Free agency has opened up in the NHL today and the Philadelphia Flyers are one of the teams not expected to be all that busy, but they are bringing back the guy they acquired at last season’s trade deadline.
No, there will be no Flyers involvement in the Steven Stamkos sweepstakes, or getting involved in some mid-tier players that will most likely be overpaid in a couple years — the Flyers are just holding steady and probably, at the most, trading away a roster member or two and signing Travis Konecny to a long-term extension. Well, they are doing that and also reportedly bringing back defenseman Erik Johnson on a one-year deal.
UPDATE:
No official announcement from the Flyers yet, but this is as airtight of a source as one could get.
The 36-year-old blueliner was acquired by the Flyers at the last trade deadline as a pending unrestricted free agent for a 2024 fourth-round pick. And instead of letting him go free and be the experienced, hard-nosed defenseman somewhere else, general manager Danny Briere is deciding to keep him around as an insurance option.
In 17 games for the Flyers last season, Johnson scored two goals and three points while averaging 16:26 time-on-ice.
The Flyers’ blue line is all but locked up right now. Cam York and Travis Sanheim will be leading the bunch. Jamie Drysdale is here to have probably the most important year of his career and we are all hoping he stays healthy and doesn’t flame out. Nick Seeler is going to be just a rock-solid option on the second or third pair. Rasmus Ristolainen will be rearing up the middle and most likely playing to get attention and traded somewhere else. And finally, a collection of Egor Zamula, Emil Andrae, and Adam Ginning, are your left-handed younger guys who are all battling for that final spot beneath York and Seeler on that side.
With Johnson now added as the seventh and pure depth option, that feels like there will be no more additions to this blue line, unless something unforeseen happens.
The Flyers clearly want the insurance. They saw last year what happens when one or two or three of your regular defensemen are injured and you are left with a whole lot of dudes just not fully knowing the system or good enough to be here. That’s why they acquired Johnson in the first place, as the team was battling for a playoff spot and to be some low-cost security.
Thankfully, the Flyers are extremely willing to sit their veterans. Marc Staal — who they signed for this same purpose last year — played just 35 games and only a handful of times was head coach John Tortorella putting him in the lineup over a younger player like Zamula. We all know they want the young guys to play, so this Johnson signing isn’t blocking anyone from taking a job. More than anything, it’s making sure that the young defensemen aren’t sitting in the press box wasting away. That’s a perfect role.
All Johnson needs to do is not completely fall apart as he heads into his 17th NHL season.
