Flyers mailbag, part 1: Zegras’ future, trade-deadline plans and is there Michkov concern?

Here is part 1 of our two-part Philadelphia Flyers midseason mailbag. Some questions have been lightly edited for style and clarity. Let’s get to it.

General manager Daniel Briere and the brain trust talked about having the salary cap cleaned up at the end of this year and making a big move on the free agents this summer. The FA class is no more. Most of the good players have signed. What is their backup plan? With Jett Luchanko seemingly years away and Matvei Michkov struggling mightily, where and how do they add any high-end talent? — D. L.

Guess we might as well lead off with a big-picture question.

Let me address the last part of your question first — I think there’s a misconception right now that the Flyers don’t have any “high-end” talent. Do they have a Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon on their roster? No. But they still have a number of players — Trevor Zegras, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim and (when healthy) Tyson Foerster — that most any NHL team would love to have on its roster. And, of course, they still have faith that Michkov and Porter Martone will eventually become stars.

And while I’m sure they’re a bit disappointed that next summer’s free-agent class already looks thin, they didn’t base their entire rebuilding plan on simply hoping they’d land a top free agent. They’re also in the process of drafting and developing all of the players they’ve taken in the last three years under Briere, while trying to re-establish the franchise as a place players want to play. That’s just as important as having salary-cap space (which Briere probably doesn’t get enough credit for cleaning up).

There are bound to be other high-end players who hit the trade market at some point over the next year or two, much like Quinn Hughes last month. Many of those players will likely have some level of trade protection in their contracts. The Flyers are hopeful they’ll have the ammunition to be in those sorts of trade discussions, and that players around the league view Philadelphia as somewhere they’ll want to play in the event they have to sign off on a deal.

It’s a complicated path they’ve chosen, to be sure. However, what they won’t do is try to rush a process that they figured would take a little while anyway.

Do they still see Zegras as a potential center or is he locked in at left wing? — Joe D.

No one has explicitly said the Zegras-at-center experiment is over. However, considering it didn’t last very long, he’s piling up points on the wing and the club is likely to re-sign Christian Dvorak, I think it’s pretty safe to say they’re only going to skate Zegras as a true center if they need to, at least for the immediate future. That happened recently in their game against the Rangers on Dec. 20, which Dvorak missed due to injury.

What would a Zegras contract extension look like? — Anonymous U.

I’ve gotten this question on a podcast or two, and my best guess always ends up at around five years and $45 million, for a $9 million AAV. Again, that’s just a guess, as the Flyers organization tends to keep these sorts of things close to the vest.

From Zegras’ perspective, that sort of contract would allow him to keep building his career with a team that seems to be taking steps toward contention and with him as a key cog. Assuming a Dvorak extension is coming, Zegras could continue playing with a center with whom he has chemistry, both on and off the ice. And, it would allow him to sign another potentially monstrous deal when he is still just 30 years old.

It would work for the Flyers because they have plenty of salary-cap space and, of course, they need Zegras’ skill. A $9 million AAV would make Zegras the highest-paid player on the team, but it’s only slightly more than Konecny’s $8.75 million AAV.

Regardless of what they land on, I still view an extension as inevitable.

Aside from Martone, which prospect is going to be the most pleasant surprise in the Flyers’ regular lineup three years from now, and why? — Joshua C.

Can I go with Denver Barkey here? He’s only played six NHL games so far (with two assists, both in his NHL debut), but he left an impression on Rick Tocchet right away and has found a way to have an impact nightly. In fact, that’s how he earned his call-up to the Flyers in the first place — he was viewed as the AHL Phantoms’ most consistent player. That’s typically the biggest hurdle to overcome for any player who is just starting their pro career. It’s still much too early to suggest he’s arrived in the NHL, because I’d like to see him capitalize on some of the chances he’s been getting, but he’s still exceeding expectations.

Jack Berglund (second round, No. 51, 2024 draft) is another prospect who seems to be trending in the right direction. The big center is Sweden’s captain at the World Juniors, where he has posted three goals and four assists for seven points in five games. If he can continue to improve his pace of play in the Swedish League for the rest of this season (and likely next season, as he’s signed for one more year there), he could eventually become a middle-six NHLer.

Do you believe Briere will make a move for center depth in season if they stay in playoff contention? It’s increasingly obvious their biggest hole is down the middle. — Robyn A.

I believe they’re going to try, and have reported as much. However, I was also told at the time of that report that they weren’t looking for anything other than a fourth-line center, and I wonder if that line’s recent effectiveness has altered their plan. Credit to Rodrigo Abols for that, as he may have been getting dragged down by ineffective wingers Nic Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway, who have since been replaced in the active lineup by Nikita Grebenkin and Carl Grundstrom.

Do you agree, Kevin, that the team is set on making the playoffs and will not sell at the deadline? And if you do, will they add anything? — Matthew S.

You don’t have to listen to me about whether they want to make the playoffs — Briere and Keith Jones have said it a couple times. Considering where they are in the standings, that surely hasn’t changed.

If they’re in a similar position in March, it could actually end up being a quiet deadline. There are no obvious candidates on the roster for the Flyers to sell that wouldn’t hurt the team’s overall depth, and they’re not going to be in a position to trade high-end future assets for rentals, which could prevent them from adding another center.

My best guess at this point is that they’ll procure a depth piece or two, but it won’t be anyone worth getting overly excited about.

Are there any concerns from Flyers management about Michkov? It was assumed that his slow start was because of a bad offseason and new system. Do the Flyers still view him as a potential 90-point player? — Joseph G.

I’ve never gotten the sense they’re overly concerned, no. I will say I think it’s been underemphasized just how out of shape he was when he arrived at camp, and because of that, management figures that it’s been a long and drawn-out process for him to get back up to speed. I do think there’s a measure of sympathy for Michkov, considering everything he’s gone through in his young life, from being in the spotlight at an early age to losing his father just before the draft.

There’s also the matter of Michkov’s next contract. If he wants a significant payday in the summer of 2027, when his entry-level deal is up, he’s going to have to show between now and then that he’s worthy of it. That’s gotta be a bit motivating for him in terms of having a good next offseason, don’t you think?

Can you explain the contradiction between hilarious on-ice chirps/hate-filled playoff hockey, when players show tons of personality, vs. media interviews that are, 99.9 percent of the time, as milquetoast as it gets? Is there an unwritten rule about being a bland professional and not showing any personality? — Scott G.

It’s kind of always been that way, at least for the past couple of decades, hasn’t it? Players will rarely say anything too controversial on camera, in part because it’s easy to be taken out of context, especially online.

Take the whole Sean Couturier-Michkov thing in November. Couturier was simply being honest when he said Michkov “has got to find a way to contribute to helping the team win in other ways when you’re not scoring goals every game.” However, someone on social media cut out the context of the question (asked by me, actually), and it turned into a whole thing. Couturier later mentioned that he doesn’t usually pay attention to what those on social media are saying, but when that was taken by many to mean that Couturier “hated” Michkov, it eventually got back to him.

The vast majority of NHL players are much better when there isn’t a camera pointed in their faces. Personally, I (and other reporters) try as much as possible to get players one-on-one in the dressing room — not just because they tend to be more open and chatty and interesting, but also because you can clarify certain things off the record or on background.