The Flyers are asking for some young forwards to answer the bell in 2022-23.
The club didn't dole out a lot of money in free agency.
"Up front, we have a lot of young players that we have to see if they can play," Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said earlier this month.
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They're hoping Owen Tippett — a tool-laden power forward they received in the Claude Giroux trade — can lead that charge.
The 23-year-old winger signed a new two-year, $3 million contract Friday with the Flyers. Tippett was a restricted free agent this offseason. When his new deal expires, he'll remain an RFA and be arbitration eligible.
In spurts down the stretch last season, the 2017 10th overall draft pick showed his potential with the Flyers. He finished with four goals and three assists over 21 games. He had 53 shots, over two and a half per game, but a 7.5 shooting percentage.
On a deep Panthers team last season, Tippett had six goals and eight assists through 42 games playing bottom-six minutes.
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"He has size, speed, skating, shot — he's got a lot of attributes that I think we need," Fletcher said March 20, a day after the Giroux trade. "And he obviously brings youth."
The Flyers believe there's plenty of upside.
"He's just sniffing and just scratching the surface of how good he can be," former Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeo said in April. "His athletic ability, his natural ability puts him in a position every game to get one, two, three, even four grade A scoring opportunities.
"I don't think that he quite understands or believes just how dominant of a hockey player he can be yet. I think a lot of that is confidence, some of that is experience.
"In terms of a guy who has the puck with his skill, with his power, they should never be able to get the puck off of him. I think he has the ability to dominate and to control games. We just have to keep teaching and keep showing in different areas how he can do that."
Head coach John Tortorella and new assistants Rocky Thompson and Brad Shaw will now get the chance to work with Tippett.
Fletcher and company are eager to see what he does with the opportunity.
"Obviously it's a little different coming in, you don't really know what to expect," Tippett said at his end-of-the-season press conference in late April. "You get used to one management staff. When you come in, you just want to make a good impression and get to know everybody. One of the messages was to have a good summer and be ready to go next year."
The Flyers have also re-signed restricted free agents Morgan Frost, Isaac Ratcliffe and Tanner Laczynski this month. Zack MacEwen and Wade Allison are among the other RFAs in line for new deals before the start of the season. MacEwen has an arbitration hearing scheduled for Aug. 8.
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