Seth Vigdor
With general manager Ron Hextall making some great decisions for the Flyers recently, the Flyers may not be too far away from actually competing for a Stanley Cup. Don’t get me wrong; we aren’t there yet, but you can certainly see some light at the end of the tunnel. The team recently made a huge deal where they said goodbye to Luke Schenn and Vincent Lecavalier, getting in return a 2016 third round draft pick and Jordan Weal.
On top of that, their future looks bright with their stud defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. On the season, the rookie sensation has eight goals and twelve assists. The Flyers are 20-18 on the season, which is far from spectacular, but some of Hextall’s wheeling and dealing is opening up the possibility of the team bringing in a top-notch free agent in the offseason.
So who could the Flyers legitimately make a move on? Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski had an interesting thought.
Between the promising defensemen in the organization’s farm system and the young players already on the Flyers’ roster, Hextall has the resources to make the sort of blockbuster trade that once characterized the franchise’s perpetual chase of its third Stanley Cup. Failing that, he could wait until the offseason, when the NHL’s second-greatest scorer to Ovechkin, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos, is likely to become an unrestricted free agent.
Stamkos turns 27 on Feb. 7. He has led the NHL in goals twice, scoring a career-high 60 in 2011-12, and he had 20 goals in 48 games this season ahead of Wednesday. But he and the Lightning have been at an impasse over his contract for a while. SportsNet recently reported that Tampa had offered him an extension with an average annual value of $8.5 million, which would be a $1 million-per-year raise for Stamkos but is likely well below what he would command on the open market. Those teams interested in signing Stamkos this offseason ought to be prepared to pay him at least $10 million a year.
[adinserter name=”Media Strike 1″]
I’d be in on Stamkos in the right situation, but Sielski went on and provided the problem of Stamkos for the Flyers.
Like Giroux, Stamkos is a center. So signing him would mean that the Flyers would not only have $19-20 million in cap space each year tied up in two players at the same position, but they’d be banking that Giroux – their captain and a more complete player than Stamkos – would have no issues with sharing the spotlight.
If you ask me, I’d like the Flyers to stay the course. Hextall is working his magic by freeing up cap space and all that good stuff. I say stay patient and pounce on minor deals where necessary over the next year. Then in two years, the team will be in even better position to make a major deal that could potentially bring this team one step closer to the Stanley Cup. For now, let’s enjoy watching the team grow into a contender.