The Flyers’ pre-Fourth of July fireworks have officially become a dud.
On July 3, the team set off a bombshell when it tendered an offer sheet to Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson. It came with a five-year contract worth an average annual value of $18 million. According to a league source, the deal was front-loaded with a heavy signing bonus — and signing bonuses every year of the deal. Carlsson would receive the league minimum in base salary every year, a deal Carlsson said was “too good to pass on.”
“It was an offer that 99% of people would sign too,” Carlsson told reporters on Thursday. “It’s a pretty simple answer. I really wanted to be here though. I really wanted them to match. I want to be an Anaheim Duck.”
That contract is now under control of the Anaheim Ducks, who matched the offer sheet on Thursday, a day before the 3 p.m. Friday deadline. The Ducks cannot trade Carlsson, who now has the highest AAV in the NHL, for one year.
“Did we expect the offer sheet to be this high? No. We did not see that one coming,” Verbeek told reporters on Thursday. “But we’re very confident, with the cap going up and the ability of Leo to make strides of improvement and become an elite player, we feel confident this contract will be a good one in the end.”
Did they leave enough cap space? The Ducks do have to re-sign restricted free agent Cutter Gauthier. But that is Anaheim’s problem now.
Carlsson was the type of top-line center the Flyers have been longing for since Claude Giroux was traded to the Florida Panthers in March 2022. Giroux, who was rumored to be interested in a return to the Flyers, inked a one-year deal to stay with the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
The offer sheet was always a long shot, but for a Flyers team that hopes its days at the bottom of the standings are done, it was one of scarce options. Since 2010, only nine players have signed an offer sheet, and six were matched. Top-six centers Sebastian Aho and Ryan O’Reilly, and now Carlsson, are among the group to be retained by their original team. The Flyers now have to pivot elsewhere to find a potential top-line center solution this offseason.
Could the Flyers take a swing at Columbus Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli?
Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported that Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli, the No. 3 overall pick in 2023, could be the Flyers’ next target. Since Columbus is in the division, he would be difficult to pry away via trade, but could be amenable to an offer sheet. Fantilli was not eligible for arbitration.
Fantilli set career highs with 35 assists and 59 points in 2025-26. Across his 213 career games, Fantilli has 140 points (67 goals, 73 assists) but he hasn’t yet lived up to the high expectations of his record NCAA freshman season at Michigan, when he became just the third freshman to win the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s top player, after Jack Eichel and Paul Kariya. That might make him easier to pry away, but the team runs the risk of giving up four first round picks for a middle-six player.
The Flyers are unlikely to make an attempt at the Chicago Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard, who is out for at least four months after undergoing shoulder surgery. The Blackhawks have nearly $30 million in cap space, per PuckPedia, and almost certainly would match any offer, assuming Bedard signed it.
Had the Ducks not matched the Carlsson offer sheet, the Flyers would have sent their next four first-round picks to Anaheim in return.
According to PuckPedia, the Flyers have a smidge over $29.5 million in cap space; however, that number includes center Jett Luchanko‘s contract ($941,667), and Flyers general manager Danny Brière told The Inquirer in early June that the expectation is he will be in Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. They still need to re-sign restricted free agents Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, who filed for arbitration on Sunday.
After he had been around the world — well, Florida and Ottawa — it sounded like there was only one place left Claude Giroux wanted to go: back to Philadelphia.
But after 1,571 days away and several false reports, the former Flyers captain is not returning to the City of Brotherly Love. He has signed a one-year contract to stay with the Ottawa Senators. According to the team, the deal carries a base salary of $2 million with bonuses that could reach a maximum value of $5 million.
It really never gets old saying Claude Giroux is an Ottawa Senator 🫡
“I chose to come back because I want to be here. I’m excited to be an Ottawa Senator,” Giroux said in a news release. “Being around those guys for four years, we got really close. This team feels like a family. I just care for those players.”
Giroux has been with Ottawa for four seasons after signing with the team in July 2022. Following the trade of captain Brady Tkachuk, it makes sense that the Senators kept the 38-year-old veteran to stabilize things.
The announcement comes days after some misinformation online. Were the Flyers out on Giroux, like some reports said on Friday? That was inaccurate, a team source confirmed to The Inquirer.
Was he signing with the Flyers, as other reports said on Friday? Also no, clearly.
Claude Giroux wore the ‘C’ for the Flyers for 1,000 games.
As reported on X (formerly Twitter) by The Inquirer, the word of Giroux’s imminent return was premature, as the Flyers’ attention was on the announcement that they had tendered an offer sheet to Leo Carlsson on Friday afternoon. That seemingly put everything on hold.
In the end, Giroux opted to stay in Ontario.
“Claude took his time to evaluate his options, and his decision to re-sign with us shows his belief and commitment to our group,” Ottawa general manager Steve Staios said. “He is the consummate professional and brings veteran experience to our core on and off the ice.”
Although it would have been a welcome return for many fans, without a reunion, Giroux stays on the nice, round numbers of 900 points in 1,000 games with Philly. He is one of only two players, the other being Bobby Clarke, to play at least 1,000 games for the Orange and Black. Current Flyers captain Sean Couturier is 48 games away from joining them.
This past season, Giroux had 14 goals and 49 points, including a power-play goal and 13 power-play points in 82 games. The expectation was that he could help a power play that, including his last season in Philly (2021-22), has been the NHL’s worst (14.1%). Across his first 14 seasons with the Flyers, the power play was ranked the fifth-best (20.3%).
In March 2022, Giroux was traded to the Florida Panthers in a multiplayer swap. The Flyers acquired forward Owen Tippett, a 2023 third-round pick that became Denver Barkey, and a conditional first-round pick that was swapped with the Edmonton Oilers and then packaged to move up to get Jack Nesbitt in 2025.
No one locally wanted to see Giroux depart. But it was time.
One of the worst teams in the NHL, and a team that had not made the playoffs since the COVID-19 bubble of 2020, the Flyers had to change course.
Claude Giroux was dealt to the Panthers in 2022, and was given a chance to win at a higher level than he could in Philly at the time.
Giroux went to chase a Stanley Cup with the Panthers, which had 41 more points in the standings thanks to 23 more wins. They won the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top club but were ultimately swept in the second round by the two-time defending Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Florida would make the next three Finals, winning the last two, but Giroux was already back home in Ontario.
