FLYERS WILLING TO GO LONG-TERM WITH TIPPETT

As the Philadelphia Flyers navigate the first full year of their rebuild under new President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones and General Manager Daniel Briere, the team has begun to decide which players are part of the solution and which aren’t.

Forward Kevin Hayes was shipped off to the St. Louis Blues over the summer, while defensemen Tony DeAngelo and Ivan Provorov were bought out and traded away, respectively.

Of the players who stuck around from last season, beyond Travis Konecny, no other forward has excelled better under Head Coach John Tortorella than Owen Tippett.

Tippett, 24, was acquired by then-GM Chuck Fletcher at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline as a part of a package in exchange for former-Captain Claude Giroux. The former 10th overall selection in the 2017 NHL Draft is in the final year of a two-year contract he signed with the Flyers in the summer of 2022, and I’ve been told that the plan is to keep Tippett around for the foreseeable future.

As for what a new contract could look like, I’ve heard by those close to the team that the Flyers are willing to go long-term with Tippett if the average annual value is reasonable.

While the Flyers like Tippett, he is still one of many wingers the organization possesses with a second line ceiling, especially right shooting. The Flyers want to keep him around but are not prepared to break the bank for Tippett if his camp looks for an unreasonable cap hit over a long-term deal.

How long is “long-term,” though? The first deal that caught my eye as a potential comparable for Tippett is the deal Brandon Hagel inked with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Hagel, 25, signed an eight-year extension with the Bolts in August that carries an AAV of $6.5 million; it is set to kick in next season. The term does not seem to be something the Flyers have an issue with as far as Hagel’s contract goes, but the $6.5 million AAV was said to be “a little high” at this stage for Tippett, according to a source close to the team.

Going back to the beginning of last season, Tippett has registered 29 goals and 55 points over 89 regular season games; prorated, that’s a 50-51 point total over an 82 game stretch. Hagel finished last season with 30 goals and 64 points in 81 games with the Lightning; he has 12 points in as many games this season.

Tippett has gotten off to a slow start and not played to internal expectations to this point, I’ve been told by those within the organization, tallying just two goals and four assists through 12 games. But it is also fair to point out that Tippett had to adjust playing left wing full time this year while also predominantly playing on a line with Cam Atkinson and Sean Couturier, both of whom have struggled at times after missing the entirety of last season.

I have heard whispers Tippett’s camp will start negotiations with an AAV in the $7 million range, but they will not have much leverage based on some comparables and the player’s slow start to the season. The Flyers will likely start in the mid-to-high fives – could they use Konecny’s $5.5 million AAV as a starting point? – but seem to be comfortable creeping into the low sixes.

A deal being a compromise for both sides may look similar to that of Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichuskin.

Nichushkin, who was 27 when he signed his deal, inked an eight-year contract with an AAV of $6.125 million in July 2022. He racked up 52 points in 62 games in his contract year and clearly could’ve gotten more on the open market, so it’s tough to use his stats to compare to Tippett’s in this case. Tippett will be two years younger than Nichuskin was when his next deal kicks in, which is likely what his camp will use as leverage to increase the AAV. Even though Tippett’s stats are not quite there yet, the Flyers will be buying up more of his “prime” years compared to Nichushkin, which comes at a cost.

The negotiations are still in the very early stages, but the Flyers are willing to make a long-term commitment to Tippett at the right price. The next question will be what the player’s side will be looking for as things progress.

FUTURE OF FROST

On “32 Thoughts” early last week, Elliotte Friedman touched on the Morgan Frost situation. According to Friedman, the Frost camp could not reason with being scratched for as long as he was earlier in the season, further noting that teams started kicking tires and the player could ask for a trade if things don’t improve with the Flyers.

Speaking with those close to the situation, I can add that at least two teams have called about Frost in the last week. To this point, the Flyers have not been presented with any offer they’re prepared to jump on. While the relationship has been rocky as of late, the Flyers still value him and are not going to give him away for less than his worth.

I was told a month ago that negotiations between the Flyers and the Frost camp were very contentious over the summer when the player was a restricted free agent – so much so that the player’s side pushed the team to explore the trade market; the Flyers didn’t find anything that was worth their while.

There seems to be a clear disconnect between how Frost’s camp views him and how the team sees him, which came to the forefront during negotiations. Could bad blood have spilt over into the regular-season?

What is (and has always been the case) working in Frost’s favor is that he provides a skillset that no other centre in the Flyers’ system does. With the exception of 2022 fifth-overall selection Cutter Gauthier, who still may ultimately end up as a winger, the Flyers have no centre in their pipeline who currently projects to be a top-six player.

The closest pivot to making the jump to the big league is Elliott Desnoyers, but after a slow start to the season (a sophomore slump, as one person said to me), the belief internally is that he will need the entire year with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms before pushing for an NHL spot next season. While Frost has gotten off to a slow start this season point wise (zero points through six games) he doesn’t exactly have anyone nipping at his heels for his job down the middle.

Despite his slow start, it is fair to point out that Frost has been playing well “process” wise, continually generating offensive chances, and providing a creative spark down the middle the team does not otherwise have. He’s also been an excellent teammate, I’m told, and is incredibly well liked in the dressing room. He has taken all his adversity in stride.

At this point, no deal is imminent, and teams have just kicked tires, but you have to wonder where things end up if the relationship can’t be repaired between the Flyers and the player’s camp.