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The Philadelphia Flyers’ championship window is officially open

By Kevin Lagowski

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 02: Michael Raffl #12 of the Philadelphia Flyers is congratulated by teammates. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 02: Michael Raffl #12 of the Philadelphia Flyers is congratulated by teammates. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /
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The time is now for the Philadelphia Flyers to finally make a Stanley Cup run.

When the Philadelphia Flyers locked defenseman Philippe Myers into a very reasonable three-year contract earlier this week, it concluded all of the offseason business that they absolutely had to take care of. More moves could still come, and others will no doubt occur during the next NHL season (whatever shape it takes), but the Flyers are set at the moment.

With that said, it’s time to go on record and officially state that the Philadelphia Flyers are in the market for a championship, starting right now.

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It’s been a long and difficult road to get here, one full of disappointing seasons and subsequent long waits for prospects to graduate to maturity. But the time is now. Last year’s surprising run to the second round should be but a mere appetizer for what is to come. And I say “should” because I’m not going to pretend for one minute that this team is guaranteed to win anything in the next couple years.

The Flyers have assembled, however, the type of roster necessary to compete and win in today’s NHL. And when you consider the salaries of most of their core, the team’s current construction gives them the best possible chance to finally bring a title back to town.

A quick perusal of the Flyers’ roster page on CapFriendly shows you why there is so much reason for optimism over the next few years…

  • Sean Couturier: 2 years remaining at $4.33 million
  • Travis Konecny: 5 years remaining at $5.5 million
  • Oskar Lindblom: 3 years remaining at $3 million
  • Ivan Provorov: 5 years remaining at $6.75 million
  • Travis Sanheim: 1 year remaining at $3.25 million, then a restricted free agent

That’s pretty good coverage for the core of this hockey club, not to mention players like Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost who are expected to play significant roles for years to come and will be very affordable for awhile. As for Carter Hart, he’ll be due a raise at the end of the upcoming season, but the Flyers should be able to bridge him for two or three years at a rate well below what his actual value is. We’ll get to that monster contract down the road, but they are sitting pretty in the crease for now.

Add this all up, and you have the Flyers commencing a three-year window right now where I believe their chance to win a title is significant. Let’s remember that the proverbial window could slam shut at any time for a number of reasons. Still, on the flip side, it could be extended with better than expected performances and development from the young players currently on the roster and in the system.

Let’s put this in the context of the 2020-21 NHL season.

Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek are still productive, despite what you may hear sometimes, and Kevin Hayes has proven to be a good addition, even on a pricey contract. It may not look so good in a few years, but he’s doing what he needs to right now. When coupling these veterans with the youth throughout the rest of the lineup, this roster jumps right out at you as a “win now” sort of club.

They have key spots taken care of, as well as depth throughout. And they’ve got enough salary cap space to work with that they don’t have to “get creative” to remain compliant. They can even make additions later in the year if GM Chuck Fletcher plays his cards right.

Flyers fans know better than to expect a parade in the next three years. But there is no objective reason to doubt that this team will be a serious contender for that period of time. It surely stinks that Year #1 is going to be an abbreviated campaign that looks like it will be played with no fans, but everyone has to roll with the punches. And who knows, maybe this team effectively re-tools and stays in the title mix even beyond the three-year mark.

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I’ll go on record right now, though, and say this. Expect big things from the Philadelphia Flyers over the next three seasons. I won’t go making any Stanley Cup guarantees, but I’ll give all Flyers fans my permission to think big. It’s about time.

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