The Flyers have spent their way into a familiar NHL trap: paying full price after the market has already moved on.
That’s the real story behind Philadelphia’s recent contract decisions. Around the league, teams are locking up young talent early and reaping the rewards later. The Flyers, meanwhile, have been operating on the other side of that equation, and it’s costing them.
Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale are the latest examples. Philadelphia brought both back on four-year deals, with cap hits of $9.125 million for Zegras and $6.5 million for Drysdale.
Those numbers are fair by market standards, but they don’t represent any kind of hometown discount. The Flyers didn’t get extra term or extra value, and that’s the price of waiting.
Sportsnet’s Michael Amato pointed to Montreal as the model here, writing: "There is arguably no team better set up from a financial perspective with their core than the Montreal Canadiens. The timing of the extensions for Hutson and Demidov worked out perfectly for the Canadiens, as both could’ve theoretically waited until after the Carlsson offer sheet to extend. Instead, Hutson inked his new deal last October, and Demidov signed his just days before [Leo Carlsson]."
He added: "Demidov is still only 20 and Hutson 22, so Montreal is getting two elite players for the majority of their primes at a combined cap hit equal to Carlsson’s AAV and less than Celebrini’s."
That’s the kind of timing the Flyers have missed.
Philadelphia’s aggressive offer sheet for Carlsson made the point even clearer. The club committed to an $18 million cap hit, and while the move didn’t reshape the league, it did show the Flyers were willing to spend.
That willingness, though, came at a cost. When Zegras and Drysdale signed, there was no discount left to find.
The one long-term deal Philadelphia was willing to hand out to a young player was Tyson Foerster’s. He got eight years and $56.8 million, good for a $7.1 million AAV, despite still having not reached 30 goals or 50 points in a season and after suffering two major arm injuries last season.
Other teams have been ahead of the curve with similar players. Carolina, the reigning Stanley Cup champion, already has Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven on eight-year contracts.
Blake’s deal carries a $5.11 million AAV, while Stankoven’s is at $6 million. Blake, 23, posted 53 points last season.
Stankoven, also 23, had 44 points while playing center full-time for the first time in his NHL career.
The key detail is when those contracts were signed. Both Blake and Stankoven agreed to their deals with Carolina last July, before the breakout production came. Philadelphia has gone the other way with Zegras, Drysdale and Foerster, paying after the fact instead of betting early.
That’s the pattern across the league. New Jersey paid Jack Hughes.
Minnesota paid Matt Boldy. Montreal paid Demidov.
And with time ticking on Michkov and the possibility of an eight-year deal, the Flyers may soon have to follow the same script there, too.
Philadelphia has had room to spend since clearing out bad contracts and dead weight. But that flexibility won’t last forever. If the Flyers want to become a true contender, the margin gets thinner from here, and the blueprint is already sitting in front of them.
In Other News...
Danny Briere Is Driving The Flyers Back Into The Fight
By the time the Flyers got back into the playoffs in 2025-26, the shift around the franchise was already hard to miss. Philadelphia finished third in the Metropolitan Division, got past Pittsburgh in the first round and reminded the league that this team is no longer content to sit on the outside looking in. A big part of that turnaround traces back to Danny Briere, the former Flyers player long remembered as Mr. Playoffs, who now has the front office job of steering the club back into relevance.
Briere has been more than a symbolic figurehead, too. His roster-building has shown real intent, especially with the 2025 acquisition of Trevor Zegras, a move aimed at giving the Flyers more skill and pace in the lineup. The results have already pushed Philadelphia back into the fight, even if the run ended in the second round against Carolina, and the next question is how far Briere can keep pressing this rebuild before it turns into something even more lasting. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers May Have A New Answer To Their Center Problem
The Flyers search for help down the middle took a real swing when they put a five-year, $90 million offer sheet on Ducks center Leo Carlsson, only to see Anaheim match it. It was the kind of aggressive move that signaled how badly Philadelphia wants to solve its center situation, but with that route closed for now, the front office may spend the rest of this offseason waiting for a better opening instead of forcing another major addition.
One name already being floated for a future chase is Ottawa forward Drake Batherson, who Jeff Marek said on The Sheet podcast is expected to reach free agency in 2027. For the Flyers, that gives them another possible target to monitor if they are still looking for more offense and more stability at center by then, especially if they decide to save their big swing for next summer rather than rush into another move before then. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Fans Can Already See The Debate Around This Scoring Gamble
Patrik Laine is back in the conversation, and this time the circle of interested teams appears wider than it first looked. Reports now have several clubs poking around the winger for the 2026-27 season, a notable shift from the earlier chatter that centered mostly on the Islanders and their offer of only a professional tryout agreement.
For Flyers fans, the appeal is easy to understand and the debate is just as easy to picture. Laine still carries the kind of scoring upside that can change the mood around an offense, but his injury history also makes him the sort of player teams have to approach carefully. Philadelphia is one of the clubs weighing whether that upside is worth the risk, and the conversation around him is already starting to feel like one of those front-office calls that can split a fan base before anything is even finalized. [Read more 🡒]