1) To the surprise of no one, including the player himself, the Flyers bought out the final year of R.J. Umberger's contract. The team will save $3 million on the salary cap next season but they will absorb a $1.5 million cap hit in 2017-18.
Umberger's second stint with the Flyers clearly did not work nearly as well as the first. That much was obvious, and does not need to be rehashed. At his salary level, Umberger needed to play at or near the level he established earlier in his career. It didn't happen.
However, I've learned over the years to recognize that there's a human being involved as well a pro athlete. Umberger was a good guy the first time around in the organization, and making big money never changed him. He's remained the same person.
The hockey life can be tough on players with families. When the trade back to Philadelphia initially came down, Umberger was hoping he could spend the rest of his career with the Flyers. It just didn't work out, and that's the nature of the business sometimes. He acknowledged all of these things at his end of season press conference.
That, too, was not a surprise.
He's always been a straight shooter, and would let you know when he thought was going on with his own play and well as the team. He puts his views out there honestly.
Years ago, in the Spectrum press box during a Phantoms-Hershey game, I heard a longtime NHL scout say of Umberger, "He's a very American kid."
I'm not entirely sure what that meant, but I suspect it was a way of saying that he speaks his mind as he sees fit and has a high degree of self-confidence.
To me, R.J. has always been just a regular guy who happens to be a pro hockey player. Apart from watching his play on the ice in his younger years, that's what I liked about him in my dealings with and observations about him in both stints in the organization.
For example, I am not a Pittsburgh Steelers fan but I will miss the lively banter Umberger used to have several times a week after practice with Tim Panaccio and Randy Miller about the state of the Steelers. Additionally, R.J. is neighbors with a family friend and I know their family has enjoyed it because he's always been good with the kids in the neighborhood.
Here's hoping that Umberger, whether via discount free agent contract or via training camp invite, hooks on with another NHL team next season and continues his career. It would be in a fourth line/ penalty killing role and probably without including the netfront power play time the player himself still believes he can contribute to an NHL team. In that role on an inexpensive contract, Umberger can still help a team.
2) When people ask me which free agent forward I think would be the biggest help to the Flyers, it's a tough question to answer because the answer depends on a variety of factors -- length of contract and salary cap space it will eat up, other Flyers moves that may happen between now and July, whether the outlook is from a short-range (specifically meaning next season) or long-range outlook, and whether the desired player is even still out on the market come July 1.
For example, if the question was "If you look only at next year and assume the team will create plenty of salary cap flexibility", I would say that Andrew Ladd would a great fit on the ice as well as part of the leadership group the dressing room. He plays a position of need (left wing), offers needed size, scores gritty goals and owns two Stanley Cup rings. In the short term, he's the type of player who could help bump the Flyers from the 95-96 point range to the 100-point range and possibly help them win a playoff round; in other words, the next progressive step from where the team left off this past season.
Long term, though, I don't necessarily see a fit. Would his contract become an albatross in a couple of years? Possibly, especially if it's a four-year type of contract. By the time the Flyers are ready to contend again for a Cup rather than their present status as a playoff bubble team, would he still be a mid-20 goal scorer? Possibly, but he just as easily could be in decline.
In terms of the salary cap, right now is it even realistic or well-advised for the Flyers to compete for someone like Kyle Okposo, given that he's one of those top-of-the market players who is the category of being a virtual guaranteed to get overpaid? Will Milan Lucic be on the UFA market come July 1, how much overpayment will it take, and is he a fit for Dave Hakstol's system? As for Steven Stamkos, health concerns aside, the Flyers do not seem to be in realistic position to compete for the player.
Finally, I will say that sometimes the best free agent signings are the discounted, one-year type of deals after the initial frenzy calms down. Think of the Flyers' signing of Michael Del Zotto in 2014 or what the Maple Leafs got out of a desperate Mason Raymond in 2013-14 versus the disappointment Calgary had from what they received after he parlayed his bounceback year in Toronto into a three-year contract with the Flames worth $9.5 million.
The best way to assess the free agent market is to be patient. To me, there's no one single "must-have" player out there. Sometimes, two smaller pieces bring equal or greater value to one big one -- and create less long-term headaches in the process. As the Flyers continue to divest themselves of long-term, big dollar contracts and -- hopefully -- get an influx in the few years of productive players still on entry-level deals, they will have more flexibility to try to add that one big piece.
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Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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