Flyers Should Buy Out Cam Atkinson in 2024 Offseason

It’s never an easy decision to buy out an NHL player, especially one as involved in his community as Cam Atkinson. Unfortunately, that might be the choice the Philadelphia Flyers have to make as they approach the offseason.

Related: Cam Atkinson’s Community Work Deserves More National Attention

Since his return from injury – after missing the entire 2022-23 season – Atkinson has noticeably lost a step. The 34-year-old winger is under contract through the 2024-25 season at a $5.875 million cap hit. A buyout would cost $2.36 million against the cap in 2024-25 and $1.76 million the following season, so the Flyers would be saving some money. Considering his trajectory and the direction the team is headed, management could give him another shot elsewhere by buying out the last season of his deal.

Flyers Are Worse With Atkinson on the Ice

The biggest reason it makes sense to buy out Atkinson’s contract is that the Flyers are a better team without him on the ice, proven by his worst-among-forwards expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60) of 3.01 at even strength, coupled with an expected goals percentage (xGF%) of just 48.1 percent. That’s not great, but it goes deeper than that.

Atkinson’s predominant linemates are Owen Tippett, Joel Farabee, and Morgan Frost, and things get better when he’s not by their side. In 278 minutes at even strength with Tippett, they share a 46.3 percent xGF% versus a much better rate of 51.0 percent when Tippett is by himself. Farabee is a similar story, with a 47.3 percent xGF% in 247 minutes together versus a 51.4 percent rate when the two are separated. As for Frost, it’s an even more stunning difference — in 265 minutes of ice time, their xGF% is 47.9 percent together, while Frost apart from the veteran sits at an impressive 57.6 percent rate.

Atkinson doesn’t pair well with the Flyers’ top-six forwards, so a simple solution would be to play him in the bottom-six – so he can at least play. The issue with that is the Flyers’ third line of Noah Cates, Ryan Poehling, and Garnet Hathaway was formed in early February and has arguably been the team’s best line since. The fourth line has been fairly competitive this season, with players like Bobby Brink, Denis Gurianov, Olle Lycksell, Nicolas Deslauriers, and even more recently captain Sean Couturier thanks to a little wiggle room in the top-nine.

So, unfortunately, that leaves Atkinson on the…