97.5 The Fanatic Flyers Roundup: Jones, Hilferty On Michkov, Year 1 Of Rebuild
The Stanley Cup Final won’t start until Saturday night. The NHL waiting period allowed the Philadelphia Flyers to jump back into the news cycle.
Dan Hilferty, Comcast Spectacor CEO/Chairman and franchise governor, and Keith Jones, President of Hockey Operations, met with the Philadelphia media on Wednesday to discuss the organization’s rebuild, improved fan perception, and the ongoing the mystery of Matvei Michkov.
Matvei Michkov
Speaking about steps forward in the rebuild is great. Updates on the connection between business and hockey operations within the organization are necessary.
However, Flyers fans really wanted to hear about Matvei Michkov and his potential emigration to the United States.
Keith Jones remained tight-lipped about the Mad Russian.
“We have no update on it. We would welcome him with open arms. We absolutely love what he is going to bring to the Flyers. If that timeline is sped up, that would be wonderful, but we don’t know. So we’ll watch along closely like you guys are as well, and when he arrives, our fan base is going to be pretty excited about getting a highly-talented player that is different from what we have right now.” -Keith Jones
Hilferty later added that the Philadelphia fan inside him also anxiously awaits any news. He also spoke in a separate context about how the rebuild at large should be “as transparent as possible in an environment where not everything can be transparent.”
Contract technicalities, buyout negotiations, and complications in world politics don’t exactly lend to transparency.
Until official news comes down, fans will continue to react to the smallest tidbits that are usually in a language they don’t understand. While the social media overaction might not be worthwhile, the level of fan anticipation should encourage the Flyers.
Honesty From The New Boss
Dan Hilferty’s confidence and temperament have become a breath of fresh air for a fan base that had lost faith in the Flyers.
His praise of Danny Briere, Keith Jones, and John Tortorella presents a message of trust in leadership to navigate the troubles of a rebuild and execute the difficult task. Hilferty spoke with candor about the shortcomings of the Flyers in the modern era and his goals for the rebuild.
The reputable Philadelphia businessman also spoke proudly about increased ticket sales, plans to restructure the sports complex, and his adjustments to life in the NHL.
Salary Cap Concerns
Keith Jones dove further into the hockey operations issues. His most revealing comments came about the timeline of the rebuild. The former NHL winger has one major concern that will impact the decisions made by the Philadelphia front office.
“I think the one indicator on the timeline that’s out there for everyone to see is the money that we have tied up right now for players that aren’t playing for our team. A lot of that is going to start to come off of the cap, and I do think that if you’re looking further down the line, that is where we’re going to have some real key decisions to make.” -Keith Jones
The Flyers committed lucrative money to veteran players at points during Chuck Fletcher’s front office tenure. The new regime began with a long list of financial challenges and an uphill battle to solve them.
“We have to get them (major financial decisions) right. There’s no room for error on whatever players we add to the mix in a couple of years.” -Keith Jones
The comments acknowledge the reality that the Flyers still have a long timeline before they reenter championship contention. The cap situation will impact their approach to free agency in particular this summer and most likely in 2025 too.
The NHL salary cap will rise a projected $5 million in 2024-25. It will likely continue to increase significantly in the following seasons after pandemic challenges stunted the league’s finances.
Keith Jones also pointed to two first-round picks in 2024 and two first-round picks in 2025 as reasons for optimism. He reiterated the emphasis Danny Briere has made on the internal development of young players as a major mark of success in 2023-24.
Loose Pucks: Travis Konecny, NHL Scouting Combine
Chatter surrounding a potential long-term contract extension for Travis Konecny has also spread through Flyers conversation in recent weeks.
Konecny enters the final year of his contract in 2024-25. He’s eligible to sign an extension after July 1.
Related Content: Flyers Offseason Trade Targets: Trevor Zegras
The 27-year-old set career highs in goals and points in 2023-24. He will expect a considerable pay raise from the current $5.5 million average annual salary he’s earning.