The deal worked out for both sides. Giroux got a chance to win, and the Flyers picked up some valuable pieces. Nesbitt, a center, is heading to University of Michigan in the fall; Barkey has become a spark plug with an unstoppable motor; and Tippett is the speedy winger the Flyers need to keep defenses on their heels.
A little more than a year after the trade, Chuck Fletcher was out as general manager, and Danny Brière was in. Many thought a Giroux deal would get done this summer since Giroux and Brière were teammates for several seasons, and Giroux had lived with Brière and his three sons during the 2010-11 season.
The remaining players from Giroux’s tenure are forwards Couturier, Travis Konecny and Noah Cates, and defensemen Travis Sanheim, Rasmus Ristolainen, Nick Seeler, and Cam York.
Noel Acciari has gotten a few text messages and calls since July 1.
They came from friends, family, and a few other people, all saying the same thing: “You fit the Flyer mold.”
That was why the Flyers targeted the unrestricted free agent who checked a lot of boxes, including “experience, playoff experience, the hardness, the fourth-line role, face-offs, the leadership,” according to general manager Danny Brière.
The veteran forward inked a two-year deal that carries a $2.8 million average annual value. Acciari, 34, is now heading east on I-76 after spending three seasons in Pittsburgh.
“Choosing Philly was an easy decision,” he said during a Zoom news conference on Tuesday. “Seeing how their momentum was after the break, and it’s a young team, to be able to do what they did was pretty special to watch and play against, and I just wanted to be a part of that.”
The Flyers’ Trevor Zegras and then-Penguins forward Noel Acciari tangle during a game on Oct. 28, 2025.
The forward was on the Penguins team that lost in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Flyers. Brière noted that it was difficult for the Flyers to play against Acciari, who brings a physical, defensive game with high-end prowess on the penalty kill, similar to what Garnet Hathaway did for three seasons before he was traded to the Florida Panthers right before the draft.
Acciari is a natural center who has played a lot of wing, including in Pittsburgh. He combined with Connor Dewar and Blake Lizotte to make up one of the league’s top fourth lines. This past season, he had 13 goals, 25 points, won 52% of his faceoffs, and had an impressive plus-14 rating in 67 games.
He posted one assist in the six playoff games against Philly — Brière said it was because of the Flyers’ stingy defense — but dominated in the face-off circle, winning 61% of his draws.
His prowess in the dot will help bolster a team that has not re-signed Luke Glendening, who won 57.2% of his faceoffs with the Flyers. Glendening, a late-season addition, was the team’s only right-handed centerman, and now Acciari holds that title. Across all 82 games last season, the Flyers collectively won only 49.5% of faceoffs; they improved against the Penguins in the playoffs but were worse against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
“If it’s not on a score sheet, I want to help out the team in any way possible, whether it’s blocking a shot, winning a faceoff, or throwing a big hit,” said Acciari. “All the little things that helped me throughout my career, and I’d love to bring [them] on over to Philly.”
Noel Acciari (right) had 13 goals, 25 points, and an impressive plus-14 rating in 67 games last season for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
A veteran of 585 career games with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Penguins, Acciari has amassed 81 goals and 144 points. One of the biggest draws for him was the Flyers’ locker room. He says he saw how tight the team is, the excitement they had, and how much fun they were having, and he wanted to be a part of it.
He also knows a few Flyers. He played with Owen Tippett in Florida and Joseph Woll in Toronto and overlapped with Dan Vladař in the Boston organization. He also worked with Flyers assistant coach Todd Reirden in Pittsburgh.
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) July 7, 2026
There’s also his interaction during the regular season with Trevor Zegras. The two were part of a melee that saw both players tossed after Acciari wasn’t too happy with the Flyers forward for knocking off his helmet. So while Acciari has spoken to the guys he knows, has he chatted yet with Zegras?
“I have not talked to Trevor yet, but I bet that will come soon enough,” he said after grinning when Zegras’ name was brought up. “But, you know, it’s all water under the bridge. Have a good laugh at it now. He does what he needs to do on the ice to get under guys’ skin, and he does a good job, and he’s effective at it.”
He’s excited to now be on the same side as Zegras — and Philadelphia’s fans.
“Just being a part of that Pennsylvania rivalry, I got to experience it on the other side, which was a lot of fun,” he said. “And just seeing how passionate the fans are, which is unbelievable, and to be able to experience it with their cheering for you this time. I’m so excited for, and I’m glad to have them on my side now because they are very passionate, and they’re all up in your face.
“It’s fun to play against, but at the same time, I’m happy I get to play on the same side.”
It’s a little past 3 p.m. on the Friday before the Fourth of July. The Flyers’ development camp had wrapped up a few hours ago, and all that seemed to be on the agenda were new contracts for their four restricted free agents, including Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale.
Then the notifications went off. The text messages. The emails.
Six words sent the hockey world afire: “We have tendered an offer sheet.”
What is the offer sheet the Flyers tendered to Carlsson?
An offer sheet is tendered to a player on another team who is a restricted free agent and who was provided a qualifying offer. In this case, the Ducks, who own Carlsson’s rights, had until July 1, the start of free agency, to negotiate an exclusive contract without worry of an offer sheet.
The Flyers’ offer is a five-year contract worth an average annual value of $18 million. According to a league source, it is front-loaded with a heavy signing bonus — and signing bonuses every ensuing year of the deal. Carlsson would receive the league minimum in base salary every year.
According to PuckPedia, the final year has a no-movement clause.
Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek must consider the team’s next move on Leo Carlsson.
The announcement means that Carlsson, 21, has accepted the offer. It would make him the highest-paid player in AAV in the NHL and would walk him directly to unrestricted free agency.
It all comes just two days after Flyers general manager Danny Brière made some interesting comments on the first day of free agency, like stating that if the organization has an opportunity to make the roster better, “we’ll jump on it,” and “There’s a chance, and a good chance, that we take a little bit of a step back this year.”
Was that a tell with the first part and a sleight of hand on the second as the Flyers try to get the first-line center they’ve been craving for years?
According to the collective bargaining agreement, the Ducks have seven days to match the offer, which means they have until 3 p.m. Friday.
