Philadelphia Flyers 20 Best Contracts in the Salary Cap Era
Paul Holmgren was General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers for 8 seasons, and by far had the most success of all 5 men who held that position in the salary cap era, making the playoffs 6 times, winning 7 series (including a trip to the Stanley Cup final). Eventually Holmgren was fired, and if you’d like to know why, check out my Flyers worst contracts list. While Holmgren was the most successful, Ron Hextall did hit 2 of the biggest home runs on the Flyers list, especially Sean Couturier, who ranks in the top 25 of the last 15 years. We’re not talking about the current Sean Couturier contract that could end up on the Flyers worst list before it ends.
If we measured contract success solely by Stanley Cup championships, credit Holmgren for the long-term deals given to Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, who collected 4 titles between them for the Philadelphia Flyers Los Angeles Kings. Originally, I wanted to put them on the Kings best list, but they were signed in Philadelphia, so here they are. Those aren’t the only Stanley Cups on the Flyers list, as they rank #11 league-wide for total Cups won, the highest rank for a team that did not win any Cups in that span. Winning Cups is one of the easiest ways to crack one of my best contract lists.
This was originally published in my 2020 book Hunting Bargains in a Salary Cap World, and has now been updated with new contracts. I will continue to update each team’s list every summer going forward. The rule is that only active contracts can move up or down. Expired deals cannot pass each other (with a few exceptions). The book is still available on Amazon, though some of the stats on active contracts are now out of date. You may yet find it interesting because there were detailed stat graphics that you won't find here. One thing you won't find here are entry level contracts because they all come from the same cookie cutter and require less skill at the negotiating table.
Updated August 29, 2024: Adjusted for $88M cap and Ivan Provorov was demoted.
1. Sean Couturier
Adjusted Cap Hit: $29.3M, $4.9M (avg)
Value Returned: $44.6M, $7.3M (avg)
% Earned: 149%
"I'm really looking forward to come in camp and try to take another step forward. I'm not going to change as a player, as a person. I'm going to be the same type of player, just definitely try to produce a little bit more offensively."
Sean Couturier had never surpassed 39 PTS in a season over a 4-year career when this agreement was reached. This was nearly a carbon copy of the Wayne Simmonds contract from 3 years earlier, but for marginally more money. Craig Smith in Nashville had also inked a similar pact 8 days before Sean.
Ron Hextall gambled that the kid had a bright future, offering him 6-years at about $600K more than a 39-point center should make in annual salary. The offer had to be significantly more than what Sean and his agent were expecting that they were willing to forfeit 2 years of unrestricted free agency.
In year one the center scored 34 PTS in 66 GP. By year two he scored 76 PTS in 82 GP and was a contender for the Selke trophy (an award he would win in 2020). Couturier was among the biggest bargains in the league for most of this contract.
2. Claude Giroux
Adjusted Cap Hit: $29.3M, $5.2M (avg)
Value Returned: $37.8M, $12.8M (avg)
% Earned: 247%
"I'm really excited to be with the Flyers organization for three more years. We are going to be a very good team, hopefully for many years.”
Paul Holmgren astutely offered Claude Giroux an extension in November, 8 months before he needed a new deal. The young center had scored 47 PTS in his sophomore season, and accepted terms that you’d expect from a 47-point pivot. The gamble paid off for Holmgren, as Giroux finished that season with 76 PTS and would have been much more costly if signed in June.
This is a textbook example of paying a breakout star right as he’s about to blast off. Giroux went on to score 90 PTS per 82 GP over 3 seasons, for the 2023 equivalent of $4.8M AAV. Even though he was criminally underpaid, Claude won’t be running out of money anytime soon, as he made up for it on his next ticket.
3. Brayden Schenn
Adjusted Cap Hit: $23.5M, $5.9M (avg)
Value Returned: $30.4M, $7.6M (avg)
% Earned: 129%
"This deal came along and we really like the draft next year. We like the late pick this year and Jori. It made sense and we got a couple more young players."
Brayden Schenn scored 26 goals and 59 PTS before the expiration of his previous treaty, and Hextall gave him a very fair wage given his level of production. This was a shorter, more expensive version of the Vincent Trocheck deal from earlier that same month.
