The rebuilding Philadelphia Flyers have the highest cap hit of any NHL team entering the 2024-25 season via CapFriendly, but that should come with a major asterisk. They can make moves—some easier than others—to gain some financial freedom in the offseason and better their future. How exactly can they do that, and what can they theoretically do with this excess cap space?
LTIR Can Save the Flyers Money
While the Flyers technically have an $87.2 million cap hit (99.4 percent of the league-maximum $87.7 million ceiling), long-term injured reserve (LTIR) will be their friend. Putting players on LTIR can inflict overage charges the following season that can take away cap space, but they are typically pretty minimal. Using this method, the Flyers can save a sizeable amount of cap space for 2024-25 and allow themselves to make some moves.
Carrying a $6.25 million cap hit, Ryan Ellis is essentially retired at this point. He hasn’t played a hockey game since Nov. 13, 2021, and has shown no indication that he intends to return. With three years still left on his contract, he won’t be off the books for quite a while. Placing him on LTIR would give the Flyers $6.8 million to spend.
As well, Ryan Johansen—acquired at the trade deadline—has a somewhat similar situation. With a $4 million cap hit and on the last season of his deal, he is going through some injury trouble and might not be able to play a single game with the Flyers. During his end-of-season press conference, general manager (GM) Danny Briere said that he really had no idea of whether or not the 31-year-old center would be ready to play in 2024-25.
If worst comes to worst, Johansen’s cap hit can be buried in the American Hockey League (AHL) and leave the Flyers with $7.9 million in savings. If his injury doesn’t allow him to play, the most likely scenario is that he is put on LTIR. If that does end up being the case, it would give the Flyers $10.8 million to spend.
Potential Flyer Buyouts & Trades
On top of the $10.8 million the Flyers can free, they can also make a few moves to get even more money to spend. A Cam Atkinson buyout seems like the most logical thing to do at this stage, given he had a pretty awful season with the Orange and Black in 2023-24 and he is 34 years of age. This would give Philadelphia $14.3 million in cap space with 11 forwards, five defensemen, and two goaltenders on the likely opening roster under contract, putting them in a solid spot.
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