Two days after Anaheim matched the Philadelphia Flyers‘ record five-year, $90 million offer sheet for Leo Carlsson — covered here Thursday — the reporting on Philadelphia’s next move points away from a second strike. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic wrote Thursday that while pivoting to another unsigned restricted free agent is one option on paper, the more likely outcome is that the Flyers “will seek some depth pieces to support what is still a promising flock of young players.”
The two names that make the paper version of that pivot tempting are obvious. Adam Fantilli, the No. 3 pick in 2023, remains unsigned in Columbus with career numbers comparable to Carlsson’s, and Connor Bedard is still without a deal in Chicago. But Kurz threw cold water on the idea that general manager Daniel Briere would go down the offer-sheet road again after being rebuffed once, noting that a second failed tender “could have real complications” for how other general managers deal with him. Daily Faceoff’s sources went further: a Fantilli offer sheet simply isn’t in the cards, in part because the Blue Jackets have said publicly they would match anything — a stance GM Don Waddell staked out this week, as reported here.
There is also a revealing detail in Kurz’s reporting about what the Carlsson gambit was actually for. According to a team source, the offer was as much about forcing Anaheim into a cap crunch as it was about landing the player. If that’s true, Philadelphia got half of what it paid nothing for: the Ducks now have roster surgery to perform, and the Flyers still hold all four first-round picks that would have gone west. Briere’s public statement after the match said the goal “does not change” and that the club remains committed to pursuing every opportunity to strengthen the roster without sacrificing its future.
The honest read is that this front office spent a week acting like a contender and will now go back to building like a rebuilder — which is the right call. The asset base, not an August splash, is what this roster needs, and keeping the 2027 and 2028 draft capital intact matters more than winning a July news cycle.
For fantasy purposes, the ripple is mostly dynasty-side. Philadelphia’s kept first-round picks preserve one of the deeper pipelines in the league, so managers in prospect-pool formats holding Flyers futures should feel better this week, not worse. Fantilli’s dynasty stock stays tied to Columbus, where a long-term deal — whenever it lands — would lock in his top-line and first-power-play role.
