One note on any potential Travis Konecny contract extension: The Flyers want it done before next season begins. It’s easy to see why. As a pending unrestricted free agent in 2025, Konecny, who has 64 goals in his last 136 games over the last two seasons, would instantly be at the top of the list of potential trade targets for contending teams.

My take? It’s difficult to envision them not getting this done, even it it’s not right away on July 1, when he officially is eligible. Konecny was named an alternate captain in February and is at an age at which he can relate to both veterans and young players alike, and Tortorella called him “the leader of this team” after their late-season win over the Devils.

Konecny clearly wants to stay, so perhaps he’s willing to give the Flyers a slight discount. That could be key, as the Flyers need to be careful which players they commit to at this stage of their process. Regardless, it’s not like Konecny will be over the hill when the team hopes to be competing for a Stanley Cup in a few years. He would still be just 29 years old in 2026-27, which would be the second year of any potential extension.

The Flyers made an under-the-radar signing on April 8, when they came to terms on a one-year deal with 25-year-old Oscar Eklind.

The powerful 6-foot-4, 220-pound left-shot winger likely will start the season with the Phantoms, but the Flyers believe he has the potential to crack the NHL roster on a full-time basis in 2025-26 (they would retain his right next summer as a restricted free agent), likely in a bottom-six role.

If Garnet Hathaway leaves as a free agent in 2025 when his deal is up, perhaps that opens the door for a guy like Eklind, if he can adapt to the North American game.

The Flyers are taking a bit of a gamble on goalie Ivan Fedotov, who signed a hefty two-year, $6.55 million contract despite just recently arriving in North America and subsequently struggling in two of his three appearances.

While that number is higher than they originally anticipated when they learned that they might finally be able to bring over Fedotov from the KHL, they were comfortable with it, as adding a veteran backup via free agency this summer probably would have cost somewhere between $2.5 million to $3 million. So, Fedotov is only a bit higher than that, and at at 27 years old and with some KHL success, he’s not your standard prospect.

Further, Fedotov’s camp was originally asking for four years at a $4 million AAV, according to a team source, which was much too big of a commitment for the club. The two-year term was a sticking point. It allows prospect Aleksei Kolosov to spend next season marinating in the AHL, and in 2025-26, between Fedotov, Kolosov and Samuel Ersson, the Flyers can see who emerges without deviating from what seems to be their internal timeline of competing in 2026-27.

Essentially, Fedotov is a gamble they can afford to take at this stage of their so-called rebuild.

Another pending unrestricted free agent the Flyers are likely to bring back is Cooper Marody, the Phantoms’ leading scorer with 56 points in 68 games. Marody, at 27 years old, is viewed as a solid, skilled player to help the other prospects on the Phantoms develop.

Tanner Laczynski, 26, also a pending unrestricted free agent, who was second on the Phantoms with 44 points in 49 games, is more likely to move on.

The Flyers still don’t know whether Columbus’ second-round pick, owed to them from the Ivan Provorov trade last summer, will be for this year or 2025. Columbus doesn’t have to make that decision until the first round of the 2024 draft concludes.

If they do transfer it to the Flyers, it will be the No. 34 selection. On the other hand, if they wait until 2025, it’s not like the Blue Jackets are likely to be a playoff team next season. And, the 2025 draft is thought to be deeper, anyway.