I was sitting in my office on Tuesday morning when my phone rang. It was my good buddy Jason Myrtetus. After I checked in with him about how he is feeling as he continues his cancer battle, we talked about doing our crossover podcast from the Flyers alumni golf outing (which will be Monday at DuPont Country Club).
It was good to talk hockey again. It had been a minute for me, as I had been so immersed with so many other things – between the Phillies, podcasts and some other possible growth opportunities here at OnPattison, hockey had just had fallen on the back burner a little bit.
Sure, I had been paying attention to both the Stanley Cup Playoffs (and the wacky Final) as well as the conversation that was out there around the team. After all, Flyers Twitter and I can never quit our complicated relationship, even in times of peace, like the month between the end of the season and the ramp up before the draft, but the point is, there hasn’t been much focus on hockey by me for the better part of the past month.
But after hearing the energy in Jason’s voice as we prepared for a podcast episode with former players, I have to tell you that it got the juices flowing to do some check-ins with some of people around the sport to get the latest scuttlebutt on topics involving the Flyers.
So, I started sending some text messages, got on the phone a few times. I talked to my trusted sources both with the organization and elsewhere to see if their name was popping up on radars, and compiled a list of five things to talk about in this column update. There aren’t many huge surprises here, but there is one and I’ll kick it off with that since I’m sure will make a large swath of fans unhappy.
Nurse’s Orders
Everyone knows the Flyers need a center. Even GM Danny Briere talked about it at his end of season press conference. It’s the thing they need the most and the thing that is not easily attainable in the modern NHL.
And while the search will remain ongoing for an upgrade at the center position, one thing the Flyers are making a priority this offseason is improving their defense.
There are a few reasons for this.
First, they aren’t as deep at the position as some may think. While the organization is excited about the future for Oliver Bonk as an NHL defenseman, David Jiricek remains an unknown. He’s under an NHL contract for next season and he’s no longer waiver exempt, so this is a big summer for him. He’s likely on the roster based on his contractual situation alone, but the Flyers have to consider how to best utilize him.
Beyond that, the defenseman they are most excited about is Spencer Gill, but he’s still a couple years away from being in consideration at the NHL level. Others like Hunter McDonald and Ty Murchison could make a push and are intriguing, but neither profiles out as more than a bottom pair guy. Murchison — who assistant coach Todd Rierden has repeatedly praised in conversation — seems to be a guy who could be the next Nick Seeler. A steady Eddie who you know what you are going to get from him every time he’s on the ice.
But if the Fyers want to take the next step, there needs to be upgrades higher up the lineup. With uncertainty about Rasmus Ristolainen still being a Flyer next season (I’ll get to that later), the Flyers could even need more size and physicality on the blue line at the NHL level come October.
Which is why they are paying attention to what’s going on in Edmonton and Darnell Nurse.
Since that story has been published last week, the Oilers and the 31-year-old Nurse have met, and a source outside of the Flyers organization said Nurse, who has a full no-trade clause in his contract through the end of next season, has told the Oilers there are a few teams he is willing to be traded to right now. Are the Flyers one of them? It’s unclear, but a separate source told me they would be an approved destination, so I would say… it’s possible.
The immediate reaction to Nurse’s name is going to sure to be visceral among fans, and it makes sense as to why. Nurse has four years remaining and a staggering $9.25 million AAV.
It’s quite apparent to everyone that his value does not come close to matching his cap hit. Not even close. And the Flyers recognize that, too. They would not be interested in acquiring a player of his caliber if that was the price tag attached to him for the next four years.
But what if Edmonton was willing to eat part of it? Say, half?
Is he more palatable at $4.75 a year? Definitely. But at what cost?
“That’s the difficult part of the conversation,” one Flyers source told me, saying the Flyers have not engaged the Oilers in conversation on Nurse, but that there has been internal discussion about how it would have to look for them to be interested enough to pick up the phone. “It depends on what the cost is for them to retain, and how much they would be retaining.”
Fair. Not knowing what Edmonton’s ask would be to retain varying percentages of Nurse’s salary makes it harder to assess this possibility, but if the Flyers view Nurse as a potential upgrade to the blue line, then at what point does it cut off? If you’re comfortable at 50% of his cap hit, fine, but what if Edmonton won’t go that far to move on from him? What if Edmonton will only retain, say, a quarter of his salary? Would the Flyers take on a cap hit of roughly $7 million for Nurse? And at what cost?