If they match, the Ducks must meet the structure of the contract and pay Carlsson the signing bonuses — something Anaheim rarely doles out — along with taking on the $18 million salary cap hit.
It could come down to the final day, and it should be noted that the Utah Mammoth are weighing a similar decision after the New Jersey Devils tendered an offer sheet to Barrett Hayton. That offer sheet is for one year, $4.775 million, and Utah must decide by Wednesday.
The interesting part is that Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman reported on Thursday that he had heard “over the past few hours Anaheim guaranteed it will match any attempt on Leo Carlsson.” The clock is ticking.
The two teams could still work out a side trade for Carlsson to preempt Anaheim’s decision to match, but if the Ducks match, they would be unable to trade him for one year.
What compensation would the Ducks receive from the Flyers?
If the Ducks do not match the offer sheet, they will receive four first-round picks in the next four drafts from the Flyers. The compensation is based on the amount of the offer, and because it is over $11,939,166.
Since Philly has all its own picks moving forward — it is not permitted to use the first-rounder it is receiving from the Toronto Maple Leafs as compensation here — the Ducks would receive the Flyers’ first-round picks in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030. Had the Flyers already traded one of their picks in the next four drafts, they would have been required to provide the 2031 first-rounder for the missing year.
The Flyers are one of 28 teams that still have four picks in the next five years to tender an offer sheet. Having just made the postseason for the first time since 2020, the hope is that the four picks the Flyers would give to Anaheim would be in the 20s or worse, and not a lottery pick. The Flyers’ expectation is that it would not be a player as highly valued as Carlsson, who is a first-line center.
Leo Carlsson’s offer sheet brings about potential roster construction complications for the Ducks and Flyers.
How does the Carlsson offer sheet impact the Flyers and Ducks?
If the Ducks match
According to PuckPedia, the Flyers would have a smidge over $29.5 million in cap space; however, that number includes center Jett Luchanko‘s contract ($941,667), and Brière told The Inquirer in early June that the expectation is he will be in Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. They do have to re-sign restricted free agents Drysdale, Zegras, Nikita Grebenkin, and Hunter McDonald, who is expected to be in the minors.
The Ducks would then be the ones saddled with an $18 million AAV. The problem? As of Monday night, they have just under $10 million in cap space after signing Pavel Mintyukov to a five-year deal with an AAV of $7.2 million. They still have to sign restricted free agent forward and ex-Flyers draft pick Cutter Gauthier, who scored 41 goals this past season, and defenseman Tyson Hinds. Anaheim could try to move out some players like Chris Kreider, Frank Vatrano, and Alex Killorn; however, they all have modified no-trade clauses, so trade partners are limited. Troy Terry could also be placed on long-term injured reserve, but that would impact the Ducks’ salary cap at the deadline and next season.
Fitting Leo Carlsson’s salary into the roster could mean trade talks for Rasmus Ristolainen escalate.
If the Ducks do not match
The Flyers would be the ones saddled with an $18 million AAV and would have a little over $12.5 million in cap space — with Luchanko being sent down — to sign Zegras and Drysdale to NHL contracts. Grebenkin could land in the minors to start, along with McDonald, so those contracts would not impact the cap space. Zegras and Drysdale’s new deals are expected to combine for in the neighborhood of $15 million, so if the Flyers do land Carlsson, they would likely have to move out a contract or two. Does Rasmus Ristolainen finally get moved, or does a forward get moved to help stabilize things up front?
The Ducks would probably still have to move out a contract to sign Gauthier, who will likely ask for more than $10 million.
What would Carlsson bring to the Flyers?
Although some would argue the amount is an overpayment, Carlsson is a 6-foot-3, 208-pound dynamic center coming off a breakout season in which he had 29 goals and 67 points in 70 games. He missed time after sustaining a Morel-Lavallée lesion in his left thigh in mid-January but returned after the Olympic break and scored 11 goals and 23 points in 26 games. According to Physiopedia, a Morel-Lavallée lesion is “due to shearing forces which separate the skin and subcutaneous tissue from the deep fascia.”
The 21-year-old ex-teammate of Zegras and Drysdale has size, speed, playmaking ability, and a lethal shot. Selected second overall in the 2023 NHL draft, Carlsson had four goals and 11 points in 12 playoff games last season, his first postseason experience. Across 201 career games, he has 141 points (61 goals and 80 assists) with a 14.7 shooting percentage, and he should be able to help the Flyers’ dismal power play after scoring four goals and 18 points last season with the man advantage. He would have tied Matvei Michkov for second in power-play goals, and the 18 points would have been the second-most on the Flyers behind Zegras.
Carlsson is a No. 1 center with tremendous upside given his young age. The Flyers have needed a top-line pivot since trading Claude Giroux, who, despite some rumblings of a reunion, appears to be staying in Ottawa with the Senators. Carlsson would fit in quite nicely with right winger Porter Martone on the top line, and then, more than likely, speedster Owen Tippett on the left.
Did Carlsson’s offer sheet impact Zegras’ and Drysdale’s negotiations?
The long and short of it all is … kinda.
Obviously, Zegras and Drysdale have not signed their new contracts yet, and it feels like everything is on hold until the decision about Carlsson is made. As mentioned, they are expected to combine for a figure in the neighborhood of $15 million, and there is still the question of whether Zegras will be paid like a winger or a center; typically, centers get paid more.
Hearings are scheduled to run from July 20 to Aug. 1, and until they begin, the team and player can still negotiate a deal. If it does go to the arbitrator, they can award only a one- or two-year contract. Because it was a player’s choice, the Flyers will select the term length, and if Philly selects a two-year contract, the player will walk to unrestricted free agency. If it is for one year, the player would be a restricted free agent next summer.
Could Adam Fantilli be a Plan B for the Flyers?
What is Plan B if the Ducks match?
Finding a true No. 1 center has long been the Flyers’ goal, so what happens if they do not get Carlsson? According to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, there have been rumblings that the Flyers could pivot to Adam Fantilli of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Fantilli, 21, is a restricted free agent center, so they could try either another offer sheet or a trade. The Canadian center just registered career highs in assists (35), points (59), power-play goals (four), power-play points (13), average time on ice (18 minutes, 54 seconds), and face-off winning percentage (49.8%). Across his 213 career games, Fantilli has 140 points (67 goals, 73 assists).
