On the Philadelphia Flyers …
NBC Sports Philadelphia: John Boruk: Forward Valtteri Filppula could be a fall back options for the Flyers. Would have to be at no more than $2.5 million and a one-year deal
Tom Dougherty: GM Ron Hextall left the door open for a Filppula return next season. He was a liability most nights, but he brings leadership, which they value.
Jordan Hall: The Flyers need to see what else they can do before bringing him back. He could be a good fourth-line, penalty kill option.
John Boruk of NBC Sports Philadelphia: There were trade rumors on Friday at the draft about a potential trade involving Wayne Simmonds for Dougie Hamilton.
Not sure how deep the talks went, but a one-for-one deal didn’t make much sense.
Hamilton carries a $5.75 million cap hit for three more seasons, and the Flames would have been looking for more. Flyers GM Ron Hextall hasn’t been willing to move their higher end prospects when asked.
“Again, would we like to add a big piece? Yeah, we would absolutely, but we’re not trading one of our top prospects for a guy that’s going to play for us for a year or two,” Hextall said. “You look back in two years and you go, ‘What was I thinking?’”
Simmonds is eligible to sign a contract extension after July 1st, and Hextall has already admitted weeks ago that there will be preliminary talks soon.
The Simmonds and the Flyers are far apart on an extension, there could be some teams looking at add a scorer.
Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Daily News: Flyers GM Ron Hextall seemed a little disappointed that he wasn’t able to make any moves over the weekend. Hextall likes to build his team through the draft.
“Yeah, philosophically, that’s where we’re at,” he said, “but we’d still like to add to our group on the big team and if we can do it in free agency or via trades, we’ll still look at it.”
The Flyers do have some salary cap space, around $20 million, but Hextall isn’t going to hand out long-term deals.
Players on the trade market could include Max Pacioretty, Jeff Skinner, Artemi Panarin, Jason Zucker, Ryan O’Reilly, Kevin Hayes, Erik Karlsson, Justin Faulk, Colton Parayko, and Matt Dumba.
Free agent options could include Ian Cole, and Mike Green, James van Riemsdyk, David Perron, James Neal, Michael Grabner, Patrick Maroon, Paul Stastny, Tyler Bozak, and Riley Nash.
“We want to win playoffs, too,” Hextall said. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to sacrifice an ‘A’ prospect for a one-year asset. It’s just not going to happen. We’re not going to move Carter Hart or Morgan Frost for a guy that’s going to help us for one year.”
Hextall is hoping to add a top-six forward and a veteran defenseman this offseason.
