You're NFL Sundays are about to get a whole lot more magical. When you bundle NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV, you get the most live NFL games all in one place. And with multi-view, you can watch up to four games at once, so you can catch all the action right from the comfort of home. Watch every game every Sunday on NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV. Sign up now at youtube.com/Sundayticket. Device and content restriction supply, local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket for Out of Market Games excludes digital-only games. Ryan Reynolds here from In Mobile. The price of just about everything going up during inflation, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing. Mid mobile unlimited, premium wireless. Have it to get 30, 30, 30, ready to get 20, 20, 20, ready to get 20, 20, 20, ready to get 15, 15, 15, 15, just 15 bucks a month, soul. Give it a try at midmobile.com/switch. $45 up front for three months plus taxes and fees, promote eight for new customers for limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month, slows. Full turns at midmobile.com. [MUSIC] Hey, everybody, how you doing? Well that's good. And I'm Bill Matt, and I'm the director of Fun and Games for the afternoon. Joining me is always as he is pounding away on that keyboard, journalizing, we have breaking news. It is Philadelphia's number one hockey beat reporter Charlie O'Connor. We got word from a very reliable source about 25 seconds before we went on air. It was possible a Travis connecting extension was about to be done. Of course, we got that from Travis Sandheim's Twitter, which was honestly, this is great stuff here. But it looks like it's confirmed, Charlie. Do we have do we have the details of this Travis connecting contract extension? He is not going to be traded. He is not going to go into his contract here with only that remaining. He is a flyer for a long fucking time. Probably the rest of his career, you would think. Yeah, you would think. He's a flyer for life and all likelihood. What do we know about this contract? Well, the flyers have officially announced. The flyers announced. Okay. This all happened in the span of about five minutes before the show is about to launch. So like don't really even pay attention to that bottom line if you're watching. This is now a Travis connecting extension breakdown show that just happened to happen just as we were about to start the show. That's the best way to do things, honestly, no, the contract is eight years, eight point seven, five million dollars a year. It appears it is done and announced and it's a thing. So Travis connecting is going to stay a Philadelphia flyer. All right. And I guess we need to, I need to vamp while I find the indeed read for the breaking news was not expecting to have to do this today. But I suppose it makes sense. We were joking around right before we went live like, yeah, Danny's in town. You know, he had to do some work. He had to do a press conference. So why not just get everything all done at once? And this is, I forgot that we do these with breaking news and now. Okay. Here we are. Yeah. That segment is brought to you by indeed listeners of the show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to get your jobs more visibility and indeed.com slash all city. That's indeed.com slash all city terms and conditions apply need to hire. You need indeed, uh, looks like they didn't need indeed to, uh, bring back Travis connecting for his employment status here eight years, eight point seven, five million. The, uh, breaking brought to you by indeed. This is, I was starting to wonder if this was kind of all right. Maybe we'll revisit this in November sort of thing. I know we talked, I think last week, it wasn't the biggest deal. They wanted to just get it done before the end of summer before training camp and everything. So there's not any sort of question going in. And now I suppose we discuss, was this the right move? You and I, I think both kind of fell in the camp of it probably makes the most sense to trade at Travis connecting for the assets that you can, whatever you can get for him, use that cap space for when you need it down the line. Maybe he just doesn't fit the timeline. However, it doesn't feel like this is the worst thing. Like, they kept a really good player today. Yeah. Um, it's a good player. That's good. It's a lot higher on him as a player than you are. Okay. Based on the conversations we've had over the last couple of months, I like him a lot. I really do. I just don't know if he's the kind of guy I give an eight year contract. Like, that's my thing. I think those go to franchise players. Okay. You're best guy. Claude Giroud. Yeah. Give him a fucking million dollars. He's your captain. He's your best player. Give him eight years. Travis connect me. I don't know. Um, it's, this isn't a bad thing. I don't think this is like bad that I don't want to like start talking about this and be like, I'm negative on it because my tone is like, but I am, that's a lot of years and a lot of money for a guy who isn't that level player. Um, my argument has always been and why I am iffy on this contract is I do think he is the, he is the quality of player in my mind that warrants a deal like this. I think he's good enough. I think that his part of his production is basically been a slightly below point per game guy for the past two years. I think that's who he is. I truly believe that's his talent level of anything. I think his current production probably undersells who he would be if he actually had more help given the fact that the power play is a disaster. And like you could say, yeah, that's partially on him, but the thing is I don't think anyone believes that Travis Connectney should be the driver of a power play. That's, you should be the second or third best guy at best on a power play. If there was a driver and there might be a driver now in mouth a Mitch cough, who is now here. If you did not realize that over the last couple of days he is here, um, the, uh, his production probably would be higher if he was on a power play that was remotely functional and I don't really blame the fact that it's not remotely punk functional on Travis Connect play. He just doesn't have that level of skill. So I think probably true talent level Travis Connectney is a point per game guy and I think point per game guys are worth about this contract. My big concern is that I don't know if the fliers should be the team giving this contract because unless the fliers plan to turn the corner towards contention very quickly and efficiently over