1 player Flyers must sign in 2026 NHL Free Agency

The Philadelphia Flyers made a surprising run to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2026. More than this, they even won a series. The Flyers dominated the Pittsburgh Penguins for much of their first-round series. And as a result, Philly won its first postseason series in a non-COVID-affected season since 2012.

Their postseason run ended with a whimper in the second round. The Flyers were swept by the Carolina Hurricanes, who went on to win the Stanley Cup. Still, this was a largely successful season for this franchise. Head coach Rick Tocchet brought postseason hockey back to the City of Brotherly Love in his first season back with the organization. And they are already stacking the roster to go further in 2027.

The Flyers swung a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs recently that sent Joseph Woll to Philadelphia. He, along with defenseman Simon Benoit, went to Philadelphia in exchange for defenseman Emil Andrae and goaltender Samuel Ersson. It’s an intriguing swap, to say the least, but it bolsters the team’s goaltending on paper.

What remains to be seen is the team’s plan for NHL Free Agency. General manager Daniel Briere has money to work with this summer. At this time, he has about $32.5 million to work with. There are notable extensions that will eat into this, with Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, and Matvei Michkov all restricted free agents.

Still, they should have the cap space to make a splash, if they want to. And with that in mind, here is one player the Flyers must sign in 2026 NHL Free Agency.

Flyers should go for broke, sign Darren Raddysh

The Flyers have long needed a quarterback for their power play. Drysdale did have an impact with the man advantage, scoring nine points on the power play. However, Philadelphia does not have a defenseman who can facilitate scoring chances from the point with the numbers advantage.

That’s where Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh comes in. Raddysh blossomed into a high-end point-producing defenseman for Tampa this season. He scored 22 goals and 70 points for the Bolts this year, as they once again made the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The veteran defenseman contributed a lot on the power play, as well. He scored 10 goals and 26 points when Tampa had the man advantage this season. That is the sort of production the Flyers could use from the back end on special teams.

It is worth noting that there are some complications with the fit here. First, the Flyers do have a bit of a crowded defensive group. This could be solved by trading fellow veteran rearguard Rasmus Ristolainen, who has been involved in trade rumors for a number of years now.

Furthermore, this sort of season from Raddysh is an extreme outlier at this time. There were glimpses of offense in his game before 2025-26. But he hadn’t even cracked the 40-point mark before this performance, let alone touch 70.

This will certainly give teams reason to pause before committing to a long-term contract. It’s likely the 30-year-old rearguard does receive term on the open market. He is one of the two headlining players in this NHL Free Agency class. Some team is going to pay big for him.

For the Flyers, the hesitation certainly would make sense. At the same time, he could completely transform their blueline and give them an element they currently lack. If the two sides can find common ground on contract terms, it would make all the sense in the world for Philadelphia to put pen to paper.

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