As the Flyers await word on whether the Anaheim Ducks will match the offer sheet they tendered to center Leo Carlsson, two of the organization’s four restricted free agents filed for salary arbitration.
On Sunday, Jamie Drysdale and forward Trevor Zegras opted for salary arbitration and, therefore, cannot be tendered an offer sheet by another NHL team.
The hearings are scheduled between July 20 and Aug. 1, and the team and player can still negotiate a deal until the hearing begins. If it does go to the arbitrator, they can only award a one- or two-year contract. Because it was a player’s choice, the Flyers will select the term length. If the Flyers select a two-year contract, the player would walk to unrestricted free agency, but if it is for one year, the player would be a restricted free agent next summer.
Zegras said he felt like he “had lost a little bit of that drive and passion to win” in Anaheim and felt rejuvenated this past year. He did have a career year, notching highs in goals (26), points (67), power-play goals (10), and power-play points (23) across 81 games. The New York native spent time on the wing and at center this season. How he is viewed, whether as a winger or a center by either side, impacts contract negotiations because, typically, centers are paid more.
Flyers center Trevor Zegras scored 26 goals during the 2025-26 season.
At his end-of-season availability, Drysdale said the biggest step he took this year was “just coming to the rink and believing that I was a good player and could make an impact.” The blueliner played in 78 games, his highest total since he played 81 in 2021-22, had a career-high in goals (eight), and tied his career-high in points (32).
Both got their first taste of the postseason, with Drysdale scoring two goals and four points, and Zegras adding four goals and six points in 10 games apiece.
Defenseman Hunter McDonald is a restricted free agent and did not elect salary arbitration by the 5 p.m. deadline. Forward Nikita Grebenkin, the final RFA for the Flyers, was not eligible.
Zegras and Drysdale are two of 15 players to elect salary arbitration. The others are forwards Xavier Bourgault (Ottawa Senators), Kirby Dach (Montreal Canadiens), Alex Jefferies (New York Islanders), Peyton Krebs (Buffalo Sabres), Connor McMichael (St. Louis Blues), Cole Perfetti (Winnipeg Jets), Jason Robertson (Dallas Stars), Nick Robertson (Pittsburgh Penguins), and Cole Sillinger (Columbus Blue Jackets); goalies Jet Greaves (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Akira Schmid (Florida Panthers); and defensemen Braden Schneider (New York Rangers) and Ronan Seeley (Carolina Hurricanes).
The AAV on the Flyers’ offer would make Leo Carlsson the highest-paid player in the NHL.
On Friday, the Flyers sent shockwaves through the hockey world by tendering a five-year offer sheet with an average annual value of $18 million to Carlsson, which would make him the highest-paid player in terms of AAV in the NHL.
According to a league source, it is front-loaded with heavy signing bonuses.
GM Pat Verbeek and the Ducks have seven days to match the offer. If they don’t, according to the team’s press release, the Flyers would have to transfer their own first-round draft pick in each of the next four seasons as compensation. However, according to PuckPedia, it is four in the next five years.
They, along with a throng of fans, were entertained by a competitive three-on-three tournament. The squad led by Denver Barkey, who notched two goals in quick succession late in the game to snag the win from Jack Nesbitt and his crew, celebrated by lifting the trophy and banging the glass as they skated by the faithful.
Maksim Sokolovskii showed off some good hands during development camp, including his goal in the three-on-three tournament.
The tournament came less than 24 hours after a five-on-five scrimmage in which players also worked on power play for 10 minutes. Defenseman Luke Vlooswyk, who has five goals in 139 regular-season games in the Western Hockey League, scored the only power-play tally.
Team Brière defeated Team Jones, 4-3, in the scrimmage, after a 16-round shootout in which the very last skater, camp invitee Matthew Desiderio, scored and his team poured onto the ice.
Here’s what else we saw at Flyers development camp:
Orange, white, and boom
There were a lot of confused faces and comments after the Flyers drafted 6-foot-7, 238-pound defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii with the 27th pick in June’s draft. But when he stepped onto the ice in Voorhees, it was easy to see why assistant general manager Brent Flahr called him “a unicorn.”
Although he still is raw and needs to pump up the offense, the big man can skate. And the size is intimidating.
“Yeah, it’s terrible. He mauled me in practice,” defenseman Oliver Bonk, who is 6-2, said with a big grin.
“We were doing little keep-away drills, and I wasn’t ready for it. The first one, I just came up and, like, ‘OK, whatever, this is like a warm-up drill.’ And I go, and he just mauls me. He takes the puck away and … for like 1:30, I’m trying to chase this guy around, arms out.
“I got ready, and the next one, I kind of — I got back at him a little bit — protected the puck a little bit better. But, yeah, he’s going to be a really good player.”
The first 2½ days of on-ice activity at camp focused on power skating and skills. Director of player development Riley Armstrong and Flyers skating instructor Lindsay Tilley noticed Sokolovskii was turning his upper body too much during the skating-only drills.
“When your hips and your shoulders don’t stay in a square, it throws you all off balance,” Armstrong said.
But when they were working with pucks, the Kazakhstan-born, Russia-raised defenseman executed puck retrievals with some deception while keeping his feet moving. Although he had been off the ice for two weeks, there was a smoothness to his skating.
As the games went on in the scrimmage and tournament, he got more confident, especially offensively and with his skating. He used his footwork to get out of trouble and was so vocal on the ice that he could be heard on the perches for media. English is not his first language, but as his junior coach, Rick Steadman, told The Inquirer, as he got more comfortable with the language, his on-ice game ramped up.
Sokolovskii cut off 6-5 center Nesbitt along the end boards and crushed 2025 second-rounder Jack Murtagh, too. The blueliner cut off zone entries at five-on-five and showed craftiness with the puck across the ice. He scored in the three-on-three tournament — and chirped the opposition bench on the way past — and when he had a chance in the shootout on Thursday, there was a big “Awww” when he was stopped.
And the kid who turns 18 on July 12 was doing it all using someone else’s stick with a different blade pattern. It makes his camp even more impressive.