From what I’m hearing, I think the answer to that last question is yes, depending on the cost.
It seems like a high number now, but with the cap skyrocketing over the next four seasons, it’s likely a number that is comparable to what some second pair defensemen in the league will be making in the coming seasons.
Could the Flyers possibly move on from Ristolainen via one trade and bring in Nurse in another, and possibly another veteran, who would serve as an upgrade to the power play?
It’s something they would consider.
Now, is Nurse a good fit? That’s a different question and one that’s a question of interpretation. He obviously has some deficiencies, but he also does some things well.
The Flyers could be interested in trading for Nurse in the same way the Florida Panthers were interested in trading for Seth Jones when he was acquired from Chicago during the 2024-25 season. The Blackhawks retained some salary, and Jones went into a situation where he wasn’t expected to be the guy on the blue line. Jones slotted in more comfortably into a middle pair role, and had an immediate impact on a Stanley Cup run and then followed that up with a solid season — when he played, as he had multiple injuries — posting 32 points in just 52 games.
Nurse isn’t an offensive defensemen, but he’s not a plodding, stay at home guy either. He has had a 43-point season in has career, but he also played for an Edmonton team that was pedal to the medal offensively and always seemed to be lacking on the back end from a defensive perspective.
Still, does he check the boxes that need to be checked for this to be a true upgrade? That’s where the debate would come in. Nurse is basically another version of Ristolainen, except he’s a left shot. The Flyers had some real success with Ristolainen in 2025-26 under the guidance of Rierden. When healthy, Ristolainen was at his best this season in all his time with the Flyers. He was superb in the Olympics for Team Finland. He was excellent in the Flyers 10 playoff games, and he is the same age as Nurse. The two also have a similar build as Nurse is 6-foot-4, 215 pounds.
So, from a Flyers perspective, do they feel like a change of scenery to a more defensive-minded structure in Philly than in Edmonton and working with a coach who got the most out of a player like Ristolainen could be just what the doctor ordered for Nurse? (Yes, that pun was intended, and I’m sorry.)
Possibly. If there are no other changes on the blue line, does this mean Travis Sanheim would have to move back to the right side? Is it worth doing that after he looked so good on the left when playing with Ristolainen? Where would Nurse fit? With Sanheim? Or on a second pair with Jamie Drysdale and Cam York moves back up to play with Sanheim, as they did for the first half of last season?
Or, do the Flyers look to see if they can do something else on the blue line and consider moving York as well?
There are a lot of questions here and multiple possible answers, it’s just a matter of how the puzzle would be pieced together. The Flyers have to improve the power play, and they need a quarterback there. While Jiricek has some promise, it wouldn’t be prudent for the Flyers to just say he solves the problem and move forward in the offseason with no other consideration for a power-play quarterback. Considering signing someone like John Carlson to a one or two-year deal wouldn’t be the worst idea. He also has worked with Rierden in the past, so there’s some familiarity there as well.
It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the first order of business for the Flyers this offseason revolves around the blue line – and relatively soon.
Risto Business
As for Ristolainen, if they were to make a move for a guy like Nurse, that all but assures Ristolainen’s departure. I don’t see a world where both can exist on the same defensive corps.
Even if they don’t pursue and land Nurse, I still believe Ristolainen will be moved. His value is at it’s highest right now, and Briere should cash in on that. Yet, if teams are reluctant to pay the price, Briere can hold onto him longer and force teams to meet his price. It would just be risky to carry it into next season since it’s Ristolainen’s walk year.
It wasn’t as risky to not trade him at the last trade deadline, because there was always another year left on his deal, but with him facing unrestricted free agency a year from now, carrying him into the season does add more risk of decreasing value. Time, health and production could all end up working against you. Moving Ristolainen this summer makes the most sense, and I get the sense that it’s going to happen.
Larkin up the wrong tree
The Dylan Larkin thing was fun for a day or two, wasn’t it? Then his shortlist of teams came out, the Flyers weren’t on it, and, well that was that, right?
Ehhhh…. probably. But the Flyers aren’t completely closing the door.
Look, it’s no surprise who his three teams were – Minnesota, who employs his best friend in hockey in Quinn Hughes; Florida, who won the two previous Stanley Cups and after an injury-plagued season, should be back among the elite next season; and Vegas, who is two wins from a Cup themselves.
