October 10, 2023 | 8:00pm ET
By Anthony Di Marco, TheFourthPeriod.com

FLYERS PREPARED TO WEAPONIZE CAP

Flyers GM Danny Briere

With the 2023-24 season now underway, the Philadelphia Flyers find themselves in uncharted waters. Having submitted their 23-man roster Monday afternoon, the Flyers will start the season with 13 forwards, seven defencemen and three goaltenders; defencemen Ryan Ellis and Rasmus Ristolainen were placed on Injured Reserve.

According to our friends at Cap Friendly, the Flyers have approximately $877,000 in salary cap space – a number that will accrue to around $3.9 million by the March 8 Trade Deadline, assuming all things remain equal.

The Flyers do have the opportunity to open up an additional $6.25 million in space immediately by placing Ellis on LTIR, but I was told Tuesday morning that will only happen “when and if” the Flyers need to utilize that money. Keeping Ellis off LTIR allows for the Flyers to accrue cap space over the duration of the season and not having to (artificially) raise their salary cap.

What does all this mean? For the first time in several seasons, the Flyers have roster and salary cap flexibility.

The Flyers fully embraced a rebuild this summer and General Manager Daniel Briere’s moves were indicative of it. Between trades and buyouts, the Flyers were able to shed approximately $13.65 million in salary by moving on from Tony DeAngelo, Kevin Hayes and Ivan Provorov, all while accumulating assets.

The Flyers did allocate some of their newfound savings to the free agent market with the signings of Garnett Hathaway, Ryan Poehling and Marc Staal along with acquiring Sean Walker ($7.525 million combined AAV) but were still left with close to $6 million of money they did not have prior to Briere’s work this summer.

The work has not stopped there as the Flyers have kept a close eye on keeping contract spots open in order to maintain even more flexibility should an opportunity present itself. This was one of the reasons behind waiving Wade Allison last week, as a claim of a player would have taken the Flyers’ total contracts down to 46 out of a possible 50.

Of the 32 teams, 19 teams (including the Flyers) are operating within $1 million of the salary cap. Of the 19, eight begin the season operating in LTIR relief to be cap compliant. Though the Flyers are one of the club’s sitting within $1 million of the ceiling, this can be rectified with Ellis moving to LTIR if need be.

One instance in which the Flyers could have made such a transaction was the proposed trade with the Ottawa Senators that would have seen the Flyers absorb Mathieu Joseph and his $2.95 million AAV. Such a trade would have seen the Flyers be compensated handsomely (a first-round pick or a top prospect) for taking on the unideal contract and dipping into LTIR space.

Should another opportunity like this present itself during the season, I fully expect Briere to explore the LTIR option, but for now, it is not something that is immediately on the horizon. Those within the organization have expressed to me the “different” feeling it has been to have such flexibility, and I don’t expect the team to sacrifice it unless it is completely worth their while in the way of assets.

Flyers to Carry 3 Goalies “For Now”

The Flyers are one of five teams starting the season with three goaltenders, electing not to waive (presumed) third-string goaltender Felix Sandstrom. Speaking with those close to the situation, while Samuel Ersson has won the backup job, the team thinks fondly of Sandstrom and wants to avoid/prolong losing him.

Cal Peterson is the only other signed goaltender in the Flyers’ system, and given the current landscape of the NHL, being three goaltenders deep at all times is a must; Sandstrom has proven to be a considerably better option than Peterson at this juncture. With clubs having already submitted their final rosters, the Flyers will likely have an easier time sneaking Sandstrom through waivers in a week’s time (or whenever Ristolainen comes off IR) as opposed to this past weekend when a lot of roster were in flux.

The last-minute injury to Ristolainen allowed the Flyers to keep Sandstrom and avoid risking a waiver claim. Though this is the plan for now, I don’t imagine the Flyers plan to carry three goaltenders for the long term.