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Quick Hits: Umberger, Prospects, Charity Classic

July 15, 2017, 8:13 AM ET [58 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Quick Hits: July 15, 2017

1) Best of luck to two-stint former Flyers R.J. Umberger as he prepares to make an NHL comeback bid on a training camp tryout with the Dallas Stars. Umberger, whose final contract season was bought out by the Flyers during the 2016 offseason, did not play last season. Because buyout arrangements run for twice the length of the remaining contract, the Flyers will still carry a $1.5 million cap hit on Umberger in 2017-18.

Now 35 years old, Umberger played the first season of his NHL career with Ken Hitchcock as his head coach and notched the first of his five 20-goal seasons. He was later reunited with Hitchcock for one-plus season as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Hitchcock, of course, is now in his second tenure as the Stars' head coach.

The trade that brought Umberger back from Columbus in exchange for Scott Hartnell was widely panned even before Umberger skated his first shift of his return engagement. Umberger was coming off a subpar and injury-marred 2013-14 season with the Blue Jackets. Unfortunately, Umberger's struggles continued and worsened in first season back in Philadelphia.

His second season did not go much better. He skated and checked more effectively than in 2014-15 but still produced only two goals in 39 games in a fourth-line role. The veteran was a routine healthy scratch as the season progressed. He admitted at his post-season press conference that he expected the Flyers to buy out his contract over the summer, and that indeed was what happened.

That was strictly a matter of business. Hockey is a bottom-line business, and Umberger did not produce. He simply was no longer the same caliber of player that he was earlier in his career with Philly and Columbus. At his hefty salary cap hit -- one that paid him as if he was still a perennial 20-plus goal scorer and all-situations player -- the buyout was almost inevitable.

The Flyers were respectful during the situation; something that Umberger himself noted in saying it was still an honor to return to the play for the organization even if the second stint didn't work out for either side nearly as well as the first.

Umberger's two Flyers stints, in my view, are a good example of the fickleness of fan support. The tide can turn fast. Some of the same folks who ranted at then-GM Paul Holmgren for the player's 2008 departure for salary cap management reasons were the same ones who did a 180 on the same player when he came back, referring to him as "Bumberger" and other terms of contempt.

He was, however, still the same person. Umberger is a straight shooter and a down-to-earth guy. There are ways of acknowledging a player's ineffective play and/or problematic contract while still being respectful to him. That is especially true for ones who brought value to the team in the past. The second-round play of Umberger and Marty Biron carried the Flyers past Montreal and to the 2008 Eastern Conference Final one season after the worst year in Philadelphia franchise history.

Umberger the second time around in Philly had a lot of mileage and wear-and-tear on him but the effort and professionalism were still there. The odds of him earning an NHL job in Dallas are less than 50-50 because there are younger options for the checking and penalty killing type of role that he'll be auditioning to play. However, he will arrive in tip-top shape and give his all to convince Hitchcock and general manager Jim Nill that he can still contribute. I am pulling for him to succeed.

2) While Nolan Patrick has not yet been signed to his entry-level contract, that is a mere formality at some point before the start of the season. As the second overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft, the signing and performance bonuses will take some time to negotiate. His camp may also be waiting to see how first overall pick Nico Hischier's contract is structured by the New Jersey Devils, especially in the reachable performance bonus category.

3) Speaking of signing prospects, it can sometimes be confusing to keep track of how long an NHL team has to sign a draftee before losing his rights. The answer depends on the league out of which the player is drafted.

For CHL players, as most fans know, there is a two-year window that ends on June 1. For NCAA collegiate or college-committed draftees, the window is the duration of his amateur eligibility and expires on August 15 after his eligibility ends. For European league players, the signing window depends on whether the country's hockey federation has a transfer agreement with the NHL. For an 18-year-old Swedish league draftee, for example, there is a four-year signing with a June 1 deadline. For Russian league draftees, there is an indefinite timetable because there is no transfer agreement with the NHL but the KHL and NHL do have a non-interference agreement to honor the duration of player contracts with the other league.