This doesn’t mean the Flyers aren’t a destination location, they are for a player who has a little more patience, but Larkin wants to win now. Today. Not two years from now. Who can blame him after how things went in Detroit?
And while his relationship with Detroit GM Steve Yzerman has become irreparable, Yzerman isn’t just going to give him away. Nor is he only going to work with the three teams that Larkin provided. It could become a game of chicken, where Yzerman sees if Larkin will budge and lengthen his list to get Detroit a better return.
But Larkin can choose to be as stubborn as Yzerman is. That is his right with a no-trade clause. It’s going to be a messy divorce, no matter how it ends, but the Flyers swill continue to monitor it, because if Larkin does choose to change his mind and open it up to other possibilities, they will be ready. Just don’t hold your breath.
Signs of the Times
Dan Vladar and Trevor Zegras will both have their contracts extended at some point this summer. That’s not really breaking news. It was a given and has been reported by many.
What is interesting here is that the Vladar deal, while reportedly done, isn’t technically. I was told both sides have agreed to some framework, but there are still some options that both sides are considering as to how it would look.
But an extension is definitely coming. Probably five years. Likely in the neighborhood of $5.5 million per.
As for Zegras, I was told that the negotiations with him have been slowed by the whole Larkin saga (Zegras and Larkin both have the same agent, Pat Brisson). Once Brisson can clear his plate a little bit, he and Briere will get back to work on hammering out a new deal for Zegras.
The Flyers feel very confident, I’m told, that this will get done.
“There are different pressure points with contract negotiations,” one source said “The draft is one. July 1 is another, as new free agent contracts set salary standards and comps.”
Still, the Flyers feel like they have a good handle on when they need to get a deal done by, in their mind, and aren’t worried about hammering it out.
Expect Zegras’ AAV to be some where between $8 and $9 million.
Leafing Everyone Hanging
The last thing is the Flyers still have no clarity from the NHL on the situation with the Toronto Maple Leafs first-round pick.
It’s comical that the league screwed up allowing the Maple Leafs to essentially trade the same first pick twice, and now seem to want to distance themselves from the situation and hope it just works itself out without having to make a ruling.
That’s pathetic, but this is Gary Bettman’s NHL. The biggest problem here is, by the NHL not intervening, the only team that could really benefit is the Maple Leafs.
Let me explain how we got here.
The league basically allowed the Leafs to trade the same first-round pick twice because it didn’t expect Toronto to completely go in the tank in 2025-26 to the point where it would need their 2026 first-round pick to be top-5 protected.
Well, it happened, as the Leafs sucked just enough that their ping pong balls came up and they stunningly won the lottery and the right to draft Gavin McKenna.
That deferred the pick they were supposed they were supposed to send to the Flyers from the Scott Laughton trade to 2027. However, they had subsequently traded that 2027 first-rounder to Boston in another trade for Brandon Carlo, and now, essentially, have traded it twice.
So, who gets the 2027 pick? Well, there were other caveats to the Boston trade, so it’s pretty simple. If the pick is not in the top 10, it belongs to the Flyers.
But if it is in the top 10, something has to give, because then both the Bruins and the Flyers stake claim to it.
Now, the Flyers trade happened first, so one would think it’s automatic, it should be theirs. But the league has put its head in the sand and not gotten involved.
So, depending on where that pick would land, Toronto could, in essence, hold a bidding war between the Flyers and Bruins to see who wants to pay them something more for the pick.
That really shouldn’t be allowed. They screwed up by trading the same pick twice. The league screwed up allowing it. Toronto shouldn’t then benefit from their screw up.
But that’s where we are.
Now, if the pick is on the back end of the top 10, it’s likely the Leafs would pick the Flyers over the Bruins, just so they don’t help a division rival. But if that pick is in the top five, Toronto won’t care about the fact that Boston is in their division if they are willing to pay a higher price than the Flyers to get such a high pick.
Of course, this shouldn’t be allowed. It’s a bad precedent to set. It gives teams the green light to do this and try to recoup some assets if a similar situation were to arise. The league needs more control and oversight over things like this. Don’t give teams loopholes they can exploit, because they will.
And the league providing no clarity, leaves three teams in the lurch – not knowing what the true value of their own assets are.
Some might be surprised that the league would allow this circus to play out, but when it comes to the NHL, the three rings are always operational. Shame.