“He’s actually confident,” Flahr said Friday. “We tell him, ‘Just play your game, just go,’ and I think you watch him in drills, and some of the things he can do for a player that size, at his age, are impressive. … His physical tools are immense, and, for us, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
Sometimes an afterthought when names like Barkey, Alex Bump, Porter Martone, and Nesbitt are mentioned, Cole Knuble, 22, put himself at the forefront this past week. The forward whom Flahr has called “one of my favorites” in the pipeline stood out for his aggressiveness, high hockey IQ, and vision, notably when he set up Bump for the game-tying goal for Team Jones.
“I can remember three years ago, right away, [he] had excellent hockey sense and has certainly rounded out his game over the years, and looks like he’s improved every time we get eyes on him,” said Patrick Sharp, a special adviser in hockey operations who works in development.
Knuble, who signed his entry-level contract and joined Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League after his junior season at Notre Dame, skated in seven games with the Phantoms, which included time at center.
He played down the middle during the five-on-five scrimmage and showed off his ability to be a gnat on the ice. He was everywhere, showing the improvement in his skating, and was a player the Flyers have said has a good motor.
“Growing up, I kind of realized, like, that’s the way I’m going to be able to make it, a guy that’s going to go [in] every battle,” Knuble said Monday. “I think, growing up, the emphasis was not goals or assists; it was always, ‘Did you win your 50-50s, and did you stick your nose in there?’”
That emphasis came from his dad, ex-NHLer Mike Knuble, who played five seasons with the Flyers: “He used to say, ‘If you have 12 eggs in your pockets, they should all be broken.’”
Forward Cole Knuble is the son of former Flyer Mike Knuble.
Let freedom ring
Carter Amico, 19, was held off the ice at last year’s development camp as he continued his recovery from a fractured patella that required two surgeries.
He said he still feels some of the aftereffects at times, but nothing concerning, and after splitting this past season between Boston University and Muskegon of the United States Hockey League — he’ll be returning to BU in the fall alongside Murtagh — he came to camp healthy and showed why the 2025 second-rounder is a top prospect for the Flyers.
“From a year ago to now, he’s just come a million miles. I thought it was a great decision, going back to [the USHL and to] Muskegon, with all the time lost, and they were great with him,” Flahr said of Amico, who also previously played for the U.S. National Team Development Program. “They played him a ton. He played in a lot of offensive situations, and they really freed him up. You can see the confidence, the size, the skating is all coming. To me, he’s got a tremendous upside.”
Carter Amico (58) skates during the Flyers Development Camp at the Flyers Training Center on Friday, July 3, 2026, in Philadelphia.
Watching his smooth skating this week, you wouldn’t know that he missed almost the entire 2024-25 season.
He used his body and size to attack offenses and get away from defenders, noting he worked last week with Sam Morin, an ex-Flyers defenseman who now is working in player development. Morin, who stands 6-6, an inch taller than Amico, dealt with severe knee injuries that ended his career. They focused on “accepting the contact instead of going away, talking about driving your legs into the guy, and separating and creating space,” Amico said.
Bonk, 21, to push for a job come September. The blueliner looked like a seasoned pro in the games against the prospects, which is why Flahr said, “I think he’ll challenge at camp.”
Brek Liske, 18, taken in the second round by the Flyers, showed why he is a versatile, all-around defenseman who needs to continue to work on his game. He can skate well — he made a nice spin move in the offensive zone — and play with confidence and smarts in his own end, with a nice poke check on Murtagh. But he did get fooled pretty well by Bonk as he put on the breaks at the half-wall in the full-ice scrimmage. “I think his strengths are his puck game, obviously the way he sees it. He’s mobile, he’s very confident, has swagger,” Flahr said. “… In order to handle box-outs and things down low and around the net, he’s going to have to get stronger, which he’s well aware of. He’s a hockey player, though, loves to play the game. He’s got some swagger.”
Flyers have liked Brek Liske’s poise and skating ability. He showed some of it here with a spin and shot.
Last year, Noah Powell, 21, was all about the boom. After getting some time with the Phantoms following the end of his season with Arizona State, he brought a well-rounded game to development camp. Powell, played confidently, showing off spin moves and smart passing, and was quick on the puck and with his release. “I think I want to really show more of my offensive side,” said Powell, mentioning he worked with assistant coach Terrence Wallin and Sharp on his shot. “I feel like I kind of got a good bearing in the physicality, the hitting, and the gritty side. … Something the coaches and I have talked about is being a little more calm. Sometimes, it’s hard to turn that switch off; you go from trying to hit guys to then try to make skill plays.”
The two Czech goalies — and childhood friends — selected in the 2026 draft, Marek Sklenička, 17, and Martin Psohlavec, 18, played well, with Psohlavec putting on a show in the five-on-five scrimmage. He had a rare shutout, showing off his ability to square up to shooters, read plays, and flash the leather. He was injured during the three-on-three tourney but mentioned that he was excited to be drafted by Philly because of the culture and, as someone who loves basketball, the 76ers.
It is the dawn of a new era in the NHL, and the Flyers are officially among the trailblazers.
A few short hours after watching the next generation wrap up development camp with a spirited and competitive three-on-three tournament, Danny Brière and the Flyers announced they are major players for today’s stars with the signing of budding star Leo Carlsson to an offer sheet.
The offer is a five-year contract worth an average annual value of $18 million. According to a league source, it is front-loaded with a heavy signing bonus. It would make Carlsson the highest-paid player in terms of AAV in the NHL and would walk him directly to unrestricted free agency.
Pat Verbeek and the Anaheim Ducks have seven days to match the offer. If they don’t, according to the team’s press release, the Flyers would have to transfer their own first-round draft pick in each of the next four seasons as compensation. However, according to PuckPedia, it is four in the next five years.
The yearly signing bonus payments in Leo Carlsson's offer sheet: $19.95M, $18.1M, $17.05M, $15.2M and $15M.
Carlsson, a restricted free agent, is coming off his entry-level contract, and the two teams could also elect to work out a trade for the Swedish center ahead of Anaheim’s deadline. It should be noted that if the Ducks match the contract, they cannot trade Carlsson for one year.