This investment paid lofty dividends as Brayden won the Stanley Cup with the Philadelphia Flyers St. Louis Blues, who rewarded him with a generous 8-year extension that didn't even start counting down until after his 30th birthday (potential disaster waiting to happen). It wasn’t all bad for Philly though, as they obtained a pair of 1st round picks for trading Schenn that turned into Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee, two budding prospects with bright futures.
4. Jeff Carter
Adjusted Cap Hit: $70.7M, $6.4M (avg)
Value Returned: $65.0M, $5.9M (avg)
% Earned: 92%
“It was never hostile at any point, it just took time to get done. I think some other issues in the league made us think about different ways of doing this -- number of years, custodial stuff."
Jeff Carter had already scored over 150 goals in the NHL when he signed this extension at age 25. The amount of term given to a player who had a reputation for partying raised some eyebrows when this agreement was reached. Clearly that concern was overblown, as Carter would go on to win a pair of Stanley Cups with the Philadelphia Flyers LA Kings.
There is no disputing that this was a superb investment, sadly it was another team who collected the dividends. The center was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jakub Voracek before it even officially started. I wanted to put this one on the LA Kings best contracts list because it helped them win 2 Stanley Cups, unfortunately I couldn’t because the contract was signed by the Flyers.
5. Mike Richards
Adjusted Cap Hit: $91.0M, $7.6M (avg)
Value Returned: $49.9M, $4.2M (avg)
% Earned: 55%
“I want to be here, I love the city, I love the organization and when I was given the opportunity I was excited to be here over the next twelve years”
The template for the Jeff Carter contract was established 3 years earlier with this 12-year extension bequeathed to Mike Richards. Garth Snow was the first GM to think outside the box with a ridiculous term, giving Rick DiPietro 15 years to shrink the average cap hit. The next was Richards one year afterwards. The back-diving trick wasn’t developed until Vincent Lecavalier in 2008.
Unlike Carter, Mike was not traded before the deal started, but the similarity is obvious, both eventually won a pair of Stanley Cups for the Philadelphia Flyers LA Kings. Richards does own one rare distinction, as the only buyout on any of my best contracts lists.
His play had eroded considerably well before turning 30, and the hard-partying lifestyle may have been a contributing factor. Either way, Philly Kings fans could care less, as they reaped enormous benefits from this venture. The Flyers did benefit too, adding Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn (who himself helped the Flyers Blues win a Cup) in the Richards trade.
6. Jakub Voracek
Adjusted Cap Hit: $22.5M, $5.6M (avg)
Value Returned: $31.9M, $8.0M (avg)
% Earned: 142%
"The season I had last year was pretty successful and I know if I work hard, which is what I've been doing all summer, I can get better and better"
Jakub Voracek had been hovering around the 50-point mark for the previous 3 seasons, which for his historical comparables, was most likely to produce a 3-year contract near $4M AAV. The Flyers paid a slight premium to buy one of his UFA seasons and were rewarded for their faith in his talent. Kris Versteeg had forged an almost identical treaty 3 days earlier in Florida.
It was during the lockout shortened 2013 campaign that the Czech winger finally broke out to the next level, scoring 46 PTS in 48 GP. Over the full span, Jakub scored 70 PTS per 82 GP, producing like a $6.5M player for an average adjusted cap hit of $5.2M, multiplied by 4. He banked a whopping $57.8M when this expired (which you won’t find on this list).
7. Jeff Carter
Adjusted Cap Hit: $23.0M, $7.7M (avg)
Value Returned: $28.8M, $9.6M (avg)
% Earned: 125%
"Jeff is a terrific young player who has come up through our organization, and we believe he is only going to get better. It is a priority for us to keep our young core of players intact.”
Jeff Carter earned this allotment by scoring 29 goals and 53 PTS in the final year of his ELC. It was a shorter, more expensive version of the offer sheet that Dustin Penner signed in Edmonton the previous summer. The price was slightly above book, which was irrelevant because his output immediately increased dramatically, scoring 46 goals and 85 PTS in year one.
