Philadelphia Flyers: Grading the steal of a three-year extension for Philippe Myers
The Philadelphia Flyers have got themselves an absolute bargain with Philippe Myers.
It was announced today that the Philadelphia Flyers have signed Philippe Myers to a three-year, $7.65 million contract extension.
The deal carries an Average Annual Value of $2.55 million.
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It keeps the defenseman, who was an Unrestricted Free Agent, in the City of Brotherly Love through the 2022-23 season, when Myers will again be an RFA with arbitration rights and one year away from being a UFA.
And, for those cap nerds out there, the deal features a $300k signing bonus with a $1 million salary in 2020-21, a $2.2 million salary with a $350k signing bonus in 2021-22 and a $3.8 million salary in 2022-23, per PuckPedia.
Anyway, number crunching now done and dusted, this is an incredible deal for the Flyers and it is also a pretty great deal for Myers too, and we’re going to break down this extension from all angles before giving it a final grade.
Let’s dive right in…
Young Gun On The Rise
As I mentioned in a piece I did a couple of weeks ago, the Philadelphia Flyers are a team on the rise and that has a lot to do with their young core, led by franchise goalie Carter Hart and the likes of forward Travis Konecny and stud defenseman Ivan Provorov.
Philippe Myers is very much a key part of that core going forward, hence the Flyers opting for a three-year extension rather than the typical two-year bridge deal.
They want to have Myers under control at a team-friendly price for as long as possible, and that is certainly understandable when you consider the trajectory the young blueliner is currently on.
Signed by the Philadelphia Flyers as an Undrafted Free Agent on Sept. 21, 2015, Myers has developed into a high-end top four defenseman in the NHL and he has the potential to grow into a top-pairing blueliner over the coming years.
Boasting good size at 6-foot-5 and 212 pounds, Myers has developed a reputation as being a top shutdown defenseman who has the ceiling to only get better, and he’s certainly got age on his side given that he is only 23-years-old.
He’s an imposing specimen and force in his own zone, and the Flyers will rely on the New Brunswick native to play in all situations and log some serious penalty killing time in the wake of Matt Niskanen‘s shock retirement.
After showing flashes of his potential in 2018-19, Myers really took the next step in his development and overall maturation process in 2019-20, establishing himself as a top-four defenseman for the Flyers.
In 50 regular season games he recorded 16 points (4 G, 12 A) with a plus / minus rating of +17, while he accumulated 30 penalty minutes, 44 blocked shots, 80 hits and 21 Takeaways to go along with a CF% of 51.4%.
Most importantly, however, Myers saw his ATOI jump up from 15:22 in 2018-19 to 17:06 in 2019-20, illustrating his ever-increasing importance to the Flyers and that only improved in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with Myers averaging 20:02 of ice time in 16 games with four points (3 G, 1 A) in what was his first taste of the postseason.
Basically, Myers has earned the trust of Head Coach Alain Vigneault and his ice time and importance should only increase in 2020-21 given that he’s expected to be bumped up to the top pairing alongside star defenseman Ivan Provorov.
That top pairing has the real potential and all the ingredients needed to become a dominant shutdown line in the National Hockey League, and both Myers and Provorov are set to become the bedrocks and the anchors of this Philadelphia Flyers blueline and team for years to come.
Plus, as he demonstrated in 2019-20, Myers can chip in with offense and, boasting a rocket of a shot, the defenseman can certainly contribute 30-40 points in 2020-21 if he continues to learn his craft when it comes to the offensive side of his game.
Overall, Philippe Myers is just one of many young NHL defensemen to keep a close eye on right now, and his continued development will only be a good thing for the Philadelphia Flyers as they look to take that next step to becoming legit contenders in the East.
Grading The Deal
As we led off with at the top, this is a home run of a deal for the Philadelphia Flyers and for Philippe Myers.
Starting with Myers, he was an Undrafted Free Agent just a few years ago who will now be a top-pairing defenseman for the Flyers in 2020-21 and, at just 23-years-old, he is riding a rapid trajectory to the very top.
As a result, a three-year deal takes him to being a year away from becoming a UFA and, if he keeps on making huge strides forward, then a huge payday awaits.
For the Flyers, this is a fine move by General Manager Chuck Fletcher and he can marvel at his own work as Picasso may have done with one of his paintings.
Boasting plenty of wriggle room in cap space and with Myers their only remaining UFA or RFA, the Philadelphia Flyers got an absolute steal of a deal.
Paying Myers just $2.55 million per year for the next three years is tremendous value when you consider the blueliner’s body of work, coupled with his potential and high ceiling.
Averaging over 17 minutes of ice time during the 2019-20 regular season, that will probably creep over 20 minutes in 2020-21 given that Myers is expected to join Ivan Provorov on the top pair, and Myers will no doubt get more time on both the power play and on the penalty kill too.
With his rising reputation as a high-end shutdown defenseman, coupled with the potential for offensive growth, the Flyers are getting the whole package in Myers and he could well be regarded as one of the most dominant blueliners in the NHL by the time this extension runs out after the end of the 2022-23 season.
Plus, this deal has still left the Flyers with $2,261,148 in cap space, meaning they can fill out their forward group with one or two cheap depth pickups in Free Agency.
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Overall, this is one hell of a smart deal that works for both player and team and, given everything Philippe Myers brings to the table and his projected growth, the Philadelphia Flyers have got themselves quite a steal and it is a deal that could look even better in a couple of years if everything pans out as hoped.