the next couple of years, they will not be cup contenders in the first half of this contract, most likely. And if they're not, then when they're going to be needing Travis Connectney to be this version of Travis Connectney is when he's going to be in his mid to his, his early to mid thirties. Right now he's 27 when this contract kicks in, he'll be 28 going on 29. It's an eight year contract. So when this contract ends, what he'll be like 36, I am worried about the back half of that deal. I think a team, the kind of team that should be signing this deal is a team like the devil's because the big comparable has been, and I don't remember off the top of my head, but I think it's about this is the, what the team, I'm hired deal in Jersey. Jersey should be signing a team, I'm hired at that deal. I know they were bad last year, but they are a team that is going forward right now. And hey, if team of Myers sucks for the final three years of the deal, whatever the present is what matters. My thing is that for the fliers, I think the future is what matters more. And I don't think you're going to be getting full value out of the good years of Connectney's contract if you're sealing during those years is team that can maybe make the second round. So I don't think this contract is bad inherently. I just don't necessarily think the fliers should have been one to give it to them. That said, I do think Travis Connectney is a really good player and they kept a really good player. Just for, just for bookkeeping here, Timo Meyer, eight years, 8.8 million. It expires when he's 34. So a very much a comparable contract. And that's what they pulled off here. I just wanted to look up Travis Connectney, like where he ranks in the league over these last two seasons, by points per game, he's .95 points a game in the last two years. That is the same as Jasper Bratt and Matt Barzell. So it's mid-40s, he's 44th ranked in terms of points per game in the league. The last two seasons, that's really like he's a top 50 forward. That's really good. And he's a top six player on pretty much any line up in the league, you know? I just, just feel like they're going to need that $9 million at some point. But they're argument and they're argument. I've made this case on the show. Their argument is that if we let Travis Connectney go in two, three years when we need better players to surround Mape Mitchell, we're going to have to go out and sign or trade for a Travis Connectney and we're going to have to pay him this much money anyway. So why not keep the guy who we know fits? I get that argument. I do. I think it makes a little more sense though, when you have the core pieces already in place. It's like, and like, yeah, you are going to maybe need to go sign that guy if you move on from Travis Connectney, but like you still need to sign other guys and trade for other guys. Maybe they draft them. Maybe Jet Lucianco is the one C of this team. Maybe they luck into a one C net, whatever it might be. But like, if you had those core pieces in place, like that's why it makes sense to me for the doubles. Like, yeah, we, we have Jack Hughes, we know what we're doing at that position. We know what we're doing at one C, we know what we're doing at one D. Now they have their goalie, like those core pieces are in place. And there's just still so much unknown for where the flyers are. I just don't know if it makes a ton of sense. But again, I don't think it's like, I don't think the rebuild is ruined. I don't think they're fucked. I don't know. Well, another 50 years without a cop, like that's not what I'm saying. I'm just like, is this the best allocation of assets? I think our don't think it is. I think our general view of this is that like, and this was going back months was that neither of us would sign him to a deal like this, but the flyers are going to. So like, yeah, you just kind of like, we, we knew this was coming. We knew they were probably going to resign Travis Connectney. As I've said on multiple occasions throughout the summer, generally speaking, when the team wants to resign a guy and the player wants to resign with the team, generally speaking, the two sides come to come to some sort of agreement. Connect me at the start of this. I think was looking, he was his initial ask was in like the 10 mill range. Obviously, people online freaked out. Understandably, that would have been a crazy overpay. The flyers looked at him more as like a low eight kind of guy. So they met someone in the middle and it certainly helped the flyers that the contracts that were signed to similar ish players came in, I think lower than people expected them to at the start of July. Like I'm very much thinking of the Sam Reiner. That's true. Now like, granted, Sam Reiner is resigning with a team that just want to say like cop. He gave them a bit of a discount. I'm sure that the tax thing plays at least a little bit of a role in lowering that cap at a little bit. So it wasn't an apples to apples comparison, but had Sam Reiner hit the open market and signed a seven year 10.5 A.V. million dollar contract, Travis can is much easier for Travis Connect me to go back and say, yeah, I mean, maybe I'm not worth 10, but I'm worth 9.5 a year over eight years, like to be damn sure I am. And I think that hurt his leverage a bit. And in the end, connect you want to stay. So most likely in this negotiation, like connect, he probably gave a little bit more than the flyers did that said, again, my overarching point is I'm still not convinced the flyers should have been the team that gives him this deal. And I say this is someone who thinks very highly of Travis Connect me, who thinks he's a really good player, thinks he's a better player than I think you and a lot of people on social media with the flyers world think I think he's a really good player. I am skeptical that this was the smartest move for the flyers given their timeline. The only way this really works, well, there's two ways this really works. Number one way is just that he ages really well, which like, yeah, could happen. It happens. It's harder for us to envision that scenario playing out after watching what happened at Sean Gatorier before the contract even freaking kicked in. Yeah, it's just you're like, uh, you know, the last time they made one of these big bets on a guy aging well, the guy blew out his back before it even started. Yeah. And now we don't know what he is, but guys do age well sometimes he could age well and he could still be a 70 point guy, 80 point guy when he's 34, 35 years old. That's possible. And then all this, you know, consternation about how he's going