Quick Hits: July 2, 2024

1) The Philadelphia Flyers made it official on Monday: Highly touted prospect Matvei Michkov, the seventh overall pick of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, signed his entry-level contract with the Flyers. As with all ELCs, it's a two-way contract. However, it's unlikely that Michkov will spend any time in the American Hockey League. On the NHL side of the contract, per Capfriendly, this is the annual structure of the three-year deal.

$950,000 cap hit
$855,000 base salary
$95,000 signing bonus (yearly installment)
$3.5 million performance bonuses
$4.45 million potential total value

Michkov can become an arbitration-ineligible restricted free agent on July 1, 2027. The new deal takes the 19-year-old winger through the 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons. The in-season cap figure will be prorated daily based upon the $950,000 figure. At the end of the season, earned performance bonus payments will be added to the final cap charge.

2) Veteran checking winger Garnet Hathaway's potential unrestricted free agent status after the 2024-25 season was preempted by the Flyers on Monday. The team added a two-year extension, kicking in for the 2025-26 season. The 32-year-old forward will earn $2.375 million against the salary cap in 2024-25. When the extension kicks in for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons, Hathaway's cap hit will adjust slightly to $2.40 million. Flyers general manager Danny Briere said on Monday that Hathaway's willingness to stay at essentially the same salary was one of the factors in the deal getting done early.

3) Veteran defenseman Erik Johnson, an unrestricted free agent after joining the Flyers at the trade deadline this past season, signed a new one-year contract on Monday to remain with the Flyers for the 2024-25 season. The 36-year-old defenseman, who made a $3.25 million cap hit last season between the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia, accepted an even $1 million from the Flyers on his new contract. The Flyers anticipate that the right-handed shooting veteran will play a seventh-D role in 2024-25, rotating in and out of the lineup in similar fashion to the role that veteran Marc Staal (who is not returning to the Flyers) played last season.

4) Briere addressed the media late on Monday afternoon live at FTC and via Zoom (without remote questions available). He discussed the day's three signings, the limited current interest -- and cap space -- for outside free agents this summer -- and addressed several other roster-related topics.

In regard to the trade front, Briere said there were still some lingering potential deals that were discussed over Draft weekend in Vegas. He said that unless something goes down in the next week or two, it would become unlikely that deals would be made over the summer months when hockey ops departments leaguewide tend to go on vacation.

What Briere was actually doing: He's trying to get other GMs to come to a decision on offered deals, circle back on their own proposals and/or make counteroffers. Without feeling like there's any sort of deadline pressure, these things tend to linger around unfinished. Focuses shift by the start of training camp (although some previous discussions sometimes get revived before opening night). Briere was NOT saying he'd just wash his hands soon of any hockey trade possibilities that have recently been discussed. He's trying to generate some urgency with other clubs, which sometimes works. Sometimes it doesn't.

It's basic GM Speak, which Briere is learning more and more to do in his second season as an NHL general manager. The target audience for that particular bit of GM Speak is not the fans. It's other clubs. There's not an actual cutoff date anytime soon if there's a deal to be consummated or seriously revisited.

Briere also addressed the status of reigning Bobby Clarke Trophy winner Travis Konecny, who is one season away from potential unrestricted free agency. Briere reiterated that the team prefers to sign him to a long-term extension rather than having the situation linger over the next year. However, there is not a done deal at present.

Several notes here: 1) The odds still decidedly favor a long-term extension at some point but it's not impossible that Konecny could be part of a trade at some point; 2) The Konecny camp isn't in a hurry immediately. Keep in mind that, at the start of his current contract (six seasons ago), Konecny missed the start of camp under then-coach Alain Vigneault while still an unsigned restricted agent; same with then-Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov. On Day 2 of Camp, Konecny signed his new contract. On Day 3, he was on the ice per normal. Konecny still has the same agent, veteran Pat Morris; 3) If Konecny does sign an extension at some point -- if not, the trade odds increase significantly -- he'll carry his current $5.5 million cap hit for one more season. A raise would kick in starting 2025-26.

It's hard to say how much Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart's new eight-year deal at an $8.625 million cap hit will affect Konecny's reported $10 million cap hit initial ask. One would think it has some impact. But there's also the fact that players for Florida-based and Texas-based teams do not have a state income tax in their locale, which enables agents and teams to be a little more creative in agreeing to salary terms.



5) The Flyers have lost two players from their 2023-24 roster to unrestricted free agent signings elsewhere. Center/wing Tanner Laczynski signed with the Vegas Golden Knights while goaltender Felix Sandström departed for the Buffalo Sabres. Rugged forward Evan Polei, who was on AHL contract last season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, has opted to play pro hockey in Norway next season.

Several former Flyers players from past seasons also found new hockey homes as NHL unrestricted agents on Monday. Goalie Anthony Stolarz signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs after winning the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere has signed with the Carolina Hurricanes (second stint) after spending the 2023-24 campaign in Detroit. Checking forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel, a member of the Washington Capitals this past season, has moved to the Sabres (the 28-year-old winger's fifth NHL team).

3) First reported by Anthony DiMarco, the Flyers reportedly made one Phantoms-geared signing on Monday as they lost Laczynski to the Vegas organization. Philly signed 27-year-old Quebecois center Anthony Richard, who also has 24 career NHL games under his belt (4g, 4a) with Nashville, Montreal and Boston, to a two-way contract. The deal has not yet officially been announced by the organization as of this writing.

This past season as a member of the Providence Bruins, Richard posted 55 points (25g, 30a) in 59 regular season games. He had one point in three Calder Cup playoff games as the P-Bruins lost to the Hartford Wolf Pack in the best-of-five Atlantic Division semifinal round (second round of the playoffs after a best-of-three first bye).

4) The Flyers 2024 Development Camp opens on Tuesday and runs through July 6 at the FTC in Voorhees. Look for a Camp preview with players and trends to watch that will run later today on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com. For daily on-ice schedules and the full camp roster, click here.

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