When is Fletcher going to re-sign the remaining RFA’s in Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov? That seems to be the million dollar question echoing throughout the Philadelphia legion of fans right now. Let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.
Mikhail Vorobyev. Honestly, I just don’t see where he fits within this organization at the moment. Chuck Fletcher is high on Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, and Isaac Ratcliffe, and German Rubtsov, as Fletcher stated last week. Fletcher also did say, “Vorobyev is a young man that we feel is going to come back next year a little bit stronger.” However, I just don’t see where fits into the future plans of the team, with all the other young prospects that appear to be ahead of him in the pipeline. For this reason, I think he’s a bust with the orange and black.
Carter Hart is the real deal. He is confident in his abilities, and Hart just trains, trains, trains in the offseason. I’m very confident he will put together a 26-30 win season next year. Hart will have some bad games for sure, but they will be far and few between. Moreover, realistically there is no goalie competition at the moment for Hart. Brian Elliott knows his role with the organization, and he is a good mentor for the young Hart. Next season hopefully Felix Sandstrom makes the big club, and we can then see a tandem of Hart/Sandstrom. Better days are ahead at the goaltending position.
Joel Farabee- Jake Guentzel
Morgan Frost- Mikael Granlund
Isaac Ratcliffe- Ryan Getzlaf
Bobby Brink- David Pastrnak or TJ Oshie
Felix Sandstrom- (When healthy) Tim Thomas…If injuries hold him back Sean Burke. Sandstrom is a standup/hybrid goaltender which is neat.
Wade Allison- J.T. Miller
German Rubtsov- Pavel Datsyuk
Hopefully they all pan out this way for the Flyers, and if they do watchhhhh out.
There might not be a trade market for Robert Hagg. He is a bottom D pairing type of player, and most NHL teams are looking for a mid-to-top pairing type Dman. Jake Gardiner also hasn’t signed yet, so this may be affecting the trade market, as well.
Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov cannot file for salary arbitration. However, I am confident that TK will re-sign early next week. Provorov will take more time, and the Flyers will be down to the wire with him. He will be difficult to nail down, as there is apparently not much wiggle room from what Provorov’s asking price is. However, I do believe that Provy and the Flyers will come to a resolution before camp begins.
The Flyers will beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 in Prague, Czech Republic. Jakub Voracek will be pumped while playing for his home nation in the Czech Republic, and pot two goals. Hart will backstop 29 shots, en route to a season-opening victory for the orange and black.
I think Kevin Labanc’s deal with San Jose will have no effect on the TK deal. Everyone knows by now he took a hometown discount. It is a great deal for the Sharks.
Ryan Reaves would provide the toughness and grit this team lacks. His salary for next season is $2.75 million. We shall see in the coming weeks what happens with these cap strapped teams.
Two players have a NMC, and must be protected: Claude Giroux and Kevin Hayes
The Flyers will follow the 7-3-1 protection list, and the protected players are as follows:
Rubtsov
Coots
Giroux
Hayes
Patrick
Konecny
Lindblom
Sanheim
Myers
Provorov
Hart
Shayne Gostisbehere has a ton of value, especially given the value of his cheap contract, which is $4.5 million cap hit through the 2022-23 season. With that being said Ghost would not reel in a Mitchell Marner. Marner is comparable to Austin Matthews, and he will re-sign eventually with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
If the Flyers wanted to offload Ghost they could. There will plenty of teams ready to fit him into their top 4.
It’s to my understanding Petr Luukko left the company to pursue other entrepreneurial activities. In addition, he wanted to watch his three sons play hockey. Unfortunately, Luukko couldn’t do that as the company was growing, and it took more time away from his family.
Tilger may have left because there was a lot on his plate. It took a lot to create and introduce “Gritty.” Tilger did a fabulous job with that. Moreover, Comcast is a huge Enterprise, and with that comes a lot of work and pressure. Maybe it just got to be too much to handle.
Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny will re-sign, but it’s going to take a little bit of work. I can see the Flyers giving Konecny a bridge deal, and it looks to me that Provorov is headed the same way. In Provy’s case may come down to money, but I’m confident he re-signs in the end.
Hypothetically, let’s say Provorov doesn’t re-sign. There is only one young player at this time that could eat up the minutes that Provorov does, and that is Travis Sanheim. Unfortunately, no other prospect is close to top-pairing minutes at this time. I think eventually Philippe Myers will be that guy, but at this time he could still use some developing. The Flyers would then be forced to make a trade.
Dave Scott was the choice of Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts to replace him. Scott leads Comcast Spectacor as their CEO. He loves Flyers hockey and is very passionate about bringing a winner to the great fans of Philadelphia. Trust me when I say he has orange and black in his blood.
If you would like to see your questions submitted in our weekly mailbag. Just submit your question on our Facebook page or on Twitter using #Flyersmail. Thanks to all the fans for another great mailbag, and Let’s go Flyers. Without your support, we wouldn’t be here today.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