to age will be proven foolish because he aged really well. The other way it works out and this is possible, it's just that goes back to the conversation which we've had over the last couple of weeks about this off season being a missed opportunity is if the fliers turn the corner quicker, you know, if, if Mitch cough this year explodes as a rookie and scores 90 points and then you're like, oh man, they have their superstar already. You don't need to develop them. He's already he's a superstar and instead of waiting until the summer of 2026 to make big moves, we're going to use all those draft picks. We stockpiled. We're going to trade for a Trevor Zegris type and we're going to, you know, find a way to move out some cap space and then sign a big name for reagent because it's time to, you know, put the gas pedal to the floor here and just fricking go. Then the contract for Connectney kicks in just as you're starting to try to compete. Then I think it makes sense. I'm just skeptical that any of that's going to happen. It could just skeptical it will. My best guess. Those are outlier. Those are outlier. My best guess is that the fliers, if the rebuild goes as they most likely expected to, they're not going to try to be contending for cops for at least another two, three, four years. And that's two or three years into the deal. That's half the contract. Yeah. Not half, but it's not as significant. It's a moderate fraction of the deal, whether you want to call it a third, a half, but like if it's four years from now, yeah, but still, I will say I do have this perception of him as like, maybe not the most durable and outside. I don't think that's fair. And I made that argument to you. Outside of 22, 23, he really's never missed a ton of time. His rookie year he missed some time and two seasons ago he missed some time. Like this year he missed six games. That's well within like a man that's a contact sport. Guys get banged up. Yeah. I guess maybe that plays into it where I think he misses more time than he does. I do think I wish we had like this is something that I don't, I don't want to single you out because I think it happens to a lot of people and maybe this isn't what happens to you. I just think that a lot of people because of the fact that the 2019, 2020 season, the 2020, 2021 season had fewer games than 82. It has sticker shock because you look at the game and you're like, Oh man, that's three seasons. He played, you know, 50, 60-ish games and you forget that two of those seasons, like they only played 50, 60-ish games. He missed like two games in those games and something like that. But it looks like if you're glancing at hockey reference, it looks like, wow, he must have missed a lot of time when in reality, like everybody missed time because we were in an unprecedented global pandemic situation. I think the 2020, they only played like 66 or 68 games, the team that played the most was 69. I'm pretty sure. Nice. But honestly, I just thought he missed more time last year when I just looked up his hockey reference. I was like, Oh, six games. I thought it was like 10. But no, it's definitely possible he ages well. And we talked yesterday, it's good to have veterans around Matt V. Michkov and these developing young players, not just Michkov, all these guys. People do love Travis Connect, he is one of the boys in the room. And it is important to have like competent players around young guys to help them develop. Like, it's very hard to develop if you're passing to someone who skates around their own feet. You know, like it does definitely help if you don't take because they're not tearing it all the way down. If you keep some of these guys around, I get it. I just am constantly thinking like, all right. So Sanheim's here. Kataria's here, connect these here forever now. How do they get the guys they still need? Well, that's the question to me. But I guess my view of that, I'm less concerned about that because number one, cap is going up dramatically. That can't be ignored. Number two, I don't want like, I'm not saying it's not saying it's impossible to do. I don't want them going out and throwing $14 million at Leon Dreycidal anyway, like even if he becomes a free agent because I think spending that much money in free agencies fucking stupid. So like, I don't want them to go that path anyway. What I would work much rather than do is use the players they have to make trades. And then yeah, you're eventually going to have to sign those guys to extensions to be sure. But like, I don't want, it's not that big of a deal to me to like, like stockpile $30 million or the cap space to go out and spend big on a big name free agent because I don't like spending big on free agents anyways. I think, I think you saying you don't want to spend it on Dreycidal is insane. But typically the players that hit free agency, it's a bad one. What I'm saying is that I don't want them to go out and like, well, we're just going to throw the absolute bag at the one superstar that hits free agency and offer $3 million a year more than everybody else to make sure they get it. Basically do the old Ed Snyder strategy. I very much agree that in general, that is not a good strategy. It would make much more sense to trade for younger guys who haven't hit that plateau of, well, shit, if you want them, it's going to be eight digits or if they have to pay them eventually. You have to pay them eventually. I mean, like, look, I would love it if they were to go out and trade obviously isn't going to happen. It's just got resigned. But like the guy who I always bring up is like my like white whale is quitting bio. Like, like get a guy like that. They're not going to because Ellie isn't stupid and they just extend them. Like, yeah, go out and get in fine guys like that and then watch them turn into superstars. But like they could also stay ready for the next time a Mark Stone or a Jack Eichol becomes available. I'm not saying they will. I don't even know who it would be, but you have, you want to position yourself, you want to have the cat flexibility so that when that guy, because they always do like once every couple of years, a guy like that becomes available, one cell battles with, you know, he's sick of losing something like that. He's not what he wanted. You want to be ready for ready to pounce when a guy like that becomes available because they do. It doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen. Things happen. I don't think this is necessarily going to preclude them from being involved in those types of pursuits. I don't think it's going to kill them. This isn't as high of a cap hit