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LAS VEGAS — The NHL’s buyout window has opened. The Philadelphia Flyers have some candidates.
More specifically, the team is still mulling what to do with forward Cam Atkinson and goalie Cal Petersen. Both have one year remaining on their respective deals: Atkinson for $5.875 million and Petersen for $3.85 million.
Petersen’s contract is almost certainly not tradable, considering his precipitous decline since his final few days with the Los Angeles Kings, as well as his failure to lock down the Flyers’ backup goalie job coming out of the All-Star break after Carter Hart’s departure.
But the Flyers are still hopeful that they might be able to move Atkinson. TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that the San Jose Sharks were interested in him, but that Atkinson “isn’t keen” on going there. The Sharks are on Atkinson’s 10-team no-trade list.
Still, it’s easy to see why the Sharks might have been interested in Atkinson, who, despite his struggles — he went without a point in his final 23 games, and had just 28 points in 70 games — remained professional throughout what was a trying season for him. A young team looking to establish a solid culture, which Atkinson could help provide, might be willing to bring in the respected veteran for a year. For Atkinson, a bigger role with a lesser team would be an opportunity to revive his career, too, while also allowing him to collect his full salary.
Atkinson said in his final media availability on April 17 that he still “feels like I have a lot of juice left in the tank for the right situation.” Whether any other teams feel that’s the case could be determined over the next 24 to 48 hours.
Ryan Johansen, who was acquired from Colorado in the trade for Sean Walker, is not eligible to be bought out due to injury. It remains a tremendous long shot that Johansen, who will carry a $4 million salary cap hit next season, will ever play for the Flyers.
With Matvei Michkov coming over, has the Flyers’ timeline to compete moved up at all?
My read on the situation, after talking to a few people in Las Vegas is that, yeah, maybe it has. But not dramatically.
The Flyers’ salary-cap situation over the next two seasons remains complicated. They have dead money, including a portion of Kevin Hayes’ contract, still on the books through 2025-26, and could have more depending on if they buy out Atkinson and/or Petersen. Even with Ryan Ellis and, in all likelihood, Johansen headed for long-term injured reserve, the Flyers’ salary-cap situation is tight.
The biggest benefit of Michkov coming now, of course, is that the Flyers will get a chance to mold him at a young age. Both sides know that’s going to take some time — same as it will with Connor Bedard, who had 61 points in 68 games with the Chicago Blackhawks as a rookie, but who also posted a minus-40 rating at five-on-five. And, same as it did with Alex Ovechkin, who many say didn’t really show a full commitment to defending until coach Barry Trotz joined the Washington Capitals in 2014-15, in what was his 10th season. Just to name a couple.
Still, the Flyers obviously assume Michkov will be a much more well-rounded NHL player by the 2026-27 season, in what would be his third in the league, than he would have been had he been required to finish out his KHL contract. That could result in an attempt to surround him with more NHL-ready talent by the time that season begins, and when they could have ample flexibility under a salary-cap ceiling that will likely be approaching $100 million.
In other words, the next few days should be interesting in terms of how the Flyers manage their dead money. If they can’t find a taker for Atkinson and keep both him Petersen around next season, therefore getting them completely off the books by next summer, that could mean they’re going to attempt to be a bit more active in the 2025 offseason than they figured they would have been a few months ago, when they didn’t believe Michkov’s arrival was a possibility.
At some point, they’re going to need a No. 1 center to play with Michkov. Might they target someone such as Leon Draisaitl, perhaps, if he’s a free agent in 2025?
The other aspect to this is the much-discussed team culture — something that will be even more important next season than it was this season. There’s going to be a priority put on making sure Michkov is walking into a solid dressing room. To me, that makes a Scott Laughton offseason trade, for example, much less likely.
This is all to say that next season, Michkov’s first, still won’t be about making a deep playoff run (or even making the playoffs at all). But I wouldn’t count out the Flyers from trying to set things up so they have a bit more flexibility one year from now.
The Flyers are still exploring trading up in the first round on Friday, but the price to do so is high at the moment — much as it was last year, when the Flyers unsuccessfully attempted to move up to ensure the selection of Michkov before they were still able to take him at No. 7.
There was one report that the Flyers and Ottawa Senators had the “framework of a deal” in place ahead of the draft, but a team source strongly pushed back on that — at least when it comes to the No. 7 overall pick that Ottawa possesses. The Flyers have had discussions with several teams ahead of them in the draft, including Ottawa, but there’s been “no traction” in terms of consummating a deal, according to a team source.
Asked whether there was anything imminent between the Flyers and Senators, the source added, “Absolutely not.”
That could always change, of course, particularly if there’s a player the Flyers covet who is available with the No. 7 pick that the Senators currently possess. Apparently nothing has been finalized, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t talking.
One for the For What It’s Worth column:
Just ran into a current NHL coach who thinks the Flyers are one team in particular “looking to do some deals.”
— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) June 27, 2024
Something that will come up, probably sooner than later, is the possibility of new contracts for Cam York and Tyson Foerster, who will enter the final seasons of their respective deals that would take them into restricted free agency. They are eligible for extensions on July 1.
This will be a priority at some point for the front office, but a team source also said there’s “no rush” in getting these deals done, even though both players are viewed as very important pieces for the future.
The Flyers recently went through a similar process with Owen Tippett, who finished the 2022-23 season strong and then took another step in 2023-24 before he was signed to an eight-year extension in January. There were some early talks between the two sides last summer, and the deal that Tippett eventually signed wasn’t all that different, cost-wise, from what they discussed in the 2023 offseason.
In other words, it’s probably incorrect to suggest that the Flyers are taking some sort of huge risk with York and/or Foerster if they wait to extend them. Maybe their respective price tags might increase, but it wouldn’t be dramatic.
Still no word from Columbus whether they’re going to give the Flyers that second-round pick this year, which would be No. 36 overall, or wait until next year. The Flyers assume, at this point, that they won’t know until after the first round is over on Friday night, as is Columbus’ right.
(Photo of Cal Petersen and Cam Atkinson: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
Gregory Daniels is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, he explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture. Gregory enjoys staying ahead of the curve and sharing emerging trends with his readers.