From a Flyers' standpoint, that means the current signing timetables for unsigned draftees (excluding both Patrick and fellow 2017 first-rounder Morgan Frost) is as follows:

2018
June 1: CHL draftees Carsen Twarynski (2016 draft) & Anthony Salinitri (2016 draft)
Aug. 15: Collegiate seniors Terrance Amorosa (2013 draft) & David Drake (2013 draft)

2019
June 1: European league draftees Felix Sandström (SWE, 2015) & David Kase (CZE, 2015), CHL draftees Isaac Ratcliffe (2017), Matthew Strome (2017), Maksim Sushko (2017).
Aug 15: Collegiate senior Cooper Marody (2015)

2020
June 1: European league draftees David Bernhardt (SWE, 2016) and Linus Högberg (SWE, 2016).
Aug. 15: Collegiate seniors Matej Tomek (2015, five-year window), Wade Allison (2016) and Tanner Laczynski (2016).

2021
June 1:European league draftee Olle Lycksell (SWE, 2017)
Aug. 15: Collegiate senior Wyatt Kalynuk (2017).

2022
Aug. 15: Collegiate senior Noah Cates (2017, five-year window).

Indefinite timetables: Russian league draftees Ivan Fedotov (2015) and Kirill Ustimenko (2017).

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CHARITY CLASSIC SCHEDULE

The Toyota Flyers Charity Classic is on Sunday. The event features a 5k run/walk course, a 10-mile family or individual bike ride course, a 50k bike route and a 100k bike route. Although online registration is now closed, those interested in participating can still sign up on site at the Wells Fargo Center starting at 6:30 a.m. and closing at 7:30 a.m. in parking lot G. Free parking at Citizens Banks Park (Lots S, T, and U) is available for all participants in the Charity Classic. The event schedule is as follows:

6:30 a.m.: Check-in/registration opens in Lot G of the Wells Fargo Center
7:30 a.m.: Event Announcements
8:00 a.m.: 100K, 50K and 10-Mile Family Ride starts
8:15 a.m.: 5k Run/Walk starts
8:30 a.m.: Flyers Fan Fest opens

3) There are seven Flyers Alumni captained teams participating in the Charity Classic, and a dozen Flyers Alumni are biking, running or walking in Sunday's event. All proceeds raised by the Flyers Alumni teams will go toward making good on the Alumni's pledge of donating $2 million to the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation for the construction of the future Edward M. Snider Flyers Alumni Rink to be used by the youngsters in the Snider Hockey program.

If you cannot directly take part in the Charity Classic events on Sunday but are able to make a monetary donation in any amount, doing so in the name of any of the Alumni-captained teams or individual members of these teams will be a contribution to helping the Alumni assist Snider Hockey.

To a man, the Alumni want to honor Mr. Snider's legacy and say thank you to the late Flyers co-founder and longtime chairman for all he did for their lives and families as well as for the community. The list of participating Alumni:

* Bernie Parent (co-captain of Bernie's Italian French Connection)
* Brad Marsh (captain of Ides of Marsh)
* Bob Clarke (member of Ides of Marsh)
* Joe Watson (member of Ides of Marsh)
* Neil Little (member of Ides of Marsh)
* Riley Cote (member of Ides of Marsh)
* Bob Kelly (member of Bernie's Italian French Connection)
* Brian Propp (captain of Propper Guffaw)
* Daniel Briere (captain of Briere Bunch)
* Ian Laperriere (captain of Lappy's Team)
* Bill Clement (captain of Hands of Cement)
* Paul Holmgren (captain of Holmgren's Heroes)

I am doing the 5k as a member of Brad Marsh's team. My fundraising page for the Charity Classic is here. Thank you to everyone who donated yesterday in my name. I am very grateful and honored.
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