as I think a lot of us feared. That doesn't mean it's not significant. It's very large. But it's not upwards of nine. I think my general reaction to this is that given the fact that I knew it was almost certainly going to happen, it could have been worse. Yeah, that's the two things. I do think we've said this before, like with the cap going up, it was so flat for so long, even if it would go up, it was like, oh, it went out, you know, 560k. Awesome. Yeah. Like we do have to recalibrate what a cap hit means. You know, like Claude Drew, whatever it was, 825 or 850, whatever it was, that's for what it was that. Okay. That's basically what stores get. And then the upper echelon, like, okay, now we're talking 10 and 11, like that's gigantic with the cap going up. It's like, yeah, 14. That's not going to be an insane thing to think for dry cycle, who's not even the best player on his team, but it's what like we're going to have to recalibrate that. And I will say, when you told me the cap hit, the sticker shock of, oh, yeah, I thought it was going to be nine and a half, 10, because I haven't really seen Danny, like win a negotiation yet. I don't know if this is a win for him, but it is not the, it's not a win. It's not the Oh fuck. What did you just do? But like, that's the way it always is done. And this is something that, like, out of the very many things that annoy me about Twitter, like these types of like early negotiation points that like it's kind of like the argument I made in the lead up to the draft where like you like, it's like Lucy with the football, like every year the insiders tell you top five picks, top 10 picks are going to get traded. Everybody convinces themselves it's going to happen and gets mad about or gets excited about it. And then every year it doesn't happen and everybody's like, I don't know, I don't know why it didn't happen. This is never fucking happens and just like, you just build yourself up every year only to get the full, the football pulled away. It's kind of the same thing with this stuff where like the early numbers that come out in rumors are always overshoots, they're always overshoots and they're undershoots. And what always happens every time is that the overshoot number comes out and fans on Twitter lose their goddamn mind. So he's not worth that. That's insane. The flyers are stupid or whatever team is doing the negotiating is stupid. If they would even consider it when in reality, yes, they would be stupid if they considered it because that's the ask from the agent because the, and the agent, if you even hook the agent up to a lie detector, the agent even knows if his client isn't worth that or her client, they know because that's how the game is played. You shoot high and then you come back and meet in the middle because, hey, what's the harm of shooting high? You ask for 10 mil and what if you run into Chuck Fletcher? He's like, sure. Oh, fuck. I was going to offer you a 12. One thing and then we have to hit some, hit some reads. I was, this is like something I said, right when we were going on air based on like total value here. Is this the richest contract the flyers have ever handed out? I think it probably is. Yeah. I, I, unless yeah, because what, what's, I can't do this math. I'm ahead. What 8.75 times eight is, but Drew was on a, what 8.25 million on top. He's right under him. So yeah. And, and, and could sign an eight year deal, but it was on a sub eight million dollar cap. So yeah, this is probably the biggest deal that the flyers and like I'm sure back, you know, pre cap Lindross was making a shit ton, but I don't think any of those were like super long term. Yeah. I remember like several contract negotiations with him. Yeah. Like LaClaire had a massive cap hit, but I think it was only for like four or five years if I remember correctly. It was getting like 10 mil a year. Yeah. He definitely like had 10, but I don't think like he had an eight year deal or anything like that. All right. So we're talking about, you know, Danny, well, he's not going to let Travis Connect me hit the market, but maybe you want to hit the market. The right aid, yellow market. That's right. This, I'm trying this line of exclusive right aid branded, candy snacks and pantry items are perfect for whatever you, whatever you fancy to snack on. They have different things like candy from classics like peach rings and starlight mints to gummy butterflies and sour worms who doesn't love a sour worm, plus nuts and trail mixes, packed with vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, all that good stuff. And then you got the popcorn. I know my wife is a big fan of the L O popcorn. You can get it buttery. 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I was not expecting breaking news that had an entirely different show plan. I put Brin it through like an hour's worth of graphic making. And honestly, we'll get to it at some point over the next couple of weeks. Guess what? We're going to be right back here tomorrow. Sure will. But today's question is whether we are we are actually going to do the Slapshot show for that. That's never going to happen. This is fucking, yeah, this is going to be a running bit. We are never going to get to reviews day Tuesdays. It is now Thursday. It is never going to happen. Danny's going to trade for Trevor Zegris tomorrow. Who knows? But just is it fair to expect this level of production going forward from Travis Connect? Like do you think right now is the player he is or will he be better once there's better talent around him? Well, I mean, I count myself as an optimistic person with regards to Travis Connect's talent. So yeah. I think that at least over the next couple of years, especially if Mape Mitchov is the player that we're hoping he's going to be. Whether that happens this year or a year or two down the road, I think connect these numbers will improve because he's still like the late 20s are that weird range where like technically it's like a little bit past your prime, but it's it's close enough that like it might as well be the prime functionally. And now he's going to have more help. I think the power play will be better. I don't know how much better, but it would be difficult for it to be worse. And I also think that like if it's still freakin terrible, if it's still freakin terrible with Mape Mitchov on the team, I don't think Rocky Thompson will be running the power play in 2025, 2026. I think this is kind of the like, all right, dude, like we love you, but if you can't figure this out with him, then like you can hopefully dries, Dale as a healthy player, then like you really just