Carlsson, 21, is a 6-foot-3, 208-pound center and is coming off a breakout season. There is the critique that the deal is an overpayment, but he is exactly the type of young No. 1 center the Flyers have been craving for years. Ironically, the last 1C was Claude Giroux, who is in talks with the Flyers, although it sounds like that potential reunion is contingent on what happens with Carlsson.
Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson (91) is widely considered one of the top young players in the NHL.
The Swede has size, speed, playmaking ability, and a lethal shot. Selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NHL draft, Carlsson had 29 goals, 38 assists, and 67 points in 70 games this past season, despite missing time from mid-January to the Olympic break with a Morel-Lavallée lesion in his left thigh. According to Physiopedia, this is “due to shearing forces which separate the skin and subcutaneous tissue from the deep fascia.”
Four of his goals and 18 of his points last season came on the power play. He added another four goals and 11 points in 12 playoff games, his first postseason experience. Across 201 career games, he has 141 points (61 goals and 80 assists) with a 14.7 shooting percentage, while he has won 41% of the career faceoffs he has taken — although it was 34.8% his first year.
Carlsson is a former teammate of Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale — both of whom are restricted free agents and due new contracts. Zegras and Drysdale’s new deals are expected to account for something in the neighborhood of $15 million combined.
According to PuckPedia, the Flyers have a smidge over $29 million in cap space before Carlsson’s proposed deal. If Anaheim does not match, that leaves $11 million in cap space for the Flyers — technically, because the PuckPedia numbers have Nolan Foote ($850,000), Jett Luchanko ($941,667), Carl Grundström ($1 million), and Oliver Bonk ($909,166) in the NHL. It is also burying David Jiříček’s salary in the minors, but all signs point to Jiříček — who is no longer waiver-exempt — and his $1.5 million cap hit being in the NHL.
Adding the first four names and subtracting Jiříček and Carlsson, that leaves just over $13 million between Drysdale and Zegras, with the expectation that fellow restricted free agents Nikita Grebenkin and Hunter McDonald would also be in the minors. If Anaheim doesn’t match the offer sheet, the Flyers would likely have to move a contract or two out to accommodate Carlsson’s massive deal.
Former Flyers right wing Cam Atkinson (left) and Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson battle for the puck during a game in 2023.
The offer sheet also leaves Anaheim in a pickle, as the Ducks still have to sign restricted free agents Cutter Gauthier, Pavel Mintyukov, and Tyson Hinds. Next summer, Tim Washe is up for a new deal, and in two years, budding star Beckett Sennecke should also get a monster deal.
Brière and Verbeek have some history. They came into their GM roles roughly the same time — Brière in May 2023 and Verbeek in February 2022 — and have already made two major deals. In January 2024, Gauthier was sent to the Ducks for Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick that became Jack Murtagh. Last June, the Flyers acquired Zegras for Ryan Poehling, a 2025 second-rounder and a 2026 fourth-round pick. Because of these trades, it is a good sign that the Ducks would not be retaliatory and try to offer sheet Zegras or Drysdale.
Although this is the first offer sheet for Brière, this is not the first in Flyers history. In 2006, they tendered an offer sheet to Ryan Kesler, but the Vancouver Canucks matched. In 2012, with Paul Holmgren at the helm, defenseman Shea Weber was signed to a 14-year, $110 million offer sheet that the Nashville Predators matched. And before the salary-cap era, Chris Gratton was signed to an offer sheet in 1997, and the Tampa Bay Lightning did not match; however, two of the four first-rounders were sent back in a trade for Mikael Renberg and Karl Dykhuis.
For the second straight year, Jett Luchanko missed Flyers development camp. And now we know why.
Speaking to the media after the Flyers finished development camp with a spirited three-on-three tournament — won by the team led by Denver Barkey — assistant general manager Brent Flahr revealed that Luchanko had a procedure performed on his core about a month ago.
“It’s been lingering for about a year and a half. It’s been a problem,” Flahr said. “So he’s back. He had it done — I don’t even know the timeline — probably a month ago.
“… He’s working out lots [in the gym], and should be skating within a week, and he’ll be ready to go. It shouldn’t affect him anymore.
“He doesn’t like to make excuses, but at the same time, his speed, skill set; there’s lots there. Hopefully, a full summer to train and train properly this year will really help him build his confidence.”
The expectation is that Luchanko will be ready for training camp in September.
Flyers leadership has expressed optimism about Jett Luchanko’s role this season.
The news comes a few days after director of player development Riley Armstrong said Luchanko “had a little lower-body thing going on.” The next day, Luchanko spoke to the media and said he was feeling and progressing well without revealing the extent of the issue or that he had a procedure. He did confirm it had been lingering.
A first-round pick in the 2024 NHL draft, Luchanko has skated in eight NHL games over the past two seasons after breaking camp with the Flyers each season. He has yet to register a point in the NHL, but counting playoffs, he notched nine assists in 16 games at the end of the 2024-25 season with Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. Luchanko made his NHL playoff debut in May, playing Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
He will officially be a full-time pro this upcoming season.
“We’re excited to see him turn [fully] pro. I think that’s great. … Stability will probably be a good thing for him,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière told The Inquirer at the beginning of June.
“We expect a big summer out of him, and he’s got to get ready. The big thing with Jett is he has an elite skill in skating that is almost unmatched from anyone in the organization, other than maybe Owen Tippett. So that’s always going to have a lot of value for anybody to have a player like that.
“Now it’s our job to try to help him and round out his game to make it in the NHL. But what I would expect is probably for him to play a year in Lehigh Valley.”
Center Jack Berglund, who was drafted in the second round in 2024, also did not participate in on-ice activities at camp this week. He was held off the ice because of how much hockey he has played this year, including 40-plus professional games in Sweden, World Juniors, World Championships, and a five-game stint with the Phantoms.
Barkey played in the three-on-three tournament on the small ice at the ’67 Arena rink at the Flyers Training Center after not participating in the five-on-five scrimmage Thursday night. He wanted to play but had “a little kind of hip flexor,” per Flahr, so he was held out of the full ice scrimmage.
Goalie Martin Psohlavec, one of the Flyers’ second-round picks this past June, sustained an adductor injury during the three-on-three tournament. Flahr doesn’t expect it to be too serious but said they’ll probably keep him in Voorhees for another week. The Czech goalie performed well during the week and held the opposition scoreless during his time in net on Thursday.
