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The Flyers are Rumored to be doing their Due Diligence This Off Season
Photo Credit: Philadelphia Flyers
Despite Philadelphia not making it into the Stanley Cup playoffs this season, the team’s General Manager Danny Briere has not let that deter him from continuing to try to return this once great franchise to its rightful place alongside the league’s other perennial playoff contenders.
To do so, it has been rumored that the team has been doing their due diligence this off-season by checking in on what it would take to acquire the services of some very productive NHL players from around the league. The latest being the 25-year-old Czech-born Martin Necas from the Carolina Hurricanes. But while trading for this former 2017 first-round pick who has previously been able to set career highs of 28 goals and 71 points would be nice. It might prove harder than some may think, given the fact that the Flyers will hold the highest dead cap space of any team in the league next season, thanks to them being forced to wait to place Ryan Ellis on LTIR every year, agreeing to pay Kevin Hayes $3.5 million a season not to play for them. Them having $1.6 Million already allocated to Anthony DeAngelo’s buyout. On top of figuring out what to do with the four million dollars in retained salary, they are inclined to pay for Ryan Johansen and most likely another $3.85 million in buried cap penalties so they can hide Cal Petersen back down in Lehigh Valley again next season.
So, when you factor all that in, the chances of the team being able to bring in a player like the aforementioned impending free agent Martin Necas, who may seem like a bargain at just three million for next season, might be easier said than done.
Unless this workup is meant to be a backup plan in case the team cannot come to terms with their own impending free agent, Travis Konecny, who has been rumored to be seeking upwards of nine to ten million dollars a season for the duration of his next contract. A price that the Flyers just cannot afford to pay out at this time and would likely then be forced to have to move Konecny out of town in order to get something for him before he is a free agent.
But with the team still seeming optimistic about possibly re-signing Travis, a less flashy but more cap-friendly acquisition that I would suggest for this upcoming season is the potential pickup of the Los Angeles Kings forward Arthur Kaliyev.
Kaliyev, who was taken in the second round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and who still is just 22 years old, would cost the team fewer of their stockpiled assets to acquire than Necas. Given that he is much younger, still unproven, and has become frustrated with his lack of playing time in LA which in turn made him recently ask the Kings for a trade.
Now, I get it: Kaliyev is nowhere near as good a player as Necas is, but he could soon be! Because, like Owen Tippett was before Philly brought him in, Arthur is a virtually untapped offensive threat with an elite-level shot which is buried on the Kings’ depth chart and in need of a fresh start.
If you don’t remember him, before being drafted, Arthur played three seasons for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL, where during that time, he was able to compile 126 goals and 122 assists for a total of 248 points.
But since being drafted, he has had to battle for ice time and has never really been given a fair shot with any sort of consistent line-mates at the NHL level with which to build chemistry. However, despite being forced to deal with those irregularity’s, Kaliyev has still been able to produce, reaching the teens in goals in back-to-back seasons prior to this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeohA87K72E
Arthur is signed through next season with a cap hit of just $894,167. Making him, at least in my mind, a low-risk-high reward type guy who could prove to make an immediate impact once brought in to be a part of this team’s young nucleus that they are currently building.
As for what it would take to land him, I don’t know about you, but I would be willing to offer up center Morgan Frost and his $2.1 million cap hit, being that the team has already re-signed Ryan Poehling and have centers Sean Couturier, Scott Laughton, and Noah Cates all still under contract.
You may disagree with me, but Frost (who was often in Tort’s doghouse this season) could prove to be a much-needed upgrade for the Kings over the under-performing center Blake Lizotte, who tallied just 15 points in 62 games played this season for LA.
As always, I appreciate the read and hope you enjoyed the little food for thought on what the Flyers are up to this off-season.
An Early Look at How the Flyers Could Clean up in the 2025 NHL Draft
Photo Credit: USHL.com
Since Briere took over as General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers, he has put a strong emphasis on rebuilding through the draft. So much so that in the 2023 Entry Draft, they made two selections in the first round, taking Russian Forward Matvei Michkov seventh overall and the newly crowned OHL Champion London Knights defenseman Oliver Bonk 22nd overall. With both picks appearing (at least at this point) to be home runs, Danny will attempt a similar fate when he is due to make multiple first-round selections this summer as well, which, if you’re interested, you can view my suggestions for those picks on our website www.steelflyers.com
But that’s not all; keeping up with this trend of planning for the future, Briere has already managed to set his franchise up with multiple first-round selections in the 2025 draft as well. In fact, when paired with the ones already in the team’s system and the ones that soon will be from this summer’s draft, we could very well be playing witness to the fate of this franchise-changing right before our eyes.
So, with that being said, let us take a look at some promising prospects that Briere and the team’s scouts should be setting their sights on for next season.
As of right now, with the fate of Matvei Michkov still not confirmed as to where he will be playing next season, we will assume the Flyers will likely finish around or slightly better than they did this past season—leaving them to pick somewhere just outside the top ten to the early teens. And a player whom I think they should select with their own first-round pick in 2025 is the Erie Otters’ shutdown defender, Matthew Schaefer.