can't do it. If we love you that much, we'll move you to a different role because like you can't coach a power play. So I don't think the power play will stay this bad and I do think that is deflating his numbers. I don't know if they're going to score a ton more to even strength, but I would expect more power play points. I fully expect connecting to be on power play one with Mitchov in some form or another. So I think his numbers are going to go up. Yeah, I do believe that at least for the next couple of years, like the one thing and we've talked about this on the show quite a lot with connect me is that, you know, people point out, let me bring up his numbers. So I'm not just making this up and guessing because I don't remember Travis connect these stats over the last couple of years by memory. So in 2022, 2023 at 31 goals, 61 points in 2023, 2024, he had 33 goals, 68 points, but he missed time in both those years. So if I remember correctly, his goal pace per year looking at point per game is something like the high 30s and the point pace is something like, I believe high 70s. I think with the help of Mitchov, at least in the first part of the deal when he's still very much operating at peak physical powers, I would expect connected to be something like a true talent, 40 goal, 80-ish point guy. I think that is reasonable. Now, is that worth this cup pit probably in the beginning? Yeah. In the first three, four years of the deal, if that's what he's providing on a yearly basis, yeah, he's worth that cup pit. Can he keep doing that when he is 32, 33, 34, 35? We'll see. Yeah. That's if he's able to stay relatively healthy the next couple of years and the scoring of pretty close to a point of game, like, yeah, he only had 61 points two years ago, but that was in 60 games. He had 68 points this past season, in 76 games. He scored over 30 goals each season. If he's able to keep that going and it gets to the power play just improves, I mean, it can't get worse, right? He scored 64 goals in the last two seasons and nine of them are on the power play. If he has that many in one season, suddenly, yeah, okay, the power plays a little better, the scoring numbers look a little better. I do think it was a 8.75 million. I will say that is fair value. I would say you are paying him what he is worth. I do not believe this to be an overpay. I would say, and I'm actually, there was an interesting graphic that Dom was just put up on Twitter. We'll get into that in a few minutes, hopefully, we'll see, but I would say that based on his current production, I think it is on a yearly basis, a slight overpay. However, it's not an overpay if you are giving him like you're basically saying like, yeah, this is what he produces with little town around him, give him more talent. His true talent level is that I don't think it's an overpay based on what I believe connect these true talent to be. My concern is what is his true talent going to be when he's 33, 34? And how does that line up with the timeline that they are planning to embark upon with this rebuild? Because again, if look, if their plan is to turn the corner real quick in one, two years and by, I'll even give them year one, if by year two, if by the 20, 26, 20, 27 season, which would be the second year of his contract, if they are going to be going for it. And it's like, oh man, they went for being a bubble playoff team to be in one of the six or seven best teams in hockey, then, yeah, then I totally understand. This deal, but if they are going to continue to preach patience and if three years, because you've kept, you've been saying for a long time that you believe this is going to take a lot longer than they're even telling us based on their actions, based on things that they let slip in. If that's the case, I don't like this deal because, and I said this in the, in the, the article I did at the end quotes of the off season when I basically said it was a missed opportunity. But look, if you want to build this team patiently, if you want to have to do this rebuild as they say the right way where we're not rushing into it, I think people would be very open to that. The problem is, is that that rebuilding plan, the patient, draft and develop, don't do anything crazy, wait for the right moves, don't rush into moves, don't try to, you know, rip the band aid off quicker than the, and then it has to be ripped off. If that's what you're doing, fine, but that can't include a Travis connecting extension for eight years. If you're going to sign Travis connecting for eight years, you're either a unbelievably confident he's going to age extremely well, which I think is an overly optimistic bet. It could happen. I just think it's overly optimistic. It's not what generally happens or you got to turn the corner quicker than what you're acting like you're going to turn the core for a, and I know a lot of these contracts were not signed by this current regime. So there's not a ton you can do when guys have no trade clauses or are injured. No one wants to trade for them, all that stuff. But for a rebuilding team, Shonkatorier is signed till 2030. Oh, and tip it. And he's young. I think this is going to, this contract is going to age well, but he's signed till 2032 Connectney now signed till 2033. And Joel Faraby signed till 2028. The Sanheim deal ends in 2031. The sealer deal ends in 2028. They have quite a few long term contracts for a team that the general manager said yesterday. Yeah, for, you know, 19 year old rookie who's immigrating from Russia, goes nuts. Maybe we can sneak into the playoffs. Like this is just very odd the way they're going about. I don't think it's as odd as you're, as you're acting like, because like you got to have players and you do and like, okay, the Sanheim contract, I'm on record is saying I don't think that ever made sense when Fletcher gave it out. But the fact of the matter is that they've, he's under contract. Yeah. You got to deal with it. They tried to trade him. They could. He loves being here. He has a no trade clause now. He's not waving it. He loves being in Philly. The coach doesn't even hate it anymore. So like, San, I'm saying I may go in anywhere. And like, I think Breyer even knew last year that like, Sanheim really doesn't fit the timeline. But like, well, they're stuck with them. And sorry, that was the final gift of Chuck Fletcher. Tough shit. Couturier was another Fletcher thing, and I don't think the Couturier contract would be that bad if he didn't have back surgery. No, no, that's a good contract if he is what he is before the pandemic. The typical contract, I think is the exact kind of bet