At this point, the Philadelphia Flyers aren’t expected to do a whole lot with the weak NHL free agent market when it opens on Wednesday, though they could always try to swoop back in for a former top KHL free agent they coveted this time last year.
On Monday, ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline, the New York Islanders did not tender a qualifying offer to pending restricted free agent Maxim Shabanov, making him an unrestricted free agent who can sign with any of the other 31 NHL teams, starting on Wednesday, July 1.
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Now, while the Islanders could always sign the former KHL starlet to a more team-friendly deal worth less than what is qualifying offer would have been, Shabanov has the opportunity to re-evaluate his playing career in the NHL if he chooses.
Of course, the Flyers were one of the teams heavily in pursuit of Shabanov, 25, until the very end, when he chose Patrick Roy and the Islanders as his NHL destination.
The formerly undrafted Russian wasn’t terribly unproductive for a cheap free agent signing when he did play; 18 points in 44 games is not far off from a 40-point pace and 0.5 points per game.
But, at 5-foot-9 and with limited experience on North American ice, Shabanov was not able to earn the trust of head coaches Roy and Pete DeBoer in time to establish a foothold on a spot in the lineup that would best take advantage of his skillset.
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Now, the Flyers don’t exactly need another small winger, but their situation as it relates to the NHL roster is more or less unchanged from last year, when they were in pursuit of him.
Rodrigo Abols, Nick Deslauriers, and Garnet Hathaway have seen their roster spots taken by rookies Denver Barkey, Alex Bump, and Porter Martone, so the straight swap of three and three could still leave the Flyers room for Shabanov if their plan for him, if they still have one, remains the same.
Again, on paper, it’s hard to imagine a fit without mental gymnastics, but the Flyers have a propensity for bringing in players they like when the time and opportunity are right.
Now that Shabanov is temporarily unshackled from the Islanders, now could be that time.
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