Matthew Schaefer
Matthew, who we here at www.steeelflyers.com got to speak to recently on our PodCast called Prospect Watch-
– was the OHL’s number-one overall pick in their 2023 Priority Selection Draft. And for good reason. Schaefer was able to show this past season for the Otters that he possessed great speed and size, which helped him hinder their opposition’s advances. But while his swiftness has many scouts drooling for me, it’s his ability to use his great hockey sense to wait until his opponent drops their head to try and regain control of the puck after he has poke-checked from them to then step up and use his body to not only take them out of the play but off of their skates entirely.
If you would like to read more about Schaefer and his game, here is an article I recently posted on him.
Jordan Gavin
As for their previously mentioned additional first-round selection that we, of course, know Danny was able to pick up in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche for impending free-agent defenseman Sean Walker, I would suggest Philadelphia look at a tantalizing forward that goes by the name Jordan Gavin, who plays for the Tri-City Americans of the WHL. Gavin is a dynamic forward with a quick release who can hurt you if given space. But unlike most players his age, Jordan is just as satisfied if not more eager to set up a teammate than he is to score himself. This being a trait that led the Americans to draft Jordan second overall in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.
It is my opinion that Jordan will have an absolute breakout year this upcoming season. One that will make his 23 goals and 45 assists for 68 points he was able to total this season seem minuscule compared to what he will have compiled this time next year.
Lynden Lakovic
While fans should be happy if the Flyers were done after day one with drafting both Schaefer and Gavin, where the team could really clean up will be in the second round, and here’s why.
In 2025, the Flyers have the opportunity to make three selections in the second round. The first to be utilized would likely be the one they received from the Anaheim Ducks for the arrogant Cutter Gauthier.
And it’s with this pick that I would suggest the Flyers take the 6’4 forward Lynden Lakovic, who can be found playing for the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors.
Like a magician, Lynden uses his unusual length and phenomenal stick-handling ability to create the illusion for the opposition’s defense that he is going to do one thing just to pull the puck back in tight to his body to do another. This sleight of hand allowed Lynden to score 18 goals and 21 assists for a total of 39 regular season points this year.
And, with guys like the already drafted Jagger Firkus, Brayden Yager, Matthew Savoie, and Denton Mateychuck all either aging out or potentially making the jump to the professional level next season, Lakovic is set to gain a lot more ice time, which should lead to a substantial rise in his point production.
Benjamin Kevan
The Flyers’ subsequent second-round pick should be coming from the Columbus Blue Jackets. It is a conditional pick that they acquired in a trade for defender Ivan Provorov. The only caveat to this is that the Blue Jackets have to end of the 1st round of this summer’s draft to decide whether they will give up their 2024 2nd round pick or their second selection in 2025. But with the Blue Jackets set to hire a new GM in the coming days and having that selection be the 36th overall pick to be made this summer, I think they will likely be holding on to it and thus forcing them to defer their 2025 second-round selection to the Flyers.
So, if that is the case, I would advise the Flyers brass to draft the USHL’s Benjamin Kevan with that pick. Ben, who plays for the Des Moines Buccaneers, was able to compile a near-point-per-game average in just his first season in the USHL, where he scored 24 goals and 33 assists for 57 points in just 59 games played. This feat earned him the honor of being named to the USHL All-Rookie Team this season.
Better still, to go with Kevan’s breakaway-type speed and finishing ability, the Bucs just added the young and talented Blake Zielinski with the third overall pick in the latest USHL Entry Draft, so with these two manning the helm next year, Des Moines bounty should prove plentiful.
Liam Kilfoil
Now, as far as what the team should do with their own 2nd round pick, I would recommend they take a look at a prospect who most experts are sleeping on right now, and that player would be Halifax’s Liam Kilfoil.
This season was Liam’s first in the Q, and while he only scored nine goals and eleven assists for 20 points in the regular season, the progression and skill set that showed through at times would lead me to believe that great things are still to come from this young man.
Kilfoil showed this season that he possesses the type of speed, pace, and strength that allows a player to take the puck from coast to coast unscathed. Let me give you an example: From a standstill, Liam shows the wherewithal to wait for a defender to throw himself off balance by lunging for the puck before he takes off down the ice. Once he has gained that initial space, he is off to the races. At speeds so fast, he can take the outside lane along the boards to get by defenders protecting the puck the whole time before making evasive maneuvers to allow himself to cut right in front of the oppositions net to create a scoring chance with his lightning-quick release while remaining seemingly untouched.
And that’s just one example of his early skill set. Many more traits were beginning to shine through towards the end of the season. To prove that, all you have to do is look at what he did in the playoffs, where he scored three goals in only four games.
Take my word for it: this player will be shooting up mock draft boards next season to the point where teams will be flying scouts on the teams’ plane to Halifax next season just to see him play in person.
