Prospective Look at Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Flyers have come a long ways in such a short time after their Conference Finals exit to Pittsburgh on Sunday. The players might think it's a tad early, but the Flyers brass have likely been looking to the future (not that they would admit it) for quite some time already. With the way the team finished, the team won't likely tinker too much, possibly just making sure all of their gaps are filled with a minor improvement here and there.

Improvements will already be made with many of their young players, as the experience they gained through the playoffs will likely shape up their games to be that much better. Mike Richards, Joffrey Lupul, Scott Hartnell, Scottie Upshall, Braydon Coburn and even Martin Biron; all gained so much experience, having to help lead the way for this Philly team. The way the team is shaping up, we could see a few more Pittsburgh/Philadelphia Conference Finals match-ups.

Forwards	Defense	Goaltenders
Mike Richards	Kimmo Timonen	Martin Biron
Daniel Briere	Braydon Coburn	Antero Niittymaki
Mike Knuble	Derian Hatcher
Joffrey Lupul	Lasse Kukkonen
Scott Hartnell
Scottie Upshall
Simon Gagne
Steve Downie
Sami Kapanen

The most important players this summer will be the team's restricted free agent crop, which has got a lot of talent in it. Jeff Carter, R.J. Umberger and Randy Jones, just to name a few. GM Paul Holmgren may have to get creative with some of their inner budgetary issues when it comes to these three players, since they have 15 players signed (see above) at an approximate salary cap hit of $46.8 million, second highest among teams with active players. The three restricted free agents may be looking for a raise here this coming season and there isn't a lot of extra money to throw around for new pieces of the puzzle or to pay the minor league guys that will have to step up and fill the voids left behind.

Also notably missing from the list are the unrestricted free agents. Jason Smith, Vaclav Prospal, Jaroslav Modry are all scheduled to be open to the market on July 1st and in most estimations, they should all be snagged up elsewhere by other teams. Smith, captain of the Flyers this past season, will likely relinquish this position, only to see Richards take his place, as the new Bobby Clarke of the franchise.

With the three restricted free agents to be put back on the books, all the team would need to fill would be one more forward and one more defenseman. The Flyers have some good prospects in Stefan Ruzicka and Claude Giroux up front, while Ryan Parent and Denis Tolpeko (who both played at some point for the Flyers this season) could fill in the blank in the back. Two of those four could be a great deal of help for the team next season, as they try and help themselves out.

So, come Draft Day, the Flyers could be trying to unload some assets to pick up some late round picks and then trying to use their ever-improving scouting staff to try and pick out some gems in this draft. Thanks to their Conference Finals loss, they will now pick from the 27th spot in Ottawa. Their pick will probably be spent on the best available player that would fit their scheme. The mock draft, which is coming after the Cup Finals, will likely reflect that sort of pick for them.