Unfortunately, that turned out to be the best season of Carter’s entire career, but he was still over 30 goals and 60 PTS for years two and three. The average adjusted cap hit might have been $7.1M, but he also scored 40 goals and 73 PTS per 82 GP. It wasn’t cheap, but well worth what it cost.
8. Wayne Simmonds
Adjusted Cap Hit: $29.5M, $4.9M (avg)
Value Returned: $36.8M, $6.1M (avg)
% Earned: 125%
"I signed this extension just hoping that we could bring a Stanley Cup to Philadelphia. I just want to be another piece of the puzzle. I think we have a great young core put in place. Obviously this is where I want to be for a long time."
Wayne Simmonds arrived in Philly as part of the Mike Richards trade, bringing a valuable mix of skill and physicality to the Broadstreet Bullies. The power forward was 2 years away from unrestricted free agency when he signed this long-term deal and had been scoring at a rate of 28 goals and 52 PTS per 82 GP over the previous 2 seasons. It was a longer, cheaper version of what Jakub Voracek signed 3 weeks earlier.
Over the next 4 seasons, his average stat line was 30 goals, 56 PTS, 212 shots, and 163 hits at an average adjusted cap hit of $4.6M. Age 29 was where the output started to decline, dropping to 17 goals and 31 PTS in the final season at age 30, when the Flyers traded him to Nashville as a rental for Ryan Hartman and a 4th round pick.
By the time he was eligible to test the UFA market, Simmonds had completely missed his prime earnings window and was unable to procure any sort of long-term offer, settling for 1 year $5M from New Jersey.
9. James van Riemsdyk
Adjusted Cap Hit: $32.7M, $5.4M (avg)
Value Returned: $40.4M, $6.7M (avg)
% Earned: 124%
"And again, we value homegrown players, players that have the Flyers logo embedded in them, and James is one of those guys, so we feel very good about this."
JVR peaked at 40 PTS on his ELC and signed this extension with Philly 10 months before it expired. The Flyers may have regretted that decision after he went on to have an uninspiring season with 24 PTS in 43 GP, prompting a trade to the Leafs for Luke Schenn before the new deal had even begun.
His arrival in Toronto marked the turning point in his career, as his ice time per game jumped by 4 minutes with the Leafs using him on the top line. JVR rewarded them, scoring at a 31-goal, 58-point clip over the next 6 seasons. That trade turned out to be a terrible transaction for the Flyers, as Schenn turned into a dud, while JVR evolved into a dangerous scorer.
James played 413 games, scoring 154 Goals and 294 PTS. When this expired, the big winger returned to Philadelphia, which you can read about on the Flyers worst contracts list.
10. Travis Konecny
Adjusted Cap Hit: $34.9M, $5.8M (avg)
Value Returned: $41.5M, $6.9M (avg)
% Earned: 119%
"Travis has shown progression in each of his three seasons and is an integral part of our group of young forwards. His speed, skill and tenacity sets him apart in today's NHL."
In the final year of his ELC, Travis Konecny scored 49 PTS while averaging 15.3 minutes of ice time per game. A winger with that stat line should expect in the neighborhood of $4M per season, probably even less than that if it’s a restricted free agent with no arbitration rights. Travis no doubt jumped at the opportunity to make $5.5M per season, even if it meant surrendering 2 years of unrestricted free agency.
The investment immediately paid dividends, as Konecny scored at a 76-point rate in year one at age 22, a stat line worth approximately $6.5M. In less than a year he went from possibly being $1.5M overpaid to being $1M underpaid.
11. Brayden Schenn
Adjusted Cap Hit: $6.4M, $3.2M (avg)
Value Returned: $12.2M, $6.1M (avg)
% Earned: 190%
"It's a deal that both sides feel comfortable with. In terms of fitting the Flyers from where they're at in relation to the cap and for Brayden, setting him up in terms of continuing to develop and finding out where he can get to as a player."
