Quick Hits: July 22, 2022
1) Recently hired assistant coach Brad Shaw is the guest on Friday's edition of Flyers Daily. Shaw talks about the challenges that lay in front of the coaching staff this season. He also discusses his defensive zone philosophy at 5-on-5 and the penalty kill, what it's like working alongside John Tortorella, and more. To listen to the 20-minute discussion, click here.
2) One year ago today, on July 22, 2021, the Flyers traded defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to the Arizona Coyotes along with a 2022 2nd-round pick (Artyom Duda) and a 2022 7th-round selection (Miguel Tourigny, selected by the Montreal Canadiens). The Flyers received full salary cap relief ($4.5 million) on the remaining two years of the player's contract.
Here's a retrospective at how the trade came about and a look at the salary cap and draft asset impact in the related chain of events that followed.
The trade with Arizona was done as a last resort. The Flyers had placed Gostisbehere on waivers on March 30, 2021, but none of the other 30 teams in the league claimed the 27-year-old defenseman, who'd being dealing with injuries and inconsistent play since the 2018-19 season but who had also been an offensive impact player at times. After the season, the Flyers made Gostisbehere available for trade, asking for a minimal return plus cap relief. Again, there were no takers. The Flyers also exposed the defenseman to the NHL Expansion Draft, along with James van Riemsdyk and Jakub Voracek. The Seattle Kraken opted instead for AHL winger Carsen Twarynski.
Finally, the Flyers bit the bullet and made the lopsided trade with Arizona, not even receiving a token late-round Draft pick in return and expending a 2022 second-round pick along with a seventh rounder. To add insult to injury, Gostisbehere's $2,250,000 signing bonus installment had already been paid out on July 1 (the first day of the fiscal 2022 year) which left Arizona responsible only for the player's $1,000.000 base salary during the 2021-22 season while getting the player's full $4.5 million AAV cap hit credited toward the cap floor.
The Flyers subsequently applied the cap relief received on Gostisbehere toward the acquisition of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen from the Buffalo Sabres on July 23, in exchange for defenseman Robert Hà¤gg, the Flyers' 2021 first-round pick (which the Sabres used on the selection of Swedish forward Isak Rosén) and the Flyers' second-round pick in the 2023 Entry Draft.
According not only to a high-placed Flyers source but also sources from two other organizations, Philadelphia had competition for Ristolainen from multiple NHL teams. The actual number of teams that were willing to meet the Sabres' asking price -- a first-round and a second-round pick with no retention on Ristolainen's contract, which was entering its final season (at a $5.4 million cap hit) -- is not clear but there were apparently seven or eight teams that had interest in acquiring the player and at least several that were agreeable to the Buffalo ask at full price. The Flyers' first-round pick, 14th overall, was the earliest one among the bidding teams.
The inclusion of Hà¤gg in the deal -- which provided $1.6 million of cap relief and created a net $700,000 of cap space for the Flyers between the subtractions of Gostisbehere and Hà¤gg minus the addition of Ristolainen -- was more agreeable to Buffalo than eating roughly the equivalent amount of salary on Ristolainen.
Rather than being traded by the Flyes as a rental at the 2022 trade deadline, Ristolainen pre-empted his impending UFA status to sign a five-year extension with the Flyers that will run through the 2026-27 season. Ristolainen traded off a somewhat lower cap hit ($5.1 million) for an extra year of term, which made the total contract value of $25,500,000 slightly higher than it would have been on a four-year deal at a $6 million cap hit ($24 million).
This offseason, the Flyers acquired offensive-minded defenseman Tony DeAngelo, a restricted free agent, from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick (Simon Forsmark), a 2023 third-round pick and a 2022 2nd-round pick. The Flyers also received a 2022 seventh-round draft pick (Alexis Gendron) in the exchange.
DeAngelo was acquired for two reasons: 1) He's right-handed, right-side defenseman may have be placed on the top pairing with Ivan Provorov in lieu of Ryan Ellis (whose availability for the start of 2022-23 is in severe doubt and who may not be available at all after dressing in only four games last season); 2) DeAngelo can provide a comparable offensive boost to what a healthy Gostisbehere provides. DeAngelo was signed to a two-year contract at a $5 million AAV.
The sum total one year later: The Flyers traded NHL roster players Gostisbehere and Hà¤gg, a 2021 first-round pick, second-round picks in three straight drafts (2022 for Gostisbehere, 2023 for Ristolainen, 2024 for DeAngelo), a 2023 third-round pick (note: the Flyers still have two additional third-rounders in that Draft), a 2022 fourth round pick, and a 2021 seventh-round pick. In return, the team received Ristolainen, DeAngelo and the pick used on Gendron.
It's also worth noting that had the Flyers signed DeAngelo to a restricted free agent offer sheet at the same money rather than acquiring him via trade and signing him, they'd have owned the Hurricanes a first-round and a third-round pick as compensation rather than three non-first rounders spread over three Drafts.
Cap impact: In 2021-22, as noted above, the Flyers netted $700,000 of added cap space. In 2022-23, the team is negative $5.4 million on the cap as compared to standing pat. This is calculated based upon Gostisbehere having one season remaining on his contract ($4.5 million AAV) versus the $5.1 million AAV on Ristolainen's new deal plus $5 million on DeAngelo's contract. Hà¤gg, who finished last season with the Florida Panthers, is an unrestricted free agent this summer and presently remains unsigned.
3) July 19 Flyers Alum birthday: Gord Hynes (1966).
4) Today in Flyers History: Flyers Extend Shero's Contract
After the Flyers won the 1974 Stanley Cup, Fred Shero threatened to retire from coaching to attend law school. This had once been a childhood dream of Shero's and something that, many years earlier, he promised his Russian immigrant parents, who were displeased that he wanted to pursue a hockey playing career, he would someday do. However, neither Ed Snider nor Keith Allen believed that Shero was serious. They surmised that he was using the threat as leverage.
On July 19, 1974, the Flyers signed Shero to a three-year contract extension at a hefty raise. He'd go on to lead the Flyers to a second straight Stanley Cup championship in 1974-75 and, in 1975-76, to a landmark victory over the Red Army (CSKA) team and a third straight trip to the Cup Final. Shero received another raise and another contract extension with one year remaining on his deal after he made noise about requesting an early release.
a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final. In 1976-77 and 1977-78, the Flyers reached the Cup semis (making it six straight years of reaching at the semifinals from 1973 to 1978). During the 1978 offseason, Shero jumped his remaining Flyers contract to become the general manager and head coach of the New York Rangers.
In order to head off a tampering complaint, the Rangers agreed to trade their 1978 first-round Draft pick to the Flyers in exchange for releasing Shero from his contract.