the flier should be making, especially given the fact that it expires when I think he's 30. Like there's no, the concerns I have about the connecting deal are not shared by the tip of deal because of the H fact, because the fact of the matter is is that tip it will, the contract will expire before I start really worrying about tip it's age. Connect me is, I would have to say more than anything else. It's a bet on him aging well, they, they love him. He loves being here and they think he's going to age well, hopefully they're right. But I don't, I don't love the idea, I feel like a lot of the consternation about the amount of long-term contracts they have on this team, it's in large part driven by the fact that, and again, specifically the online portion of the fan base, they don't like this team. So it's like, so, so it's, it's basically like, why are you locking all these players? I don't particularly like the, there are crazy people who are just like, I don't like these players. Yes. However, sick of these players, sick of these players, sure, they exist. However, it's not like any of these dudes have ever won shit, like you're locking up a core of players that have never been to an Eastern Conference final, like I know that some of that is out of their control and listen, no matter how much out of their control. Yes. And no matter how much like, you know, Sean Katorier's contract now, listen, if he doesn't get hurt, I think that's a really good contract. But like, I, I just, where do they get the good players? Where are the guys? Danny Breyer keeps talking about building a team that doesn't just make the playoffs, but competes for Stanley Cups. Great. That's what I want to hear. It's what we've been begging you for you, begging of this franchise for two decades now. How? I just don't see how. I think there is absolutely, I don't think it's as difficult as your, as your letting on. And by, by difficult, like, look, all this is, the way you get those players is being good GM. We don't yet know how good of a GM Danny Breyer is. Like, I don't think that Travis, this Travis Connecti contract is going to be what stops them from trading for a really good player when he becomes available. What's going to stop them from trading for a really good player when he comes available is if it turns out that Danny Breyer is incapable of negotiating well enough to hammer out a deal for a really good player that becomes available. Like, but that would be a, that would be a potential problem even if they didn't resign Travis Connect. Yeah. That just means he's bad at his job. I don't think this is going to put them in, I don't think this is going to put them in cap hell now. And we're hoping that he's going to make these moves to get these kinds of players over the next three to four years. Like, that's when the moves are supposed to be made. And that's going to be the time when I don't think Connecti's contract has very, has very little chance of being bad when the flyers are trying to make the moves for the high-end talent they're trying to get. When I'm worried it's going to be bad is at the back half of the deal. Let me put it this way. If the flyers are still bad, then Danny Breyer could be the general manager at that point anyway. Like, again, I don't think this is a bad contract. I think it is fine. I think if he stays relatively healthy, especially for the beginning of this contract, he'll be getting paid pretty much what he's wearing, pretty much what he's wearing. I don't think it's bad. I'm just like, it's the roster spots to me. I'm like, where do these guys play? Like, is you going to have a third line that's making, you know, between Keatori and Connecti? Like, you really think Connecti's going to be a third line player though? Like, I've actually seen some of that in the chat where people are saying, like, how can you re-sign it? How can you sign another right wing when you have Mitch Cough and he's going to be you're paying 8.75 mil for a second line right wing? I mean, he's going to bounce around the lineup, but he can play the left side. He's played the left side a lot. And in the end, I think we get a little, a little too hung up on depth chart positioning. What matters more is ice time and usage. And if Connecti is ultimately getting 19, 20 minutes a night and producing, you know, 40 goals, 80 points, it doesn't matter whether he's being used on the second line versus the first line. And I think he's going to get more than enough first line time anyway because he can play the left side. Mitch Cough can probably play the left side. Right now, I want him playing the right side because I want him as comfortable as possible as he gets used to a new lead, but it would shock me if like he's incapable of playing the left side. He's a left shooting winger. He could do that. I'm sure he's done it before. So I wouldn't get too hung up on the idea of like, there's too many right wings. Forester showed last year he can play the left side, typically can play the left side connecting play the left side. They're going to have right shooting left side wingers, whether Connecti spends most of his time at first line left wing or second line right wing or maybe first line right wing until Mitch Cough proves he deserves to be first line right wing. I wouldn't get too hung up on that because what matters more, like it's bad if Connecti in year three of this deal is getting 16 minutes a night. That's bad. Yes. That would be very bad. I don't think that's going to happen. I think he's going to be getting the the ice time to measure it with the amount of money in the cap that he is making. What he does with that ice time is going to be up to him, but I think he is going to. I don't think this is a case of like, why did you just give a 0.75 mill to a second liner? I don't think the fliers view him a second line. I don't think they're going to be using him like a second line. No. And like we've said many times, good teams have two first lines. Yes. The third line is the second lines and then every coach loves a grind fourth line. But like it's that's how you win. Cause that's, I always say like third lines, win cups cause like if you're in the final four, you know, you're in the conference final, I bet you both teams first lines are real fucking good. I bet you both team. Second lines match up pretty well. And then it's like, do you have that depth on the third line? I don't care. Like it can act. He is a top six forward. You want to play him at right wing, left way. He is a top six forward in the NHL. Like I just said, he's top, he's 44th in points per game over the last two