Although it may seem very early to be talking about the 2025 draft, I guarantee you the Flyers organization has their scouts working overtime to begin to gather information on these players, given the fact that their literal future depends on getting these picks right that they have given up so much to acquire.
Prospect Watch: Matthew Schaefer
Photo Credit: Erie Otters
With the 2024 NHL Entry Draft right around the corner, you would think that we here at Prospect Watch would be getting ready to sit back and watch our prognostications begin to unfold just as we said they would. Instead, we prefer to get a jump on the following year’s crop and to do that, I can think of no better prospect to start talking about than a guy who the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League chose to take number one overall in the 2023 Priority Selection Draft, and that player was 16-year-old defenseman, Matthew Schaefer.
Now, for those of you not yet familiar with Matthew or his game, let me tell you I have seen some defenders with size. I have seen some defenders with speed, but it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a defender who has been so lucky to possess both of these qualities and be able to utilize them so fluently together at such a young age.
Offensively, while on the rush, Matthew appears so poised that you would think he’s an NHL veteran of at least ten years. This is thanks to that aforementioned speed, which permits him to break away from a pack of defenders with ease and provides him (and his team) with endless scoring opportunities, which they then make look effortless.
But I assure you Schaefer is so much more than just some run-of-the-mill point-producing offensive defenseman. This young man has shown us this past season that he is wise beyond his years. What I mean by that is he has already appeared to have learned the importance of being patient while standing guard on the blue line. Matthew knows when to join the rush and when it’s best to stay back and protect his end of the ice. And we all know or at least are playing witness to just how invaluable a true two-way defender who can put up points as well as maintain a positive plus-minus rating can be in the playoffs.
As exciting as this prospect already is, it should be noted that he is only going to get better. In fact, one attribute that I feel should be both documented and monitored closely over the next year by NHL scouts is just how physical this young man is becoming. While reaching an age and maturity level where most are struggling just learning how to drive, Matthew (while only weighing in at 161 pounds this past season) was made to show that he could be relied upon to combat the advances of some of the leagues oldest, largest, and most talented competitors. And, if you had watched any of his games or even the video clips I provided you with in this article, you would have seen that Schaffer was able to do so flawlessly.
With most of the leagues around the world now preferring a kinder/gentler game, most defenders have become soft for fear of receiving a penalty. With that, sadly, it has become satisfactory to most coaches if a defender just throws out a lazy poke check to a speedy opposing winger who is able just to brush it off and keep advancing into the attacking zone. So as a result, these leagues have become more wide-open, leaving goalies to fend for themselves.
However, this is not the case with Schaefer. Despite him being known to throw out an effective poke check on the opposition, what sets him apart from the rest is while the forward drops his head to try and regain control of the puck, Matthew has been trained to follow said poke check, up by immediately putting on the brakes and lowering his shoulder. This is done in an effort to eliminate any threat of a potential goal by taking his man out of the play completely.
The last and seemingly most important quality that we’ll talk about Matthew possessing (that most players his age don’t) is his ability to lead. Almost instantaneously upon his arrival in Erie, Matthew appeared to become a leader of this rebuilding franchise. To this point, multiple teammates have gone on record saying it’s true when Schaefer walks into the locker room, it is almost like his presence demands respect. And it’s not because of an attitude problem or him being vain, far from it, because he’s one of the nicest, most wholesome kids you would ever want to meet.
What I think has developed this worthwhile quality is the fact Matthew has unfortunately had to deal with a lot of hardship in his young life with the loss of both his mom, whom he loved dearly, to breast cancer as well as his billet Mother in Erie, whose death was unexpected. Both women (or mother figures, if you will) in his life passed only a couple of months apart. And, when forced to deal with that kind of adversity, you do one of two things: you crack under the pressure or you press on like Matthew chose to do because it’s what his mother, who played mini sticks with him since he could first stand with a binky in his mouth would have wanted him to do.
Now, Schaefer’s three goals and fourteen assists for seventeen points this season for the Otters would be impressive for any 16-year-old defender playing in this league (especially), given all he had to go through this season. But for me, it was what he was able to do at the World Championships recently in Finland that proved to me that he at least belongs in the conversation of who will be named the top ten talents for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
This is because Matthew did not only play for Canada in the U-17 Tournament, where he scored four points in eight games. He also managed to make the cut to join their U-18 Team as well, where he tallied five points in seven games. In all these games, Schaefer showed that he could not only play with some of the best young talents in the world today, but in my mind, he was able to get the best of them.
So, if you get the chance next season to head up to Erie for a game, I would highly suggest it because with the Otters having both Malcolm Spence, who they took second overall in the 2022 Priority Draft, and Matthew Schaefer, who they took with the first overall pick in 2023 returning to play for them next season there’s no doubt that the cheers reverberating out of the Insurance Arena will be heard all the way across Lake Erie and up into Matthew’s hometown of Hamilton, Ontario.