The Flyers’ big-game targets: Bourque, Nurse and Werenski
Now a day away from NHL Free Agency, the Philadelphia Flyers have not done much of note to this point thus far in the offseason. They acquired goaltender Joseph Woll (along with depth defenseman Simon Benoit) from the Toronto Maple Leafs two weeks ago, securing a badly needed upgrade to their backup goaltender position. But other than that, GM Danny Briere has been quiet on the transaction front.
Though only one move of significance has actually been executed, it doesn’t mean the Flyers haven’t been trying to upgrade their roster and exploring all options. After all, the 2026 offseason was long thought to be “go time” for the Flyers, with previous dead money coming off the books and the team entering the summer with north of $35 million (now a shade under $34 million after the Woll and Benoit acquisitions) of salary-cap space.
The top priority entering the summer was landing a top-six center; it has long been a hole in the Flyers’ lineup going back to the years of Chuck Fletcher as GM. The free-agent pool is as shallow as it has ever been, so you can forget about the Flyers finding a solution via that route.
As far as trades go, Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin doesn’t appear to have Philadelphia on his short list, while the price to acquire Robert Thomas from the St Louis Blues was far too rich ahead of this past season’s Trade Deadline and, by all accounts, that remains the case. Mason McTavish was traded from the Anaheim Ducks to the St. Louis Blues, but after his down season in Joel Quenneville’s dog house, there is a question as to whether he is a top-six center, let alone a pivot at all.
All this to say, Briere will have to get creative if he wants to give his club a jolt down the middle.
There had been some whispers over the last number of weeks that the Flyers were considering the offer sheet route; as of Monday morning, Daily Faceoff was told by a team source that things were not “trending in that direction’” at this point but that the team would need to see where things stood after free agency opened up. But it was not outright denied that an offer sheet was a possibility if all else failed.
The name making the rounds in backroom chatter that the Flyers could target was 2023 second overall pick Leo Carlsson of the Ducks for an offer sheet. To be clear, this was not said by a team source, but rather some dot connecting during on background discussions with league sources. Carlsson, 21, is arguably the biggest pending RFA other than Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard. Registering 29 goals and 67 points in 70 regular season games last season along with four goals and 11 points in 14 postseason contests, Carlsson is a budding superstar in a league desperate for high-end centers.
One theory is that the Flyers could front-load the contract in the first five seasons; if they were to pay Carlsson the max percentage of the cap in the first five years, the Flyers could, theoretically, pay him north of $100 million during that timeframe. But even if the Flyers were to dump that amount of cash on the table and, for argument’s sake, get the AAV in the $18 million range over a seven-year term, it would be hard to not see Ducks GM Pat Verbeek matching it. After all, he is their franchise’s best player and the Ducks are sitting with about $44.6 million in cap space. And the draft-pick compensation for such a juicy deal would be pretty crippling for the Flyers, so it’s more of a pipe-dream idea.
An interesting proposition was brought forth by On Pattison’s Anthony SanFilippo on Monday afternoon, suggesting Dallas Stars center Mavrik Bourque as a potential offer-sheet target. Bourque, 24, was the 30th overall pick of the 2020 draft for the Stars; he registered 20 goals and 41 points while playing in all 82 games last season, though recording just one goal in six playoff outings.
The Quebec native is certainly not as sexy of a name as Carlsson–- though Bourque is far more realistic. As SanFilippo outlines, the third tier compensation-wise for offer sheets ranges from $7.16 million to $9.55 million AAV; said compensation is one first-round pick, one second-round pick and one third-round pick. Remember, offer sheet compensations must be used with a team’s own draft capital, not anything acquired from other clubs.
It’s doubtful the Flyers would want to go into the second tier of compensation, which would send multiple first-round picks plus a second and third the Stars’ way, and Bourque hasn’t played his way into that kind of value yet at all. But, as SanFilippo suggests, what if the Flyers inked Bourque to a seven-year deal carrying an AAV of $9.5 million? The Flyers could surely live with that type of compensation, especially when you consider that they own the Leafs’ first rounder in either next year’s draft or in 2028.
Value wise, Bourque belongs in a tier lower in AAV anyway, the range of $4,775,667 – $7,163,498, for which the compensation is just a first- and third-rounder. But as is always the question when it comes to offer sheets: why wouldn’t it be matched?
