The Philadelphia Flyers struck out on what would have been the biggest move of the NHL off-season, but general manager Daniel Briere is choosing to see the positives in his failed offer sheet.
Briere signed Leo Carlsson to a five-year offer sheet at an NHL-record $18 million cap hit on July 3. The Anaheim Ducks elected to match the deal for the restricted free-agent centre instead of allowing him to walk in exchange for four first-round picks from Philadelphia.
TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reported when the deal was signed that four teams presented Carlsson with an offer sheet and Briere believes the fact the 21-year-old chose the Flyers bodes well for the franchise’s future.
“The cool thing that we’re seeing is the guys that are here realize how they’re being treated and where the team is going,” Briere said Thursday, per Adam Kimelman of NHL.com. “Because that’s a big part. To attract players, you have to have a winning team, or a team that’s at least trending to become a contender. So I think more and more from the outside, we’re starting to see more players being involved. But we realize also that it’s far from being a done deal, and we still have a lot of work to do.
“In the offer sheet process, yes, there’s many teams to choose from, and he selected us, which was a good sign.”
The Flyers returned to the playoffs last season for the first time since 2020 and the Carlsson offer sheet signalled a willingness to bet on becoming a perennial contender moving forward.
Ahead of the massive attempt to acquire Carlsson, the team was off to a largely quiet start to the summer, adding goaltender Joseph Woll, blueliner Simon Benoit and forward Noel Acciari in some of their most notable changes. Briere and the Flyers largely focused on the future with long-term extensions for Dan Vladar and Tyson Foerster.
The team signed restricted free agent Trevor Zegras to a four-year deal earlier this week at a $9.125 million cap hit and still need to work out a deal with Jamie Drysdale, who remains scheduled for arbitration.
Briere admitted Thursday that the Flyers also missed out on potential moves to boost their power play this summer. With Drysdale and forward Nikita Grebenkin still in need of new deals as restricted free agents, Philadelphia currently has $20.4 million in cap space, per PuckPedia.
Briere said he is “comfortable” heading into the season with the team’s roster as it stands, but he would be happy to put that cap space to use.
“We’re trying to do some things, and there’s things that we’re constantly looking at and trying to improve,” Briere said. “We worked hard to get this cap space. You remember three years ago how we were in really bad shape there. We worked hard, and what we want to make sure is that we can use it in a proper manner where it’s going to help the team moving forward.
“Yes, we’re looking to do different things. I’m not saying it’s going to work, but yeah, there’s different things we’re looking at that might eat up our salary cap.”
