By the analytics, the Philadelphia Flyers haven't been too wise with how they've spent their money in recent years. But that isn't a bad thing… yet.
To kick off free agency at the start of last month, the Flyers went out and signed goalie Dan Vladar, now the highest-earning goalie on the team, center Christian Dvorak, and defensemen Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert.
Based on the expected positive value, The Athletic gave the Dvorak and Vladar contracts C- grades, but, comparatively, Ivan Fedotov and Trevor Zegras's contracts also got C- grades.
For different reasons, these grades are off base.
Vladar, unlike Fedotov, has proven to be a serviceable NHL goalie, albeit in a backup role. The bar is quite low, yes, but Vladar makes only $75k more against the cap.
The Flyers are hoping that, by adding the former Calgary Flame, they'll start to win more games, which in turn rewards their young players for their efforts and expected positive development.
Ditto for Dvorak, who is only under contract for one season and can be moved (with salary retention) at the NHL trade deadline if the right deal hits the Flyers' inbox.
As for Zegras, the Flyers traded for him with the hope the 23-year-old can become a long-term piece for them offensively and return to the 60-point form that made him one of the NHL's hottest talents only two seasons ago.
The former No. 11 pick has struggled a lot defensively, at least according to most analytics, which likely factors into such a poor contract grade, but, like with Vladar, it's a bit overstated.
Juulsen and Gilbert didn't even factor into the equation, which is to be expected. It's unclear if Juulsen is fully recovered from a season-ending hernia, while Gilbert is a long shot to make the NHL roster at this time.
The good news is that Flyers GM Danny Briere signed most of the best contracts on The Athletic's list, with Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, Nick Seeler, Egor Zamula, Cam York, Sam Ersson, and Noah Cates leading the way with B- grades or better.
Plus, the Flyers didn't benefit from having Matvei Michkov, who was excluded, on his entry-level contract.
But, overall, the Flyers haven't done anything that inhibits them from making an important move in the future, even if they really did overspend on players like Dvorak and Vladar. And even then, their value relative to other roster players is higher.
What happens next offseason, and even the offseason after that, will tell the full story. This is just the intro.
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