years. That is a top six forward easily. Like very much. It's a top line for. Yes. Real good. Yeah. I just am like, I don't know, I'm just not down with this. I don't think it's bad. I just don't think it's good either. Like he's going to be. It's not a contract. I would have traded a connect. I would have because I, my view would have been I want to get assets that I am more convinced fit what I see as the fliers most likely timeline for contention than connect me does. Now the fliers look at it as number one, they think he's going to age well because they know him, they see how hard he works. They do have more information. I also think that information can tend to lead you down the road of confirmation bias and being like, well, he's going to, he's going to be the, the outlier because we know him and he's so great and maybe, but there's a reason why they're called outliers because they don't happen usually. So that's number one, like they, they think he's going to age well. They also want to be competitive and trading away connecting would certainly make this team worse. They do have a belief that, you know, we, we don't want to bottom out. Trading away connect me would probably make it easier for them to finish with a top five pick this year. They've made it clear they don't want to do that. So if you're going to keep them this year, I guess you might as well re-sign them. So there's that too. Number three, and this is the big one. Like we're talking about this in the idea of like, well, the connect me deal will make more sense if Danny Breyer is a good general manager that makes good moves. Danny Breyer is a general manager than making these movies. He thinks he's a good general manager. He thinks he's going to be able to build a good team around Travis Connectney early in this contract because justifiably, he believes he's good at his job. I think the signs are relatively solid so far that Breyer is at least a good GM at, at worst a passable one, but I, as an outsider, I have to look at it and say, I don't know for sure. And that there is a, there is a world where Danny Breyer is actually a terrible general manager. And I have to view that as a possible outcome. Danny Breyer is not viewing that as a possible outcome. No, that's, that is what like, that is a very good point in terms of like the way you look at it. Yeah. Like, well, he can't look at it that way. You can't look at it like, well, I might suck. Yes. Like, no, Danny, I don't want you looking at thinking like, I might suck. That's fair. Um, listen, before we go any further, because I'm going to come back to this in just a second, but first, I got to tell you about our friends at Lucy nicotine. That's right. 100% pure nicotine, always tobacco free. Lucy isn't like every other, uh, nicotine pouch company. You see them at a wah, wah, there's dozens of them at this point, uh, but they're not owned by big tobacco. They're kind of the mom and pop shop of pouches and them. Yeah. That's pretty cool. Uh, pouches come in a variety of strengths from Lucy. You can get four milligrams. That's what I go with. They also have eight and 12 milligrams and, uh, as Shane Gillis says, those 12s will put you on the moon. And the thing I like about them best is the flavors, uh, apple ice, wintergreen, mango. I've told you before, I was pleasantly surprised by the mango. Not a huge mango fan really of anything. These ones delicious though. The espresso, uh, couple of my friends got the espresso, uh, on Lucy dot CO slash flyers. They really dug those as well. And if you're not a pouch guy or gal, Lucy gum is available in two, four and six milligram doses. So set yourself up with a subscription and have Lucy delivered straight to your door. Let's level up your nicotine routine with Lucy. Go to Lucy dot CO slash flyers and use promo code flyers to get 20% off your forced or first order. Lucy offers free shipping and has a 30 day refund policy. If you change your mind, that's Lucy dot CO and use code flyers to get 20% off and always free shipping. Here comes that fine print. Lucy products are only for adults of legal age and every order is age verified. Warning. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Now we are talking all this, uh, breaking Travis connecting news, but Charlie, I bet you're going to have a couple articles coming. I guess I guess I'm going to have to. I think you might have to do some writing soon and the best way to read Charlie's content and all of our excellent writers here at PHL Y is to go to all PHL Y dot com and sign up to be a die hard. You get all of the premium written content. You get access to the discord. You get a discount on merch and events and you get a free shirt who doesn't love free shirt. Go to all PHL Y dot com. Sign up to be a die hard today. The benefits are endless. We love our die hards here at PHL Y and we want you to be one of them, dammit. So sign up all PHL Y dot com. All right, Chuck. So one thing I want to talk about because I got a, I asked Brenna, our great producer, to put this tweet up for our, our viewers and for us to take a look at it. So this is from Damless Chitchot. He is the, uh, the athletic. I've never tried to pronounce his last name. Really? It's not that hard with you. There's like four Z's in it. Anyway, go ahead. So he has his model that he uses to evaluate players and it's interesting the, the evaluation that he comes to with this contract, which is basically that right now, and this goes back to kind of my view of connecting is that right now connect me is not based on his current production and eight point seven, $5 million a year player, but he is close. Basically what he has is he has next year's projection for connecting in terms of value on the ice to be eight point two mill, then eight point four, eight point four for the next two years, this would be that, so there's, that would be year one, year two of the contract, then eight point three, eight point one. So that's first four years of the contract. He is a clear cut eight million dollar a year player. That is more or less where, where I view connect me. That's why I don't have a lot of time because I, it's not like I agree with every single thing. Dom's model says, but we're coming at it from a lot of the same parts. This is why I don't have a lot of time for the arguments that like he wouldn't be an eight million dollar year player on a good team. Like, no, he is. He's an eight million dollar a year player on a bad team, and if anything, he'd probably be more valuable on a good team because he'd have a lot more freaking help. But this is based on the production that he's put up and the