April 26, 2023 | 5:15pm ET
By Anthony Di Marco, TheFourthPeriod.com

FLYERS’ PRESIDENT SEARCH, DEFENCE, HAYES AND MORE

Flyers Interim GM Danny Briere

With the NHL regular-season well in the rear view and the first-round of the playoffs nearing the finish line, the Philadelphia Flyers found themselves on the outside looking in for the third straight year and fourth in five seasons. As an organizational overhaul in the club’s front office continues to turn, interim General Manager Danny Briere and his Hockey Operations staff are overseas taking in the 2023 U18 World Hockey Championship in preparation for the upcoming NHL Draft in June.

Back in North America, the Flyers’ search for the club’s Next President of Hockey Ops continues to spin. Names like Emelie Castonguay, Cammi Granato and Scott Mellanby are some who have interviewed already, while the likes of Dave Poulin and Doug Wilson are expected to be interviewed (if they haven’t already) at some point – Poulin is already believed to have had a conversation with the club, though a formal interview has not taken place.

Comcast has kept this search very tight to the vest, as those in Hockey Ops have not been kept in the loop (to this point) of candidates – Including Briere. The search has been led by Comcast Spectacor Chairman and CEO Dan Hilferty and Spectacor Sports and Entertainment President and CEO Valerie Camillo, along with some help from former NBA Executive Billy King (which Crossing Broad’s Anthony SanFilippo first reported a few weeks back) and Neil Glasberg and his coaching agency.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman earlier this week, Castonguay informed the Canucks that she would be staying on in her role with the organization as Assistant GM – so that takes one name out of the hat.

I’ve heard chatter the past few days that the Flyers’ scouting staff is a huge proponent of bringing in Mellanby, who seems to have a lot of respect behind his name. That being said, I’m not sure if he’s the exact candidate Comcast is looking for.

Based on what I’ve heard over the last week or so, it doesn’t appear as though this will be a traditional “President of Hockey Ops” hire. As opposed to overseeing everything in the hockey decisions and having the GM (Briere) report directly to her/him, whoever the President of Hockey Ops is going to have more of a marketing role, while working closely with Camillo and Business Ops while watching and promoting the brand. The salary cap is also a big focal point the President of Hockey Ops will be tasked with looking over, as it’s believed they want it to be relegated and aren’t satisfied with how it has been handled in recent years.

If this is the case, hiring someone like Mellanby or Wilson – even though they may be the best “hockey guy” – may not be what Comcast is looking for, as both will all but certainly want to have a firmer grasp on the ultimate decision making in hockey related decisions.

Comcast has enough trust in Briere and his staff and feel they will be fine in running the Hockey Ops department. It appears as though the President of Hockey Ops will be more of an equal to Briere as opposed to his boss, which is a stark contrast to the typical hierarchy.

Based on all this, it appears that Granato may have the inside track at this point, but it’s still early to say definitively one way or another; the situation is still very fluid and can change very quickly over the next day or so. There should be more clarity on who the favorite is once they brief Hockey Ops on the finalists for the job, which is expected to happen at some point.

Ivan Provorov & Travis Sanheim

Defenseman Ivan Provorov remains available for trade and it’s believed the player would welcome a move, as well. While the Flyers are in no rush to move on from Provorov, he is someone that they will entertain for the price is right.

I was told earlier in the week that should the team move on Provorov, they will be using the Mattias Ekholm and Jakob Chychrun deals as a template for what they want in return. Due to Provorov’s 26 month run of less than stellar play, they may not get exactly what those other two defencemen went for, but the Flyers will not entertain a lowball offer. They are comfortable hanging onto Provorov, as he was deployed as the team’s No.1 blueliner all season; he’s also believed to be in the good graces of Head Coach John Tortorella. This isn’t a situation where they feel as though they “have” to move him.

I get the sense the Flyers will be looking to get an additional pick in the first-round of the June NHL Draft, and Provorov may be the best chance they can obtain that aside from Carter Hart and Travis Konecny.

Provorov, 26, has two years left on his contract with an AAV of $6.75 million

In the case of 27-year-old Travis Sanheim, he is viewed in the same light as Provorov, I’ve been told, as the two are very close in age. The Flyers will entertain offers for the 2014 first-round selection but also do not want to gut the team’s back end of veterans.

Due to Sanheim’s contract extension (eight years, $50 million) set to kick in, I doubt they’ll be able to find an Ekholm-type deal to bring back draft capital. A Sanhem deal would likely see a player for player swap that would see a similar type of contract brought back the other way.

Kevin Hayes and Columbus

As I first reported back in early January, the Flyers are exploring ways to move on from Kevin Hayes. If you listened to his media availability to end the season, Hayes seems to be aware of it.

As Friedman first reported a month ago and SanFilippo brought up last week on the Snow the Goalie podcast, a likely destination for Hayes is believed to be the Columbus Blue Jackets. Former GM Chuck Fletcher was engaged in trade discussions with the Jackets leading up to the deadline but kept the details of the negotiations quiet, I’m told.

Speaking to someone close to the situation on Monday, the Flyers feel that making Hayes a $5 million player is fair value for what he brings on the ice. I don’t get the sense that is nonnegotiable on their part, the person I spoke to seemed pretty firm on their belief of what they feel should be retained of Hayes’ $7.14 million AAV over the next three seasons.

The same person also told me that the Flyers will revisit trade discussions with Columbus between now and the NHL Draft centered around Hayes.

Hayes, 31, a career point season total with 54 over 81 games. He originally signed his seven-year, $50 million contract with the Flyers in June of 2019.

Ryan Ellis

Having not played an NHL game in close to 18 months, there is still a strong belief that Ryan Ellis will never play pro hockey again. He was acquired by the Flyers in the summer of 2021 and played just four games with the team before ultimately being sidelined with a complex injury to his psoas muscle.

Ellis, 32, has been on LTIR since the injury and is expected to stay there, but I’ve heard that the Flyers are actively looking at ways to move his contract and the remaining four years left on it. According to CapFriendly, Ellis is owed $24 million in real dollars over the next four seasons.

While this is a lot of money, a source close to the situation confirmed to me that the contract is insured, which will make it easier to move.

The Flyers don’t have to move Ellis, as they’re not in a competing window right now, so they will not pay assets to dump the contract. But I’ve heard that they’re more than open to bringing back a player who can help them in the short-term but is also making too much money. The Evgeni Dadonov and Shea Weber trade last summer is a good template as to what the Flyers are open to doing, by taking on a short-term, expensive deal that will allow the team they’re trading with to liberate short-term cap space by stashing Ellis on LTIR.

The Flyers are rebuilding and don’t need the immediate cap room, so they’re comfortable keeping Ellis if push comes to shove. But they’re also very interested in bringing back a less than attractive deal on a shorter term if another team will take back Ellis.

Morgan Frost

As I mentioned last week, the Flyers were very pleased with Morgan Frost’s play this year and view him as a part of the future. Finally able to stick in the NHL, Frost had an impressive year under Tortorella and responded well to the coach’s “tough love.”

Now an RFA, the 2017 first-round selection is in need of a new contract, and I’m told that Briere and Hockey Ops are preparing to get it sorted out in the coming weeks. There’s still a strong expectation that it will ultimately end up being a bridge deal for Frost, although a long-term deal isn’t completely out of the question should the sides be able to find a good number.

Frost, who turns 24 next month, finished the year with 19 goals and 46 points in 81 games.