Ron Hextall likely won’t forget his first free agency experience as the Flyers' general manager any time soon.
If for no reason other than the only player of consequence he signed was his own goalie, Ray Emery.
Meanwhile, all around him, the NHL was rocking with a record number of signings worth more than $420 million.
Teams with money spent recklessly. Like the Flyers almost always do.
This time, however, the Flyers were on the bench without a dime to spare.
The Flyers need another defenseman. Washington signed two in Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik.
They need a left wing. Matt Moulson returned to Buffalo. Thomas Vanek went to Minnesota.
Frustrating?
“No, not really,” Hextall said. “To be honest with you, July 1 is one of those days where we all can get carried away. I look on my board here and look at our team, and we’ve got a good team.
“Sometimes this day, you make some of the poorest decisions you make, and quite honestly we didn’t have to think it through that hard.
“We’ve got a couple guys we’re still looking at if we get them in the right range -- one guy specifically -- so there’s still things you can do.”
They also signed goalie Rob Zepp for the Phantoms and forward Blair Jones as a Phantoms call-up.
For once, the Flyers felt what it’s like to be the cash-starved Islanders with holes to fill and no money to buy the ingredients to fill them.
“This is the day where a lot of times you do something and you have buyer’s remorse,” Hextall said. “But it’s hard ... you have a lot of holes to fill. Back in L.A. a few years ago, we were in that position where we had a lot of holes to fill, and it’s hard to fill all your holes in a cap world in free agency.
“Again, it’s one of those days where sometimes you look back and you did something good -- I think there’s some good buys in the market -- but there’s some other ones that are inflated.”
The Flyers are boxed in by not being able to move Vinny Lecavalier’s contract. His $4.5 million cap hit over the next four years prevented them from getting involved with any quality forward or defenseman on the market.
“We’ve got nothing imminent on Vinny,” Hextall said. “We’ll keep looking at the situation, and like I said, deal with it internally, and if there’s something to report we’ll get it back to you guys, but as far as I’m concerned right now, Vinny Lecavalier could be in a Flyer uniform in September.”
That can’t possibly happen. It would be awkward and a subject of almost daily speculation, especially if Lecavalier has a poor start to the season.
“Not at all,” Hextall said. “Vinny’s a pro, and we’re pros, and I think you guys all know we’ve had discussions, but he’s been nothing but a pro.”
Hextall said the Flyers will still be looking to add a depth defenseman. South Jersey's T.J. Brennan went to the Islanders for $600,000.
“We would have had interest in him,” Hextall said. “Quite honestly, we’ve been working at a number of other things, but we would have had interest in him.
“We still have a player that we covet right now. We’ve been working on that and also been talking to other GMs trying to move things around a little bit. It’s been a busy day and you don’t get to everything that you want to get to.”
Hextall is trying to win a game of blackjack holding with a hard 12.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Hextall said. “I think a lot of people filled up today and that’s always what happens July 1. It’s not going to be easy. We’ll continue to chip away and work away, and we’ll find a way.”
RFAs
Hextall said the Flyers will not pursue any restricted free agents, such as PK Subban, and weren't in position to do so anyway.