Cam York? First-round pick? NHL teams asking silly prices to take on salary

The Philadelphia Flyers finally cleared some salary on Thursday afternoon. They traded Shayne Gostisbehere and his $4.5 million cap hit (along with second- and seventh-round picks) to the Arizona Coyotes for that cap relief.

That may seem like a steep price to pay, but it was actually one of the more reasonable offers that the Flyers received. Chuck Fletcher spoke about the Gostisbehere trade on Thursday afternoon.

Now, Gostisbehere’s contract isn’t too expensive by any means. He has two years left at $4.5 million per season. For teams near the cap floor with plenty of space, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Gostisbehere isn’t what he once was, but he’s still an offensive force and great power-play quarterback. Hell, with the right partner he could be a legitimately good second-pair defenseman.

But other teams were squeezing the Flyers for Gostisbehere, Chuck Fletcher said.

Fletcher revealed that one team asked for top prospect Cameron York to take on Gostisbehere and his contract. Another team asked for the Flyers’ first-round pick (13th overall) in Friday’s NHL Draft. Those prices are laughable, especially given the fact that York has the potential to be just like Gostisbehere –– if not better.

A team asked for Cam York to take Gostisbehere, and another team asked for the first-round pick to take Gostisbehere, per Chuck Fletcher.

— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) July 22, 2021

Chuck Fletcher is "a little bit" surprised at the lack of offers for Gostisbehere. "It's a tough environment out there. It's tough to move money" as seen with the Expansion Draft last night.

— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) July 22, 2021

York had an impressive NHL debut this season after being named the Big Ten Defenseman of the Year. Fletcher said that the development of York made trading Gostisbehere easier.

The deal that the Flyers made with the Coyotes was the best they could find, Fletcher said. He tried to negotiate with Seattle to take Gostisbehere in the Expansion Draft, but the asking price was too high. There were reports that Kraken GM Ron Francis was asking for a first-round pick and prospect to take on salary.

Fletcher wanted to wait until after the Expansion Draft to let the situation settle and ultimately decided to make this trade. "This was a much better situation for us than [Seattle]."

— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) July 22, 2021

Still, it’s crazy to think that the Kraken opted for Carsen Twarynski. They could’ve opted for a second-round pick, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Twarynski from the Flyers. Oh well, maybe the tank is on.

Will Flyers move Jakub Voracek or James van Riemsdyk?

With this new information from Fletcher, it’s going to be a lot harder than we thought for the Flyers to move Jakub Voracek or James van Riemsdyk. Voracek ($8.25 million for three seasons) and van Riemsdyk ($7 million for two seasons) have cap hits that are almost double Gostisbehere’s. Given the price to give away Gostisbehere, the Flyers would likely have to give up a first-round pick or prospect to dump salary. Or the Flyers would have to retain some salary.

Fletcher said that the Flyers will look to make hockey trades in the near future.

Fletcher says the Flyers now have the ability to fill all their holes and focus in on one or two of them with their cap space. He'll look at making a hockey trade (dollar for dollar) in the short-term future.

— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) July 22, 2021

Those trades would likely involve players with similar salaries, and we keep coming back to one name: Vladimir Tarasenko.

Tarasenko has a $7.5 million cap hit for two years. If the Blues and Flyers get together for a trade, we could see a straight swap of Tarasenko for Voracek. There may be a pick or something thrown in as well, but that would likely be the foundation for the trade.

Twarynski selection may shift Fletcher’s plans ahead of busy weekend

It’s a flat cap era as Fletcher has harped on and that showed over the last 24 hours. The Expansion Draft was disappointing with the Seattle Kraken opting for cheaper players, and the Gostisbehere trade topped it off. Salary cap space is a valuable asset in today’s NHL.