For the past few years, the Philadelphia Flyers could point to the rebuild whenever things went sideways. The roster was young. Bad contracts had to come off the books. Prospects needed time.
Fair enough.
That explanation will not carry nearly as much weight next season. The Flyers made the playoffs, knocked out the Pittsburgh Penguins and then spent the summer handing out major contracts. They even tried to pry Leo Carlsson away from the Anaheim Ducks with a five-year, $90 million offer.
Anaheim matched it, but Philadelphia’s message was impossible to miss. Daniel Briere was prepared to give Carlsson $18 million per season and send four first-round picks to the Ducks.
That is not a rebuilding move. That is the type of swing a general manager takes when he believes his team is close.
Flyers committed to the players already in Philadelphia
Carlsson would have changed the direction of the franchise overnight. Once Anaheim kept him, Briere turned his attention back to the roster he already had.
Trevor Zegras received a four-year, $36.5 million extension after producing 26 goals and 67 points in his first season with the Flyers. Jamie Drysdale signed for four years and $26 million following the best season of his career.
Philadelphia also gave Tyson Foerster an eight-year extension and kept goaltender Dan Vladar under contract for five more seasons. The Flyers’ offseason transaction list looks considerably more like an endorsement than an evaluation.
The Flyers have picked their guys. Now those players have to deliver.
Zegras is no longer the talented reclamation project who came over from Anaheim with something to prove. At $9.125 million per season, he is Philadelphia’s highest-paid player. Drysdale cannot merely flash his potential every few weeks. Foerster is being paid as someone expected to remain part of the solution for years.
Those contracts bring expectations, whether the Flyers are ready to admit it or not.
Missing the playoffs would be a failure
Nobody should expect Philadelphia to immediately challenge Carolina for control of the Eastern Conference. The roster remains young, and the power play still needs serious work.
There will be ugly nights. That comes with trusting players who are still figuring out the NHL.
Still, another playoff appearance has to be the minimum. The Flyers already crossed that line last season. Going backward after spending this aggressively would be difficult to explain.
Porter Martone gave Philadelphia fans another reason to believe when he arrived late last season and carried that momentum into the playoffs. Zegras looked comfortable in a larger role. Vladar gave the Flyers stability in net.
This is no longer a team waiting for its future to arrive. Much of that future is already wearing orange and black.
Briere tried to push the Flyers ahead of schedule with the Carlsson offer sheet. Anaheim stopped him from landing the player, but it could not undo what the offer revealed.
Philadelphia believes it is ready to win.
Next season, there will be no hiding if it is wrong.