The NHL Scouting Combine will run through June 8 in Buffalo, NY. The Flyers will pick 12th in the first round of the NHL Draft on June 28 in Las Vegas. They own an additional first-round pick from the Florida Panthers. It will fall 31st or 32nd depending on the outcome of the Stanley Cup Final.
97.5 The Fanatic will analyze draft prospects, free agent targets, and potential trade options for the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2024 offseason.
The All-Time Roster of Underrated Philadelphia Flyers
Mike Knuble
Peter Forsberg and Simon Gagne were the stars at the top of the lineup coming out of the 2004-05 lockout. However, there are three players on an NHL line.
Mike Knuble spent four seasons with the Flyers from 2005-06 through 2008-09, and he returned for a cup of coffee in 2013. He provided the perfect complement to a crafty playmaker like Forsberg and a finesse star like Gagne. He scored a career-high 34 goals in his first season in Philadelphia and followed it up with 24, 29, and 27 goals in the next three seasons, respectively.
Knuble knew his role as a garbage goal-scorer, and he played it damn well. He added 14 points in 24 playoff games with the Flyers, including an overtime game-winning goal against the Washington Capitals in 2008.
Kimmo Timonen
The NHL still associates the Broad Street Bullies mentality with the Flyers. Players like Chris Pronger feed into the identity of the fan base. The 6-foot-6 defenseman resonated with the fans perfectly as a fearless, powerful defenseman who became the workhorse on the Philadelphia blue line during the run to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.
Kimmo Timonen didn’t have the same reputation. The Finnish puck mover was more of a classy guy off the ice who didn’t bring as much grit as Pronger, but he actually had a longer run as the top blueliner in Philadelphia.
The Flyers acquired Timonen as part of a series of trades with the Nashville Predators that pulled them out of the disaster of the 2006-07 season. He averaged over 20 minutes of ice time in each of his seven playoff series wins with the Flyers. Only Mark Howe and Eric Desjardins scored more points among defensemen in franchise history.
Dan McGillis
Hockey in the late 1990s and early 2000s required more physical defensemen while modern roster construction prioritizes puck movers on the blue line. The Flyers acquired 6-foot-3, 220-pounder Dan McGillis in 1998 during a window of Stanley Cup contention.
McGillis played 380 regular-season and playoff games in orange and black. He was the physical presence a contending team needed, but you won’t see his name in the franchise record books too often.
Stay-at-home defensemen are harder to glorify than offensive catalysts. McGillis recorded a career-high 49 points in 2000-01, and it’s no coincidence that it was the only one of his nine NHL seasons when he received Norris Trophy votes.
Steve Mason
Anyone who follows the Flyers knows the notorious reputation of the “Goalie Graveyard” in Philadelphia. The revolving door of goaltenders reached its peak with the Ilya Bryzgalov nightmare that ended in 2013, right around the time the Flyers really started to lose popularity in the Philadelphia sports landscape.
Coincidentally, the Flyers acquired Steve Mason in 2013. He spent four seasons as the top option between the pipes for forgettable Flyers teams that never won a playoff series.
Mason wasn’t some Vezina Trophy winner who would reverse the “Goalie Graveyard” narrative. He was never going to demand the attention of casual hockey fans in Philadelphia who were only interested in a contending team, but he was the type of solid goaltender for a good period of time that the Flyers haven’t usually had.
Daymond Langkow
It’s tough to identify any reason why Daymond Langkow is underrated. Like Joffrey Lupul and Sami Kapanen, he doesn’t seem to come up in conversations about the Flyers too often. The NHL journeyman notched at least 50 points in each of his two full regular seasons in Philadelphia.
He helped the Flyers advance to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final in 2000 with 10 points in 16 games during the playoff run.
The Daymond Langkow trade tree had remarkable ripple effects on the franchise. The return package acquired from the Phoenix Coyotes in 2001 indirectly led to the acquisitions of Jeff Carter, Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, Jason Smith, Joffrey Lupul, and Chris Pronger.
