Danny Briere Sounds Exactly Like A Guy Who Is Lining Everything Up To Bring Connor McDavid To The Philadelphia Flyers
Andy Devlin. Getty Images.Danny Briere lit the NHL world on fire just a couple short weeks ago when the Philadelphia Flyers tendered and offer sheet to Leo Carlsson which made him the highest paid player in the league. 5-years, $18M AAV, and pretty much all of that $90 million would be hitting Carlsson's bank account in bonus form.
Was there a part of Danny Briere's crazy mind that thought the Flyers would have a legitimate shot, and the Ducks wouldn't match the offer sheet for Carlsson? Maybe a little. But I have to imagine he knew it would be a long shot. That Leo Carlsson is too good of a player for any organization to just lose in that fashion.
So what was the point if he had a pretty strong idea that Leo Carlsson was never actually going to be a Flyer next year? Pretty simple, actually. He was just putting some bait on the hook for the rest of the league--and probably one specific player in Edmonton--to see.
The Athletic -- Speaking for the first time Thursday since Anaheim officially retained Carlsson on July 9, Briere expressed confidence that his headline-making moonshot resonated in NHL circles. “It was noticed around the league,” he said. “What I hope, too, is that it’s noticed by our fans and by our players, that we’re serious.
…Assuming they remain quiet for the final two months of the offseason when front offices around the league generally hibernate, the Flyers should have approximately $12-14 million in salary cap space in September. They’ll have flexibility to pounce on something in the future, if they so choose.
Considering the number of high-profile players who have changed teams recently, or are still in the rumor mill, it’s a sensible approach.
“It’s nice to have that luxury,” Briere said of the cap room. “You use it in certain cases like we did on the offer sheet. It gives you the option to do that if there’s something that makes sense that in the future can really help this team take the next step. … We’re still looking if we have the chance to improve the team.”
Getting Leo Carlsson would have been incredible, and it would have filled in a massive hole in the Flyers' roster. But Anaheim matching just means the Flyers have a ton of cap space to work with. They have a young core that can continue to develop together, a bunch of money to work with, and now a reputation around the league that they are serious about putting together a team that can win a Stanley Cup.
Dylan Larkin is still floating around out there, and maybe he reaches a point of this saga where he's open to getting traded anywhere. But maybe there's not a move to be made this season. That's totally fine. The Flyers can get themselves through this year, and then we move on to the 2027-28 NHL season. Otherwise known as year 2 of 2 on the most recent Connor McDavid extension.
Assuming the Oilers don't win the Cup next year, there's no chance McDavid is signing another extension in Edmonton. So 2027-28 will be the last year on his deal, and Edmonton will be in full scramble mode trying to figure out what to do with 97. They can't risk losing a player like Connor McDavid for nothing in free agency.
Noah Cates at $4M with no trade protection sounds pretty good to me. Tyson Foerster's new 4-year, $7.1M AAV contract extension kicks in that year but he doesn't have any trade protection in those first 2 years. Cam York at $5.15M and no trade protection. The Flyers have cap space, they have quality players they can offer in return who they wouldn't need to worry about not waiving any movement clauses, and they can prove to McDavid it would be worth signing here because they are serious about winning.
It definitely puts the pressure on. Signing a 21-year-old Leo Carlsson to $18M per year is a little different than signing a 30-year-old Connor McDavid to whatever number that would have to be. But that's the whole point. You're not going after Connor McDavid unless you're ready to win a Stanley Cup right away.
I know it's difficult to envision right now, but just imagine a world where LeBron James signs with the Sixers this summer and then the Flyers turn around by trading for Connor McDavid the next year. That new arena isn't going to just pay for itself. It's gotta happen.