The Flyers made their moves for the summer, and now sit in the offseason's quiet stretch, along with the rest of the NHL, before training camps start to pick up.
Could general manager Danny Brière pull off another signing or trade? Sure. There's still time.
But with only a bit more than $370,000 left in cap space, per PuckPedia, and a stated hesitancy to reach into the offseason long-term injured reserve pool for Ryan Ellis' dormant contract, the Flyers seem set as they are, in the hopes that their youth continue to take strides.
On the franchise's horizon, too, is next summer, when they're expected to have considerable cash freeing up to go along with a rising salary cap. That has long been believed to be the point when they'll really spend and seriously turn the corner into competing.
Until then, and the upcoming 2025-26 season that comes first, here's a rundown of all the Flyers' offseason moves and where they put the team…
Trades
The Flyers made the trade for Zegras just ahead of the draft in late June, in a risk they were in a pretty good spot to take.
With the Ducks, Zegras was a 20-goal, 60-point-level player in his first two years, and one of the league's more unique highlight reels.
Injuries, inconsistency, and a stockpile of young centers in Anaheim left Zegras in limbo, though, over the next two.
So this is a fresh start for a talented skater who is still only 24 years old, and on the Flyers' part, a dice roll to see if maybe they found a top-six caliber center at a time when they're in bad need of one.
"He's just a unique player," Flyers defenseman Cam York said of Zegras recently. "There's guys in the league that have skill, and there's guys that have elite skill, and I would say he's in that elite category."
Zegras is in the last year of his contract at a cap hit of $5.75 million. He'll be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent in the summer, per PuckPedia.
Free agents
C Christian Dvorak – 1 year, $5.4 million
The price tag, initially, might seem steep, but for a year, Dvorak gives the Flyers a solid depth center without handcuffing anything, and maybe helps bridge the gap to getting more reinforcements down the middle next summer.
As far as what the 29-year-old can bring in the scope of this coming season, he'll be a bigger body who can play a steady two-way game, kill penalties, and win faceoffs.
Dvorak also has familiarity with head coach Rick Tocchet's approach from their days in Arizona, and comes over after having carved out a key role within a young Canadiens lineup that just broke through into the playoffs.
He sees a bit of a similar situation brewing in Philly.
"I think the similarities are how young both teams are," Dvorak said last week. "Sometimes it takes a little bit of time when you're that young, but yeah, in Montreal, we started a bit slow, everyone probably counted us out and thought we were going to be sellers at the trade deadline. But we got hot the second half of the year and right before the deadline we kept everyone together, and made a nice run there.
"That was a lot of fun, and I think we could do something similar in Philly this year, too."
G Dan Vladar – 2 years, $6.7 million ($3.35 million per)
Vladar was sold on Philadelphia by praise from Jake Voracek and several other fellow Czech NHLers, but also on the opportunity to play way more games.
Vladar has never played in more than 30 games in a season so far, and doesn't have career numbers that exactly jump off the page either, but Brière said upon signing Vladar on July 1 that he's coming in to compete and will have the chance to prove himself the No. 1.
In a current goalie group also consisting of Sam Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov, that contest seems wide open.
D Noah Juulsen – 1 year, $900,000
Juulsen is a big, right-handed shot who played for Tocchet in Vancouver.
He'd effectively be a Band-Aid to fill in for Rasmus Ristolainen, who will miss the start of the season because of a re-ruptured triceps, but will be trying to bounce back from an injury-riddled year himself.
D Dennis Gilbert – 1 year, $875,000
A left-handed shot, Gilbert offers a bit more size, and insurance, for the blue line, but is likely to be kept further down the depth chart.
C Lane Pederson – 1 year, $775,000 (two-way)
Mostly an AHLer, Pederson has some overlap with Tocchet in Arizona and Vancouver, and is probably spending the year with the Phantoms unless the Flyers get really banged up.
Restricted free agents
C Noah Cates – 4 years, $16 million ($4 million per)
Cates found his game as a dependable two-way center, and clicked on the relentlessly checking line of himself, Tyson Foerster, and Bobby Brink.
He also emerged as one of the new leaders in a developing locker room, and just reached a career-high 16 goals that would fit right into a good middle-bottom six production-wise.
Plus, at age 26 and considerably cost-controlled with his new extension, he fits the Flyers' long-term outlook.
They wanted to keep him around.
LW Tyson Foerster – 2 years, $7.5 million ($3.75 million per)
Same goes for Foerster.
The 23-year-old winger just turned in back-to-back 20-plus goal seasons, and each within his first two full years in the NHL. His quick shot should be capable of netting way more down the line, too.
The extension Foerster has been signed to stands clearly as a bridge deal, setting up for the potential to earn way more soon. The NHL salary cap increasing by then should work to the Flyers' advantage, though, when the time comes to negotiate again.
Recent word of an infection in Foerster's elbow, and his uncertain status for training camp because of it, however, might complicate things a bit.
D Cam York – 5 years, $25.75 million ($5.15 million per)
The Flyers found a way to hold on to York through 2030, and didn't have to break the bank to do it.
The 24-year-old will be after a bounce-back year, but even with a rough 2024-25 campaign, he still took up more than 20 minutes a night, often against the top assignments.
York defends better than most give him credit for, and he stands to offer more offense, especially if he can get back on the power play.
Best-case scenario: He breaks out into a clear top-pairing defenseman on a bargain of a contract.
Worst-case scenario: You still have a middle-pairing defenseman, at his floor, on a completely reasonable deal.
D Helge Grans – 2 years, $1.575 million ($787,500, two-way/one-way)
Grans is another big defenseman, and a right-handed shot, who is down with the Phantoms but has seemingly been on the bubble of the NHL roster.
He was up with the Flyers for a stint last season, and in theory, would be a sound and younger option to try and fill in for Ristolainen's absence, but Juulsen's and then Gilbert's signings in free agency don't appear to lend him a direct path.
The 23-year-old is going to need a really good training camp.
Departures
LW Jakob Pelletier – Not issued qualifying offer, signed with Tampa Bay
Pelletier was on the list of the Flyers' restricted free agents, but was never given a qualifying offer, which let him go straight to unrestricted free agency.
The 24-year-old winger signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning for three years soon after, at only $775,000 per.
Pelletier was part of the return from Calgary in the Morgan Frost-Joel Farabee trade from January, and figured to be an affordable young-ish player to lend time to see where he fits…
But the Flyers just didn't do that.
Odd at first, maybe, but then you look at wing prospects who are knocking on the NHL door – and are clearer long-term fits – like Alex Bump, Nikita Grebenkin, Denver Barkey, and maybe even Porter Martone, and it becomes easier to see why the Flyers might've felt OK with moving on.
They're going to need the room to open up somewhere.
SIGN UP HERE to receive the PhillyVoice Sports newsletter
Follow Nick on Twitter: @itssnick
Follow Nick on Bluesky: @itssnick
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports