.
Clear Up Some Cap Space
I expect the Flyers to have just under $25 million in cap space BEFORE any of the RFAs sign their extensions. If some of the general predictions for those contracts come out to be true, the Flyers will have just under $10 million to spend in free agency.
That is clearly not enough to make any life-changing acquisitions, but they can certainly bring in an impact player or two. However, the Flyers can become much more flexible if they clear up some more cap space.
The Flyers have one open retention slot available. Between Kevin Hayes and Scott Laughton, the Flyers already retain just over $5 million. They both run out after this season. They owe Cam Atkinson $1.7 million. And of course, nothing is greater than the whopping $6.25 million they owe Ryan Ellis, which expires after the 2026/27 season. Unless Hayes gets bought out, the Flyers are shelling out just over $13 million to players not in orange and black next season.
No team will trade for Ellis’ contract with two years on it. Therefore, Briere will have to trade active players to clear up cap space. In the perfect Flyers offseason, they do just that.
Flyers Take A *Calculated* Risk on Isaac Howard
When thinking about risks the Flyers could take this offseason, nothing stands out to me more than trading for Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Isaac Howard.
Howard has not specifically requested out of Tampa quite yet, but he elected to return to Michigan State for another season. What is notable about that is he could go play one more NCAA season, not sign his ELC, and become a free agent on August 15th of 2026.
The 2025 Hobey Baker Award Winner has reportedly not seen eye-to-eye with the organization.
Briere and Co. certainly have the ammo to make a deal happen. Trading a first-round pick for Howard is essentially like picking him at whatever slot the pick traded ends up at. The Lightning may be intrigued by a first-round selection, considering they don’t have their own. In fact, the last time they had a first-round pick, they took Howard at No. 31 overall in 2022.
One of the Edmonton or Colorado picks, mixed with any prospect without the last name Barkey, Bjarnason, Bonk, Bump, Luchanko, or Zavragin, will be enough to get it done. They could trade a player, but Tampa’s cap situation may prevent that.
The risk comes in the form of “what if he just stays at MSU regardless?”.
Briere might have been playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers. The Flyers signed Howard’s college roommate, Karsen Dorwart, who may just convince him to join the Flyers this offseason.
Howard reportedly wanted to join Tampa and burn a year off his ELC this season, but Tampa did not have the money, leading to his return to MSU.
It’s a risk for the Flyer, but it might just pay off.
Take Advantage of the Draft
The Flyers currently have seven draft picks in the first 50 picks of the 2025 NHL Draft.
In this perfect offseason scenario, they have already traded one of their first-round picks, and I would expect that not to be the only pick traded this offseason.
Regardless, the Flyers must take advantage of this draft and select a center with their first pick. James Hagens is ideal to me, but any of him, Misa, or Frondell is a massive win for the Flyers.
With their next pick, the Flyers should take the best player available. It does not matter what position; just take the most talented player available at that slot. Draft for need in round two.
In round two, depending on how many picks you take in that round, a defenseman and a goalie should be a must. Carter Amico would be my ideal draft pick there.
This is an important draft for the Flyers in more ways than one. Making sure you get a center is most important, followed by building more depth in the prospect pool, and being responsible.
By “responsible,” I mean to keep the future in mind. Having a loaded draft class will eventually lead to a big wave of RFAs, making it hard for the Flyers to retain everyone at once. If the value the Flyers are looking for at a specific spot is not there, the responsible thing would be to push the pick back a year or use it to trade for a player right now.
Make Power Play Adjustments
This could come pre- or post-draft, and even both. The Flyers need to address the power play this offseason. They made step one by firing Rocky Thompson; now they must make the right decision with the next power-play coach.
That will likely come shortly after the next head coach of the Flyers is named.
However, fixing the power play does not stop there. Once free agency comes, the Flyers should be looking for power-play specialists—I mean net-front players and a defenseman who can run point on either unit.
You might not get a premier player at either in free agency, but the power play needs to be in mind when making free agent decisions.
The Flyers have ranked at or near the bottom of the league in power-play percentage for far too long, with no adjustments being made. The perfect offseason would make the necessary moves to improve the team’s biggest weakness.
Sign a Center in Free Agency
Signing a center will be difficult, especially because most of the worthwhile options are RFAs. There are three UFA centers that would immediately improve the Flyers down the middle, but none fit the team’s direction. John Tavares, Brock Nelson, and Sam Bennett are all great centermen, but they likely would not prefer to be on a team coming out of a rebuild. They want to win now.
Instead, RFAs like Mason McTavish, Gabe Vilardi, and Marco Rossi make the most sense. I won’t harp on McTavish anymore. He is my ideal acquisition this offseason, and I have said it a lot recently.
Instead, I would look at my second option, Vilardi.
Gabe Vilardi has played a lot of right wing for Winnipeg, to the point where he is basically now a winger. However, he was a primary center in LA, and a good one. A return to the position should not be ruled out. His points may be a bit inflated because he is on that dominant top line for the Jets. However, he brings a level of skill and physicality that the Flyers need on their top line. It’s also worth noting that he is a solid net-front guy on the power play,
The Flyers need a top-line center; signing/acquiring McTavish or Vilardi would add to the perfect offseason.
Sign a Tandem Goalie
Unless more cap space is freed up, the Flyers must choose between a backup netminder and a new defenseman. Goaltending was the only thing giving the power play a run for its money as the Flyers’ biggest weakness, so that should be addressed before defense.
I wrote about it a little while back, but Alex Lyon could be a perfect match. The Flyers should not be looking for a long-term solution right now. They just need a bridge for a year or two to see what they have with Yegor Zavragin and Carson Bjarnason.
Lyon will be the perfect bridge goalie. He is good enough to be a great second goalie for a 60-40, maybe 65-35 split with Sam Ersson. He won’t be expensive, and is still good enough to win you games.
Unless the Flyers suddenly think they could acquire Jake Oettinger or Connor Hellebuyck, which won’t happen, a bridge player like Alex Lyon is perfect for the Flyers.
