Trying to acquire centre depth is going to be a top priority for the Philadelphia Flyers this offseason. While many believe they will do that during the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, they are also looking for pieces that can contribute tomorrow.
Unfortunately, they won’t be the only teams looking to bolster their centre depth and while making a play for Minnesota Wild forward Marco Rossi would be the perfect move, they will have to contend with several other teams and that’s if the Wild finally decide to part ways.
The Flyers could find their targets through offer sheets as well and as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman pointed out earlier this spring, Philadelphia is reportedly a team to watch on that front. If a trade can’t materialize for Rossi, an offer sheet would be the next best thing but it would cost some valuable future assets.
Anything between the ranges you see below would fit Rossi’s offer sheet. For any team to really come close to forcing the Wild to not match would need to up the ante and aim higher than $6-6.87 million – which would ultimately cost a first and a third in 2026. Anything higher and you have to add an additional second round pick in 2026.
– Between $4,580,918 – $6,871,374 requires a 2026 first and third round pick
– Between $6,871,375 – $9,161,834 requires a 2026 first, second, and third round pick
If that’s too rich for the Flyers’ blood, then they could go for a more underrated player who has yet to truly burst onto the scene in Dallas Stars forward Mavrik Bourque.
Other teams with pending RFAs that could interest the Flyers have more than enough cap space to extend them or match any offers sent their way. However, Dallas is in an interesting situation where they’re projected to have less than $6 million in cap space this summer with a few pending UFAs they might want to bring back.
Mikko Rantanen and Jake Oettinger will see their extensions kick in next season while Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund, and Cody Ceci are some of the UFAs they will look to bring back if possible.
Benn had a down year but he’s their captain and has 956 career points and is only two years removed from a 78-point campaign. Duchene posted his second best points total in a season with 82 this past year and has put up 147 points in two seasons with the Stars.
Granlund and Ceci were both acquired ahead of the trade deadline from the San Jose Sharks. Granlund has put up 28 points across 43 games between season and playoffs, whereas Ceci has been very dependable amidst all the injuries that Dallas faced on their back-end.
Add it all up and Bourque becomes a little lost in the sauce if the Stars continue to focus on the here and now, especially if they come agonizingly close to the Stanley Cup this year without winning it all.
They moved top prospect Logan Stankoven to Carolina earlier in the year but that was also to acquire and then extend Rantanen, who is a major part of their core that also includes Oettinger, Wyatt Johnston, Jason Robertson, and Miro Heiskanen,
Bourque just completed his rookie season, where he tallied 11 goals and 25 points in 73 games on a very loaded Stars team. He averaged 12:41 TOI, fired 80 shots, won 46.3% of his draws, and added 37 blocked shots to 46 hits.
He was originally drafted 30th overall in 2020 coming out of Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL but lit up the league in short notice. Bourque tallied 68 goals and 182 points in just 108 games across parts of 3 seasons between 2019 and 2022. He capped off his distinguished junior career with 25 points in 16 postseason games before joining the Texas Stars of the AHL the following season.
Bourque added 20 goals and 47 points in 70 games during his first full season in the AHL during 2022-23 season before a 77-point campaign in just 71 contests the following year in 2023-24. He would later add 3 goals and 11 points in 8 postseason games for Texas.
The 23-year-old was put in a tough situation this year with the Stars in contention from the get-go. His ice-time varied depending on the injury front and then eventually became a healthy scratch during the post-season with Dallas either opting to go with more veteran options or an 11/7 formation.
He has all the offensive tools and he’s produced admirably in the AHL with 46 goals and 124 points in 141 games. Not only can he set up his teammates but he fill in the back of the net, he won 46% of his draws this season as a rookie, isn’t afraid to put his body on the line, and has some penalty killing prowess to go along with his offensive upside.
The Flyers don’t necessarily have much going for centre depth and the future standing of Noah Cates is a little questionable based on a prior report of him wanting to bet on himself with a 1-year deal and now there’s talk of him and the Flyers going to arbitration. Nevertheless, beyond Cates, the Flyers only have Sean Couturier and Ryan Poehling to go along with RFA Jakob Pelletier, prospect Jett Luchanko, and more seasoned options such as Rodrigo Ābols, who signed a one-year, one-way contract earlier this spring.
They are more than likely going to add at least one more prominent piece to the pipeline during the draft, but if they want to really make inroads they’re going to have to wager their bets on the open market and look for disgruntled players in obtuse situations like Rossi and the Wild or teams with very little cap space like Dallas.
Even just trying to sign Duchene and Ceci will push the Stars over the cap, so it’s going to be very interesting to see how they maneuver around their situation. I do believe a Stanley Cup win changes the equation ever so slightly with the club probably a little more loose with who they bring back after the parade.
Nevertheless, an offer sheet between the ranges of $1,511,702 – $2,290,457 and $2,290,458 – $4,580,917 would probably work in their favour but leaning towards the latter would more or less get the ball rolling. If they stuck with the former it would cost a third round pick in 2026 compared to the latter which would cost them a second-rounder.
Bourque is still a work in progress but even in just 12:41 ATOI, the former 2nd round draft choice was able to score 11 goals and add 14 assists, which would have been good enough for 11th on the Flyers in points and tied for 9th in goals from the 2024-25 season.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login