Flyers add Foote
The Flyers continued to fill out their roster in Lehigh Valley on Friday, signing 25-year-old winger Nolan Foote to a one-year, two-way contract, according to a league source. Foote will earn $850,000 in the NHL and $300,000 in the minors.
If the name Foote rings a bell, it should. Nolan is the son of longtime NHL defenseman and two-time Stanley Cup champion Adam Foote. The elder Foote, who served as Vancouver’s head coach last season, previously worked as an assistant under Rick Tocchet with the Canucks.
Nolan, a 2019 first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, has largely played in the AHL since turning pro, amassing 245 games over six seasons. He has played 42 career NHL games, tallying seven goals and 10 points.
Last season with Charlotte of the AHL, Foote had 14 goals and 32 points. He also got into 12 games with the Florida Panthers late in the season and had one goal.
The word “believe” was used throughout the Flyers’ run to the postseason and beyond.
It was in big letters on the T-shirts the team wore, with 3.8% on the sleeve and beloved goalie Bernie Parent’s mask. And, a year ago, it was why Dan Vladař signed with the Flyers. He believed he could be a No. 1 goalie, and he believed something special was brewing in Philly.
That belief became a reality when, across 51 starts, he went 29-14-7 and recorded the most wins by a Flyers goalie since Steve Mason in 2013-14. He finished the regular season with a 2.42 goals-against average and .906 save percentage, with one relief appearance included. He was even better in the playoffs, posting a 2.18 GAA, a .922 save percentage, and two shutouts.
The Flyers showed how much they believe in Vladař on Wednesday by signing him to a five-year, $27.5 million contract extension that carries an annual average value of $5.5 million.
Vladař, who turns 29 next month, spoke to the Flyers’ brass not long after the season concluded, and said that two weeks after the exit interviews, the deal was done. There was no hesitation and “no thinking longer than one second” on his part to get it done.
“Obviously, it means a lot. I, for sure, I don’t take it for granted,” he said on a Zoom with reporters Thursday when asked what it means to him to have the Flyers believe in him. “Since Day 1, I really felt like I became a part of the family here, and [that’s] why my goal is to stay here for as long as I can and to have as much success as I can.
“Nothing’s going to change for me heading into the next season. I’m still going to try to be the same goalie and obviously be the same person and really enjoy my time in Philly, and obviously my family loves it there, too, which was a big factor as well.”
Family is another word used religiously by the Flyers. Vladař said when he signed his initial two-year contract last July 1, every player reached out to him. They welcomed him with open arms, and it’s akin to how he reached out to the newest goalies in the organization, Martin Psohlavec and Marek Sklenička. The fellow Czechs were drafted by the Flyers last weekend.
“I spoke to them right away on Saturday,” he said. “Both seemed really excited to be part of the Flyers, and I basically just congratulated them. I just told them that I’m here for them if they ever have any questions and stuff like that. And at the same time, if they are going to be in Prague around the summer, they are more than welcome to go for lunch or come over for some barbecue.”
It will be a 50% new look between the pipes for the Flyers this upcoming season. Sam Ersson was traded to Toronto before his rights were traded to Ottawa. He signed a two-year, $4.4 million contract with the Senators on Wednesday.
Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar was 29-14-7 and posted a .906 save percentage in his first season in Philadelphia.
Vladař said the news of the trade on June 16 was shocking — “I never saw that coming” — and called it a sad day.
“First of all, I want to say thank you to Sam. He’s been one of the big reasons why we had a pretty good year, us as a team,” Vladař said. “I cannot wish him anything, just the best. And I hope he’s going to get his role, he’s going to get his games, and he’s going to prove to everybody that he’s a starting goalie. That’s my belief.”
And, yes, he has spoken with Joseph Woll, his new goalie partner acquired in the swap with Toronto.
“I reached out right away to Joe,” he said. “… And same thing as with Sam; we are going to need two, if not three, goalies over the next couple of years. So, for me, nothing’s changing. I’m going to be supportive, and I’m going to battle, and I’m going to be there for him every time he needs me. So nothing’s changing for me.
“And he seemed like a really good person and a guy who wants to be a Flyer. So I think that’s what we are trying to build here. So I’m pretty sure that we are going to have great chemistry, and we are going to do something really special here.”
Long rumored to be a target of the Flyers for the fourth line, Noel Acciari is heading to Philly after signing a two-year deal that carries a $2.8 million average annual value. His arrival comes less than a week after the Flyers traded fourth-line winger and fellow veteran agitator Garnet Hathaway to Florida.
“Checks a lot of boxes,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière said Wednesday. “The experience, playoff experience, the hardness, the fourth-line role, face-offs, the leadership. So, we just felt it was a good mix for where we are now and what we needed. We talked about [our] younger lineup — we realized that — and we felt it was a good fit, and he’s the guy we targeted.”
Acciari, 34, had 13 goals, 25 points, and an impressive plus-14 rating in 67 games last season for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Noel Acciari (center) had 13 goals, 25 points, and an impressive plus-14 rating in 67 games last season for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
During the regular season, Acciari was part of a melee with Trevor Zegras that saw both players tossed after Acciari wasn’t too happy with the Flyers forward knocking off his helmet. He had one assist in six playoff games against the Flyers, winning 61% of his faceoffs in the series.
“He’s going to hopefully bring some offense as well. What he did now in the playoffs with our stingy defense, he wasn’t able to do much, but we respect that,” Brière said with a grin. “Now, the way he played, though, in the playoffs, he was hard to face. Our guys did not like playing against him, completely dominated us in the face-off circle, and we thought that he would be a player that could really help us.”
A natural center — and a right-shot, which makes him the only one on the NHL roster — Acciari also has played a lot of wing, including in Pittsburgh, where he combined with Connor Dewar and Blake Lizotte to make up one of the league’s top fourth lines.
Known primarily for his faceoff prowess, agitation abilities, and penalty killing, Acciari has also quietly registered four double-digit goal seasons with bottom-of-the-lineup deployment, including a 20-goal campaign in 2019-20 with the Panthers. Last season, Acciari won 52% of his faceoffs (53.5% since 2022-23) and ranked 11th among all NHL forwards in average shorthanded ice time per game at 2 minutes, 35 seconds.