Brayden Schenn had just completed a 41-point campaign to end his ELC when he autographed this bridge deal for $1M less than that productivity should have been worth. He lacked arbitration rights, and chose to sign in June instead of fighting to squeeze his fair value from Hextall. This treaty was a carbon copy of the document signed by Alex Killorn 4 days earlier following an identical 41-point performance.
The young center’s scoring output increased each of these 2 seasons (47 and 59 PTS), where he performed like a $5M player getting paid $2.9M. This was arguably a bigger bargain than the contract that followed, but that one ranked higher on this list because it delivered a Stanley Cup to Philadelphia St. Louis.
12. Sean Couturier
Adjusted Cap Hit: $4.5M, $2.3M (avg)
Value Returned: $10.3M, $5.1M (avg)
% Earned: 226%
"We rely a lot on Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier, they both played significant minutes this year. They probably had similar years than they had last year in terms of numbers if you prorate it, but obviously when you're playing those minutes maybe you expect a little more. Maybe our expectations were a little bit too high for those young guys. I think they're both good young players; they're going to continue to grow and get better. Sometimes you can't speed up that process no matter what you do. You just have to let time take care of it."
Paul Holmgren didn’t need to play hardball to convince Sean Couturier to accept this bridge deal. Sean was so excited by the offer that he signed it a year before his ELC expired (Mikael Backlund signed a very similar deal 10 days earlier). Couturier had only scored 42 PTS in his first 123 GP, and had not yet fully developed the offensive component of his game.
That offensive evolution began before this agreement even started, as the young center scored 39 PTS in the final year of his ELC, producing numbers that should have warranted a salary twice as large. The Flyers somehow managed to follow this up with an even bigger bargain as he grew to become a Selke trophy winner.
13. Claude Giroux
Adjusted Cap Hit: $76.5M, $9.6M (avg)
Value Returned: $73.8M, $9.2M (avg)
% Earned: 96%
"We think the world of Claude. We think he's one of the top players in our game. To have him go into this season on the last year of his current deal, it's risky for both sides. I think Claude is going to have a great year. It's a huge commitment on our part but we believe Claude is worthy of it."
Claude Giroux had already established himself as one of the NHL’s premiere point producers and was 1 year away from UFA eligibility, where he could have potentially landed himself an even bigger bag of dough. The Flyers had to pay him the UFA rate or risk losing their best forward.
After scoring 86 PTS in the final year of his previous deal, Giroux dropped down to 73 PTS in year one of this venture. That decline persisted, tumbling to 67 PTS in year two and 58 PTS in year three, at which time this was beginning to look like a regretful investment that belonged on the Flyers worst contracts list.
Then in year four (2017/18) at age 29, something magical happened. Claude jumped from 58 PTS all the way up to 102 PTS as he was turning 30 years old, setting a new career high when the outlook had seemed perilous. He departed for Ottawa when this expired.
14. Ivan Provorov
Adjusted Cap Hit: $42.9M, $7.1M (avg)
Value Returned: $39.3M, $6.5M (avg)
% Earned: 92%
"Over the course of his young career, he has developed into one of the top young defensemen in the NHL. His commitment to the game and his teammates is second to none. He will be an important part of our success for years to come."
Ivan Provorov did not miss a single game on his ELC, playing 246 matches and scoring 97 PTS (a 32-point pace). This was finalized 3 days after his closest comparable Zach Werenski signed a 3-year pact at $5M AAV, with Werenski arguably being the higher upside defenseman offensively. Provorov still managed to earn significantly more money and term, the difference being that Ivan had to forfeit 2 years of unrestricted free agency, while Zach had the option of fast tracking to his prime earnings window.
There had been rumblings that Provorov had been seeking an 8-year deal at $8M AAV, so this could superficially be considered a victory for Philly. The production did begin to slow as he aged, until he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a first round pick.
15. Matt Read
Adjusted Cap Hit: $3.9M, $1.3M (avg)
Value Returned: $16.4M, $5.5M (avg)
% Earned: 425%
"I knew when the Flyers gave him a non-entry level deal at about $1-million a year right out of college that he would be a player for them. I also got a very strong indication from Laviolette just prior to the season that he would play a lot in a lot of different roles and be used in all situations on all lines.”
