Flyers’ Michael Raffl signs two-year deal; Carter Hart to face Toronto
Raffl, 30, an Austria native who played in the 2014 Winter Olympics, could have been an unrestricted free agent on July 1. His cap hit is $2.35 million this season.
Left winger Michael Raffl, one of the Flyers’ best defensive forwards, avoided free agency by signing a two-year deal Tuesday with an annual salary-cap hit of $1.6 million, general manager Chuck Fletcher said.
Raffl, 30, an Austria native who played in the 2014 Winter Olympics, could have been an unrestricted free agent on July 1. His cap hit is $2.35 million this season.
“We’ve been working on it for a little bit now. I really like it here,” Raffl said. “This is the place I want to be and this has been my home, so I’m excited about the next two years. We have a young, exciting team, and I’m happy to continue to be a part of it moving forward.”
Fletcher called Raffl’s “versatility, experience, and work ethic” valuable assets.
The general manager will have lots of cap space in the offseason, and he is expected to pursue a high-quality free agent like left winger Artemi Panarin.
Raffl, who has spent six years with the Flyers since signing as a free agent in 2013, has played up and down the lineup this season and has primarily been used on the third and fourth lines. He has six goals, 18 points, and a plus-2 rating in 61 games.
He has been a “plus” player in five of his six seasons. In 406 career games, he has 70 goals and a plus-21 rating.
Breakaways
Carter Hart will face the visiting Maple Leafs on Wednesday for the first time in his young career. … Interim coach Scott Gordon said he hasn’t decided yet if defenseman Samuel Morin will play Wednesday, but he would like to get him into the lineup in five of the last six games. Gordon said goalie Cam Talbot, who has had just one start since he was acquired from Edmonton because Hart and Brian Elliott have played well, will probably play in two or three of the remaining games. … Elliott and Talbot, potential unrestricted free agents on July 1, both said they would like to be with the Flyers next season. … Gordon had a long talk with Talbot to explain the circumstances that prevented him from playing more. Gordon said when he was a goalie, his coaches didn’t explain why he wasn’t playing: “My coaches were pretty clear: ‘You’re the backup and I can’t understand why they signed you,’ ” he cracked. … Troops from Fort Dix visited practice and mingled with the players in the locker room. ... Toronto has six 20-goal scorers, including Mitch Marner (90 points), John Tavares (45 goals, 86 points), and Auston Matthews (35 goals).