“It’s options that are good to have,” Brière said. “He can play center [but] the most important piece for us when we targeted him was what he can bring taking face-offs on the right side. … We were looking for a right-shot center, also a guy that brings us a little hardness, a guy that can be versatile as he is, and a little offense.”
In 585 career games with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Penguins, Acciari has amassed 81 goals and 144 points. He was a teammate of Owen Tippett’s in Florida and worked with Todd Reirden in Pittsburgh for one season. He and Dan Vladař also briefly overlapped in the Boston organization. In 2019, he was a valuable contributor for a Bruins team that came up one game short of winning the Stanley Cup.
Acciari was a major target as he fit specific needs with the Flyers wanting to see their young players grow and develop their games this upcoming season.
“Our young guys have shown a lot of promise last year, the way they battled in the playoffs. I think they deserve the first look, and it’s part of the reason why we didn’t feel like we had to dive in, other than that specific need with Acciari,” Brière said. “Didn’t feel like we need to go out and blow our brains out on crazy contracts on the outside. … If they can’t do it, then we’ll readjust along the way.”
Flyers add organizational depth
The Flyers also added depth to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, signing forwards Zach Aston-Reese, Danila Klimovich, and Jack Studnicka, and defenseman Cam Dineen, who is a native of Toms River, Ocean County. It comes as the Phantoms get retooled with several players either not brought back as unrestricted free agents or not given qualifying offers.
“Give them a little spunk,” Brière said about the new additions. “Also, two things there: first, it’s a little depth for us. You’re going to run into some injuries along the way, so you want guys that could help you if you need [it].
“Change a little bit of the vibes too down in Lehigh and protect some of our young players that are turning pro [like Oliver] Bonk, who was there last year but the Bonk, the [Spencer] Gill on defense, [Jett] Luchanko, [Cole] Knuble up front. Try to protect them too, and give them some players that have some experience at the pro level to hopefully give them a chance to get on to building some confidence, because eventually we hope to see some of the young guys step up and play here.”
Aston-Reese’s deal is a two-year deal with an AAV of $875,000. Klimovich has signed a one-year, two-way contract with, according to a league source, a cap hit of $850,000 in the NHL.
A league source has also confirmed that Dineen’s two-year, two-way deal is for $850,000 in the NHL, the league’s minimum. Studnicka is signed to a two-year, two-way deal.
The Flyers added Zach Aston-Reese in an organizational depth move on Wednesday.
Aston-Reese, who is best known for his time with the Penguins and can play center or wing, has compiled 49 goals and 102 points in 416 career NHL games. The 31-year-old from Staten Island, N.Y., split last season between the Columbus Blue Jackets and their AHL team in Cleveland, tallying five points in 27 NHL games and another 16 points in 27 AHL contests. He will be expected to compete for an NHL spot in training camp, but he seems more likely to be ticketed for the AHL.
He has some ties to the Flyers organization. In Pittsburgh, he worked with Mark Recchi, a senior adviser who was an assistant coach, and Reirden, and played with Garrett Wilson, the Phantoms captain, in the NHL and AHL. Aston-Reese was a teammate of Acciari and new backup goalie, Joseph Woll, in Toronto. He also worked with Flyers assistant coach Jay Varady in the Detroit Red Wings organization and played with David Jiříček in the Columbus’ system.
Drafted in the second round by the Vancouver Canucks in 2021, Klimovich has spent the past five seasons playing for Abbotsford of the AHL. Last year, the 6-foot-2, 202-pound right winger had 34 points (18 goals, 16 assists) in 63 regular-season games and was a member of the 2025 Calder Cup championship team, scoring four goals in 16 playoff games.
Klimovich, 23, was a teammate of goalie Aleksei Kolosov with Belarus at the 2021 IIHF men’s World Championships and overlapped with Rick Tocchet and Yogi Svejkovský’s time in the Canucks organization.
The talented Studnicka, 27, has never seemed to stick in the NHL. Across 126 NHL games in six seasons, the right-shot center has six goals and 16 points, but in the AHL, he has 69 goals and 192 points in 266 games.
He is coming off a season where he had 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists) in 41 games for Charlotte of the AHL and played in 19 games, but did not get on the scoresheet for the Florida Panthers. His best pro season was 23 goals and 49 points in 60 games with the Providence Bruins in 2019-20, when he was a teammate of Flyers goalie Dan Vladař. Studnicka’s other Flyers ties are with Tocchet, Svejkovský, and Klimovich in Vancouver and Tippett at the 2019 World Juniors for Canada.
Dineen, 28, is a local kid who has played 38 NHL games, notching seven assists, between the Arizona Coyotes and Edmonton Oilers. In 383 AHL games, he has 37 goals and 191 points, including 10 power-play goals. This past season, he had 21 points in 40 games for Bakersfield, the Oilers’ farm team, and two years ago he had his best season with 43 points in 59 games.
In his final year of juniors, he was traded to Sarnia of the Ontario Hockey League, where former Flyers defenseman Derian Hatcher was the head coach. Drafted by Arizona in the third round of the 2016 draft, he played three seasons for Varady with Tucson of the AHL.
Breakaways
The Flyers announced that Carl Grundström re-signed for one-year at $1 million. … Former Flyers goalie Sam Ersson signed with the Ottawa Senators for two years with an AAV of $2.2 million; forward Bobby Brink signed with the Minnesota Wild for one year at $2.75 million; and defenseman Noah Juulsen signed with the Colorado Avalanche for two years with an AAV of $1.1 million. … Ex-Phantoms defenseman Christian Kyrou and forward Philip Tomasino signed with the Senators. … Ex-Flyers Scott Laughton (Los Angeles Kings) and Andrei Kuzmenko (Pittsburgh Penguins) also signed new deals. … Overnight, the Flyers lost out on defenseman John Carlson, who inked with the Tampa Bay Lightning for two years at an AAV of $8.5 million. … Flyers defenseman Adam Ginning signed with Vegas. … Former Flyers goalie Ivan Fedotov returned to the Kontinental Hockey League, signing a two-year deal with Spartak Moskva.
