Flyers mailbag: Who should the Flyers take at No. 6, and could Mitch Marner make sense in free agency?

Now that the dust has somewhat settled for the Flyers with the hiring of Rick Tocchet as the team’s 25th bench boss and the draft and free agency right around the corner, it’s a good time to open up The Inquirer’s mailbag.

Last offseason, the Flyers battled dead cap space and ran it back with a fixed roster that only added Matvei Michkov. This year, coupled with an expanded salary cap and less dead money, they are no longer handcuffed. It’s why Flyers general manager Danny Brière said at his end-of-season presser: “We’re at a stage now where we’re going to shift a little bit from subtracting from the roster into trying to start to add and help the team.”

» READ MORE: Breaking down the Flyers’ free agents, available cap space, and draft picks this summer

Signing players will surely happen come July 1 and the opening of free agency. Whether or not the Flyers go “big-game hunting” will be interesting with several star players available. Will they go after a Mitch Marner? Doubtful, given where they are in their rebuild. But the Flyers will surely add a few pieces, like a goalie to pair with Sam Ersson. As for trades, they are always hard to gauge because, as Brière often says, you need a partner, but the expectation is that the Flyers are open for business and finally have the assets to wheel and deal. Heading into the June draft and free agency, the Flyers have 11 draft picks and a ton of cap space.

The Flyers also have the capital necessary to add via an offer sheet. Rumors are swirling that Minnesota’s Marco Rossi is a name to fill the center slot next to Michkov. And the Orange and Black are one of a handful of teams that have the picks — raise an eyebrow if they get more in any upcoming trades — to present a massive offer sheet to someone like Toronto power forward Matthew Knies.

As mentioned, trades are always hard to predict, but there are players out there the Flyers could be setting their sights on. Goaltending-wise, the unrestricted free agency market for netminders isn’t very deep. If the Flyers are truly committed to Sam Ersson being their No. 1 or top tandem goalie, someone like Jake Allen or Anton Forsberg could be cheapish options to work with and mentor Ersson.

Down the middle, the expectation is that the Flyers are still looking for youth. Unrestricted free agents under 30 include Ryan Donato, who had a 31-goal season with Chicago, Jack Roslovic of Carolina, and Pius Suter, who notched 25 goals under Tocchet this past season. Florida’s Sam Bennett, 28, is the top UFA center available, but probably will be a bit too pricey for the Flyers’ taste.

» READ MORE: 10 restricted free agents the Flyers could target with an offer sheet

And of course, Brière has not been shy about saying that the Flyers could utilize an offer sheet. As mentioned, the 23-year-old Rossi is not expected to find common ground with the Wild and could fall into a sign-and-trade. Anaheim’s Mason McTavish, 22, and Winnipeg’s Gabriel Vilardi, 25, also fit the bill as centers that could interest the Flyers.

We know that Mark Recchi will not join Tocchet’s staff. The former Flyer, a teammate of Tocchet’s, who also played for him with the Tampa Bay Lightning, has told The Inquirer he is happy being a Flyers team ambassador and is not interested in returning to coaching right now.

Two other names that have been mentioned are Luke Richardson and Sergei Gonchar. Richardson is an ex-Flyers defenseman and a former teammate of Tocchet’s. He was recently the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks for two-plus seasons. According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Richardson interviewed for the Boston Bruins head coach job.

Gonchar, a former All-Star defenseman who played 1,301 NHL games, was an assistant coach under Bruce Boudreau in Vancouver but was moved to a defense development coach when Tocchet took over.

Considering Gonchar and Richardson are both former defensemen, there is probably only space for one of them.

The endless possibilities and the bright futures of players like Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Matvei Michkov, and Alex Bump are something everyone should get “warm and fuzzy” about. Considering the aforementioned cap space and draft capital, it’s an exciting time to see what the Flyers will do and who they will bring in to keep pushing forward as they attempt to build a Stanley Cup contender. Whether they can or not, it adds intrigue and certainly will keep everyone on their toes.

What gives me agita? As Tom Petty says, “The waiting is the hardest part.”

» READ MORE: Four things Flyers fans need to know about the 2025 Memorial Cup

The short answer is: they are all possibilities, and anything and everything is on the table for the Flyers. The feeling I have, after speaking to several people in the organization, is that the Flyers are open to trading picks in the first round to either get an NHLer or to move up. Will it happen? That’s the big question mark, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they do everything possible to make something happen — and it sounds like Brière is already working the phones.

I do think they will find a player that better fits their plan through a trade of their later first-round picks than they will in free agency, and those later picks hold value for teams, like the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers, who do not have first-round picks.

The best fit for the Flyers is going to be a center, as there are several quality pivots atop this draft class. As mentioned in The Inquirer’s first mock draft, Caleb Desnoyers is the player we would pick, but it’s looking less and less likely he will be available at sixth overall; Desnoyers was just named the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s playoff MVP.

So if he rises, who falls? Could Anton Frodnell or James Hagens drop into the Flyers’ lap? There are also rumblings of riser Jake O’Brien at No. 6. The Flyers say they will go best available, so if they don’t move up, it could be a winger like Porter Martone or Victor Eklund.There’s a chance the Flyers will also try to move up to snag the guy they really want down the middle, although those types of trades are rare at the top of the NHL draft.

The Flyers are definitely looking to make additions, and there have been rumors that they tried to get Bowen Byram last season. Could they go after him again? Maybe. Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman recently said the Sabres are considering moving Byram, who is a good, young defenseman with upside, but does come with injury concerns. The question is, if you add him, who is the odd man out? The Flyers need to make room for Emil Andrae on the blue line and have guys like Oliver Bonk and Helge Grans who will push for spots in September.

» READ MORE: Flyers mock draft: Sizing up their three first-round picks and adding help at center