The Stars are one of the few teams up against the cap with just a little more than $9.2 million of space to work with. It may not sound like a little, but they still have to deal with the (pending RFA) Jason Robertson situation with his next contract – he has already turned down mega-offers from the Stars and the Seattle Kraken – and are rumored to want to bring back their captain Jamie Benn, who is set to be a UFA in a day’s time.
All things considered, Bourque may be the most realistic option to land a top-six pivot for the Flyers if all else fails over the next 24 to 48 hours – even if it means going down the unpopular offer sheet route.
Beyond adding a center, there is a need to add a power play defenseman or, at the very least, find some level of an upgrade on the back-end. The speculation of Rasmus Ristolainen being traded has been going on since the deadline this past March and has not really let up; the Ottawa Senators were long thought to be the eventual destination, but the price was not met by any club, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Even had the Flyers’ price been met on Ristolainen, they could not simply move him for future assets without another defenseman coming in to compensate. Yes, the Flyers have David Jiricek (who is now on a one-way contract) and Oliver Bonk as right-shot blueliners, but neither can be expected to step in as a top-four option right away next season. The Flyers don’t want to take a step back next year, and unloading Ristolainen without a surefire replacement would be a quick way to ensure that being the case.
In an ideal world, the Flyers would sign John Carlson in free agency as a stop-gap to bolster their power play. With so much cap space over the next two seasons to operate with, they could, theoretically, hand him an eight-digit AAV on a two-year term. Unfortunately for Briere and company, the belief is that he will end up with the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, who traded for his rights over the weekend.
That brings us to defenseman Darnell Nurse, who has mutually agreed to part ways with the Edmonton Oilers and, by all accounts, has the Flyers on his short list. Reading the tea leaves, the Flyers and Oilers have been engaged in discussions regarding the 2013 first-round pick; retention is the big thing holding talks back from advancing more than they already have.
According to a team source, the Flyers want at least $3 million of retention on Nurse’s AAV; he is under contract for another four seasons and has a full no movement clause. Speaking with an Edmonton source, the Oilers feel like the market is strong enough for Nurse that retention may not be necessary. The Pittsburgh Penguins are another team believed to be on Nurse’s short list, while DFO was told on Monday that the Ducks and San Jose Sharks have now entered the sweepstakes.
Without retention, it would be hard to see a deal getting over the finish line for Nurse between the Flyers and Oilers.
Then we get to Zach Werenski, who is believed to have informed the Columbus Blue Jackets that he has no intention of re-signing when his current contract expires in two years’ time. The 28-year-old reigning Norris Trophy winner has an AAV of just under $9.6 million and possesses a full NMC for one more season.
Friedman reported on day two of the draft that the Flyers were believed to be one of the teams that would be aggressive in pursuing Werenski. Speaking a team source on Monday, DFO was told that the Flyers have checked in and get the feeling that Columbus GM Don Waddell is in a “make me your best offer” mindset right now.
As for what the Flyers would give up in a prospective package for Werenski, DFO was told that any player other than Porter Martone would “have to be on the table.’’ And yes, that includes forwards Tyson Foerster (who is a very popular name among other teams when calling the Flyers, according to sources) and Matvei Michkov.
All in all, there are a lot of balls in the air as far as tinkering with the Flyers’ defense goes, with multiple moves needed to improve the overall group rather than one big swing. Without at least two moves in place, standing pat may be the best course of action rather than changing four quarters for a buck or risking a possible regression.
As far as July. 1 goes, expect the Flyers to add on the margins, according to sources. Following the trade of Garnet Hathaway to the Florida Panthers, there is a void in the toughness department. One player that could be a target is noted tough guy Ross Johnston, who has spent the last three seasons with the Ducks; he racked up 296 penalty minutes in 173 regular season games during that time.
Pending-UFA Luke Glendening is still a candidate to be retained, as there has been mutual interest expressed in a new contract to stay in Philadelphia. As the only right-shot center, he provided head coach Rick Tocchet another option in the faceoff dot – especially in the defensive zone. If the Flyers look to explore another right-shot option, Colton Sissons could be a target, who was a third-line fixture for the Vegas Golden Knights during their Stanley Cup Final run last season.
Sissons, 32, had six goals and 11 points in 66 regular season games last season along with two goals and eight points in 22 postseason contests.
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