How will the Flyers use their cap space after trading Ryan Ellis?
With the regular season around the corner and final rosters being submitted ahead of the regular season, the Philadelphia Flyers executed a salary cap-related move over the weekend.
Announced by the team Sunday morning, the Flyers traded defenseman Ryan Ellis (who has not played since November of 2021 after only dressing in four games after being acquired from the Nashville Predators) and a sixth-round pick in 2026 to the San Jose Sharks for forward Carl Grundstrom and defenseman Artem Guryev. The Flyers retained no salary on Ellis’ $6.25 million cap hit; he is under contract through the 2026-27 season.
According to sources, the Flyers had been working on moving Ellis for several years. With one year (beyond this season) left on Ellis’ deal, the time was right for the Sharks, who recently acquired Carey Price’s contract, to pull the trigger on adding more salary to help get them to the salary cap floor beyond this season with the skyrocketing ceiling in the coming years.
Speaking with sources, Mike Grier is a GM who takes his time to get trades done. I was told the Flyers had been in communication with the Sharks for quite some time.
Speaking with a source Monday morning, the Sharks wanted to free up roster spots by dumping Grundstrom and Guryev to keep 2024 first-round pick Sam Dickinson and 2025 second overall pick Michael Misa. Before the deal, the Sharks had one contract above the 50-contract limit; with Ellis (presumably) moving to the injury reserve or long-term injury reserve, they will have 49 contracts to start the season.
From the Flyers’ standpoint, alleviating themselves from Ellis’ $6.25 million AAV opens up options and flexibility for this season and beyond. With defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York set to start the season on IR, a team source told me the team projects to have $6.6 million in cap space while carrying 14 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goaltenders. The Flyers had avoided placing Ellis on LTIR in the past several seasons to accrue cap space during the year; with his salary now fully off the books, the Flyers are well-positioned to accumulate cap space between now and the NHL Trade Deadline.
With the newfound cap space, it is easy to assume that the Flyers will utilize it to enhance their current roster. It is well documented that the Flyers are looking to take a step this season, so why wouldn’t GM Daniel Briere look to immediately upgrade his lineup? With Ristolainen and York out to start the season, the defense, in particular, is in desperate need of a shot in the arm to improve.
Speaking with a source, the Flyers are not going to blow their cap on just a third-pairing defenseman or a bottom-six forward. If the Flyers are going to capitalize on their recent financial flexibility, it will be on upgrading the upper-end of their lineup, I’m told.
Speculatively speaking, finding a left-shot defenseman to (presumably) pair with Jamie Drysdale to bump Nick Seeler down to the third pair would be one slot I could see the Flyers targeting. I can tell you that the Flyers have had interest in Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram in the past, but were reluctant to pay the cost to acquire him, along with disagreeing on the agent’s view of the player’s worth.
There was speculation that Byram was not long for Buffalo entering the 2025 offseason, but he ultimately signed a two-year, $12.5 million contract. The 24-year-old has been rumored to want a bigger role on another team; being a left-shot defenseman behind Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power, there is a certain level of redundancy on the Sabers’ roster. GM Kevyn Adams has been hesitant to move his players recently – refer to how long the Dylan Cozens saga dragged on before his ultimate trade to the Ottawa Senators last winter – but there could be an avenue to pry Byram out of Buffalo.
Could the Flyers target Byram in a deal centered around forward Owen Tippett and defenseman Emil Andrae? Tippett does have size and is under contract for six seasons beyond this one, both of which would presumably check Buffalo’s boxes for an arriving forward. Andrae, as I reported last Friday, could be on the outs in Philadelphia long term and is capable of playing both sides on the back-end; he would have more than one countryman on the Sabers’ blueline, as well.
Thinking a bit bigger – again, this is all spitballing – could the Flyers target Vancouver Canucks rearguard Quinn Hughes? The good relationship between Hughes and Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet is well documented, so could a reunion be in the cards down the road? It is a very premature conversation as Hughes’ future (he is under contract until 2027) with the Canucks is still up in the air, but I would venture to guess that the Flyers would have interest should the player ultimately become a viable option. That said, the haul to pry him out of western Canada would surely be enormous.
These are all very premature scenarios regarding who the Flyers may target, but moving Ellis’ contract opens up avenues to bolster the upper end of their roster. It has been well documented that the Flyers’ sights have been set on the 2026 offseason when a lot of dead money comes off the books in order to take massive steps towards improving; with Ellis’ money now liberated next season, it gives Briere further flexibility to make impact acquisitions heading into the 2026-27 season.
There is nothing imminent in the way of the Flyers making a trade after trading Ellis, resulting in newfound money, but if (or when) they go down that road, it will be for an impact player rather than a bottom-of-the-lineup acquisition.
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