The Philadelphia Flyers are one of many teams searching for a drastic improvement at the goalie position, but so far, their search of the NHL trade market hasn't yielded the results they'd hoped for.
Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reported Tuesday that the Flyers have explored the possibility of trading for either St. Louis Blues goalie Joel Hofer or Vancouver Canucks warden Thatcher Demko, but the asking price for the players was deemed to great relative to the risk.
"According to a team source, the Flyers kicked tires on St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer (RFA) and Vancouver Canucks netminder Thatcher Demko; the ask for both goaltenders included a first-round pick, Daily Faceoff was told," Di Marco wrote. "According to a source, Hofer’s unproven potential and Demko’s injury history (along with being a year away from UFA status) are too big of risks to take to justify giving up a first-round pick."
Indeed, the Flyers won't find many better options in goal who are actually available for the price they want to pay, but their risk assessment is accurate in this instance.
It worked out for them in the Trevor Zegras trade, and it seems that this is now the trade philosophy going forward.
Demko, 29, has plenty of appeal as a recent former Vezina Trophy finalist and NHL All-Star, but a career-altering knee injury helped limit him to just 23 starts for the Canucks and new Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet last season.
In those 23 games, Demko was 10-8-3, recording a 2.90 GAA, a .889 save percentage, and one shutout.
It should be noted, though, that the San Diego, Calif., native finished the season with just 22 goals allowed in his last 10 games, along with a .907 save percentage. Not All-Star numbers, no, but still a significant upgrade over the performances the Flyers got this season from Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov.
Demko has one year remaining on his contract at a $5 million cap hit and can sign an extension with the Canucks, or the Flyers, if they trade for him, on July 1. If not, he will be an unrestricted free agent next July 1, which opens the door for him to leave for free if he wishes.
The connection the Flyers have to Demko via Tocchet helps, but there are no indications that the Canucks are actively looking to jettison their No. 1 goalie at the moment.
As for Hofer, he's a young career backup, 6-foot-5, and a pending restricted free agent.
The Blues have just $5 million in cap space and will need to re-sign or replace the 25-year-old goalie in addition to, potentially, retaining Radek Faksa. And that's excluding the need to pursue upgrades elsewhere on the roster.
Hofer has been mostly consistent in the NHL in his fledgling career, though his numbers don't exactly scream "franchise goalie" yet.
In 63 starts and 69 total appearances, Hofer is 35-22-5 with a 2.71 GAA, a .908 save percentage, and two shutouts.
This past season, serving as Jordan Binnington's understudy, Hofer was 16-8-3 in 31 games with a 2.64 GAA, a .904 save percentage, and one shutout.
Last year, Hofer was 15-12-1 in 30 games with a near identical 2.65 GAA but a much improved .914 save percentage.
We can deduct that Hofer is probably an average NHL starter with the potential to elevate his game over extended periods of time, which would be a marked upgrade for the Flyers in their current state.
The question is, if the Flyers won't pay a first-round pick for Hofer, who can (or will) they pay it for?
If the Flyers prefer to use one of their three first-round picks on a goalie in the upcoming NHL draft, they'll be banking on that goalie being a better long-term option than Hofer and Demko.
In that case, they may be forced to pivot to a less exciting bridge option, such as Jake Allen or Alex Lyon.
Additionally, it's worth noting that the Flyers can choke the Blues out with an offer sheet, so to speak, and sign Hofer to one worth somewhere between $4 million and $4.68 million. Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, anyone?
An offer sheet between $2.34 and $4.68 million requires compensation of a 2026 second-round pick, which the Flyers have. And by going into the higher end of that range, the Flyers can prevent the Blues from matching the offer sheet, unless St. Louis decides to match and significantly inhibit their ability to replace departing players and add to the roster as it is.
Even then, between the trade rumors and the offer sheet, the Flyers can say they made an earnest effort for a top target.
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