Quick Hits: July 1, 2023
1) Today marks the start of the NHL's free agent signing period. Other than some AHL-geared signings, the Flyers do not expect to be active in the unrestricted free agent (UFA) market as it opens. They will likely wait until the inevitable shift to a buyer's market, when still unsigned players are more likely to be willing to sign bargain contracts for one season or two seasons at most. In terms of the Flyers' own free agents this summer, this is the breakdown.
Restricted Free Agents (tendered qualifying offers): Noah Cates, Morgan Frost, Cam York, Ronnie Attard, Olle Lycksell.
Unrestricted free agents: James van Riemsdyk, Justin Braun (playing in Germany next season), Brendan Lemieux, Troy Grosenick, Max Willman, Jackson Cates (Group 6 UFA), Kieffer Bellows (non-tendered as RFA), Wyatte Wylie (non-tendered as RFA), Evan Barratt (non-tendered as RFA).
2) Braun retired from the NHL at the end of the 2022-23 season. However, he was recently offered a one-year contract to play in Germany's DEL with the Straubing Tigers. Braun will bring his wife Jessie and young daughters, Madison and Summer Grace, along to live in Germany for a year.
3) Today, the Flyers announced their 2023 Development Camp schedule and camp roster. Camp will run from July 2 to 6 with an off-day on the Fourth of July. On the final day, there will be a two-team, five-on-five scrimmage. This will replace the 3-on-3 mini-rink tournament with more game-like conditions.
For the full camp roster, ice-time schedules and more, click here.
4) Cutter Gauthier (NCAA rules compliance, explained here in the "Development Camp" section and Matvei Michkov (returning to Russia and resuming summer training for SKA St. Petersburg's 2023-24 KHL season) are not attending Development Camp.
In a couple weeks, Gauthier will attend USA Hockey's World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan (July 27 to August 4). Fellow Flyers prospects Devin Kaplan (fully paying his own way to attend a second Dev Camp with the Flyers, as NCAA rules require) and Cole Knuble (first-time attendee, staying 48 hours) will also be on hand.
5) On PhiladelphiaFlyers.com. I wrote a player-by-player recap of the Flyers' 10 picks in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, with thumbnail profiles, player strengths and needs for improvement, quotes from assistant general manager Brent Flahr and video interviews with several of the draftees. For more, click here.