Matt Read was an undrafted college free agent after a successful career at Bemiji State and decided to sign a 3-year contract with Philly after an 11-game stint for the Flyers affiliate. Read entered year one with lofty expectations after he was Bob MacKenzie’s pick to win the Calder trophy as rookie of the year in 2012, a feat he failed to accomplish despite a reasonably successful 24-goal, 47-point campaign (in hindsight Bob should have chosen Landeskog).
Over these 3 seasons, Read averaged 24 goals, 46 PTS, and 17.9 ATOI per 82 GP, performing like a $4M player for 25 cents on the dollar. Read could have gone UFA after this was complete, but opted instead to return to Philadelphia with a 4-year extension that you can read about on the Flyers worst contracts list.
16. Owen Tippett
Adjusted Cap Hit: $3.1M, $1.6M (avg)
Value Returned: $10.7M, $5.4M (avg)
% Earned: 343%
Owen Tippett came to Philadelphia in the Claude Giroux trade and only scored at a 27-point pace his first season with the Flyers, the final year of his ELC. That production was approximately worth the pay grade he received, and very close to my prediction in June 2022 (2 years at a $1.4M cap hit, off by $100K). He was immediately a much more productive player and his role with the team expanded significantly, with his average ice time jumping by 4 minutes, leading to 49 PTS. That stat line was worth more than triple what they were paying him, it’s just too bad the team sucked.
17. Wayne Simmonds
Adjusted Cap Hit: $4.9M, $2.4M (avg)
Value Returned: $11.5M, $5.7M (avg)
% Earned: 235%
Wayne Simmonds topped out at 40 PTS on his ELC with Los Angeles before getting traded to Philly in the Mike Richards trade. The team signed him to a cheap bridge deal 2 weeks later, with immediate improvement coming in year one, that was the beginning of an upward trajectory that sustained itself for years near the 60-point threshold. He was an active hitter and fit that prototypical power winger role in the mold of a Broadstreet bully. He was somewhat power play dependent for his scoring, but was still a bargain none-the-less.
18. Braydon Coburn
Adjusted Cap Hit: $4.1M, $2.0M (avg)
Value Returned: $10.7M, $5.3M (avg)
% Earned: 263%
Braydon Coburn scored 36 PTS in the final year of his ELC after being acquired from Atlanta Winnipeg for Alexei Zhitnik, a stat line that should have been worth nearly triple what they paid him. The slick move by Holmgren was signing the deal in November while the breakout was starting, and before it could fully manifest in a full season stat line. Lucky for them they didn’t pay for the 36-point total because he dropped down to 29 then 19 PTS in these two healthy seasons. Still good for his pay grade, but not the massive bargain they could have had if the trajectory moved up instead of down.
19. Simon Gagne
Adjusted Cap Hit: $4.3M, $4.3M (avg)
Value Returned: $9.6M, $9.6M (avg)
% Earned: 223%
Prior to the 2005 lockout, Simon Gagne scored 45 PTS in 80 GP (down from 66 PTS two years earlier) and felt the squeeze on his first contract when everyone was scrambling to become cap compliant. The 25-year-old had the best season of his NHL career scoring 79 PTS in 70 GP, a 90-point pace (thanks in part to a lot of power play time, though he was also effective at even strength). That was good enough to earn himself a substantial pay raise on his next deal, but eventually injury issues became a re-occurring problem that derailed his once promising career.
20. Joni Pitkanen
Adjusted Cap Hit: $3.9M, $3.9M (avg)
Value Returned: $8.1M, $8.1M (avg)
% Earned: 208%
The obstruction crackdown scoring bonanza of 2005/06 brought Joni Pitkanen along for the ride, as the young defenseman scored 46 PTS in 58 GP, which should have been worth substantially more money but he still only had 2 seasons of experience. The scoring rate did drop from 65 to 46 as the power plays subsided, but his production still doubled his pay grade. After this one season he was traded to Edmonton for Jason Smith and Joffrey Lupul, ending his short career as a Flyer. He did regress in Edmonton before rejuvenating his career in Carolina.