results that he's put up. For the first four years, he's solidly above eight million dollars a year worth of value. This analysis also accounts for the expected cap ceiling increases as well. So don't think that that's not included. Then you have the final four years, seven point eight mill, seven point three mill, six point seven mill, six, six point zero mill. So like not if that's the way the aging curve plays out, not devastating, but we're talking about, you know, two to three million dollars a year of overpay in the years where the fliers hopefully are a yearly cup contender. That's always been my concern of the steel. However, and I guess this is the other gamble the fliers are making is this deal of right now, it doesn't look like it's going to age terribly well if he remains the player he is now. But if you pop an extra 10 points a year from the power play of Mitch cough on his point totals, and that's kind of what Dom hints at here where he'll need to take another step forward to worth the money. If the only thing that's keeping his numbers down is a lack of help and the help is now here, then suddenly, you know, when this contract kicks in instead of the projected value he's providing being eight point four mill, maybe it's then nine point two mill. And then the entire curve boost up a little bit. And then suddenly, even if those last couple of years are going to be overpaced, instead of him being a six point, oh, million dollar year player in your aid of the deal, maybe he is a seven point, oh, million dollar year player. And again, slight, it's an overpay, but it's not going to kill you, especially if you're getting value elsewhere. I just, I wanted to talk about this because it visualizes the way in my head, I have been thinking about this deal for the months in the lead up to when it was going to be announced. And because like, I don't want to sit here and make the whole show like, Oh, fuck, they say on Travis Connecty. Like I said, he is a very good player. Two things I do like about this deal. As you said, I expect his production to at least stay steady or go up. Listen, in the last two years, he scored 31 and 33 goals on a team with no centers. Yeah. Like I can't even, and now this is partially because my brain is mashed potatoes. Yeah. There one C that the year, not last year, but the year four is like no a case. That's, I was like, I can't even tell you who his center was for the majority of 2223. I don't even remember. Like, I don't know. Who is it going to be this year? Hopefully Sean Kittoria. Like, is it going to be Morgan Frost? These guys are not exactly from what we saw from them. One sees in the NHL, you know, that's not what they are. If you get him that guy, I think that could boost it a little bit. And now even just with the help of if Mitch Cobb and dries Dale can boost this power play to some level of respectability, I'm not even going to say good, just like, not a goddamn laughing stock. I just think then his production will look fine. And I'm seeing these people pop up my mentions. I see them on the chat. The reason why I argue, even though I don't love this, I don't have time for the argument that Travis Connect Me is not that good. Like, I'm seeing people. I'm seeing people in my mentions being like, he can't even crack 35 goals a year. Like, like looking at his numbers, he hit 31 and 60 games. Like, yeah, he didn't score 35 goals. Right. You win that point. That is not the best. Circle takes the square. He missed 22 games, I'm pretty sure he would have scored four more goals in 22 games that year when his centers were Morgan Frost and Noah Cates. Like, you can, I guess where I'm coming from is that you can dislike this contract without unfairly minimizing the fact that Travis Connect Me is a good hockey player. Absolutely. I think that you don't have to be like, he's not even that good. Like, no, he is that good. And you can think he's that good and also be like, I don't know if this is the right move for the Flyers. You don't have to go so far in the other direction of, he kind of sucks, man. He's like a third liner at best. Like, no, no, he is. Now you sound stupid. Yeah. He's a very, very good player. And that's like, I do fit one of the other things I like about this contract. And I spent the first 50 minutes of the show telling you what I don't like about it. One of the things I do like about this contract is Travis Connect Me is a homegrown player. He made this team basically as a teenager, he's been here a long time. He's been through a lot of shit. We saw how this little change over the over the last few years could go. You could be Kevin Hayes. You could be Jake Vorchek, like it could go poorly. This guy bought in and he didn't just buy in. He bought in with goddamn John Tortorello, which is that's 50 50. That's a coin flip how players are going to go. And now you are rewarding a homegrown player with what I believe to be basically market value. Like, I don't think the numbers on the dealer band. That's not like this. I think they paid him. They paid him a little bit more than his is on ice production would warrant based on the theory that his numbers have been deflated because of the lack of talent around. I think that is probably the best way to evaluate the contract as it stands right now. That is succinctly stated. There's like a $400,000 a year tax for the fact that he was stuck with shit on the power play and et cetera. No, Kate's was the one C two years ago, but like, I think it is good, especially for how much they talk about culture and the locker room and all this intangible shit. I do think it's important to reward guys like Travis Connectney, who have like in his mid twenties, made a commitment to getting better at other aspects of his game. And so that improved his overall game, like from, you know, the first, what one, two, three, four, five, six years of his career, zero shorthand goals, nine in the last two years. Like that is a guy who changed something in his game to be able to put himself in this situation to help the ad better coaching. Oh, well, yeah, the coaching couldn't get worse than what he had for a majority of those first six years. I mean, I do think you're right in that he's added elements to his game, you know, just the fact that Torts likes him tells me that he's worked on improving parts of his game that Torts yells at him for because Torts wouldn't like him if he didn't, if he just blew him off. That said, I do wonder if Travis Connectney, like, like, did he become a short handed weapon or did a coach finally just decided to try him in that role? Like did Wayne Simmons actually become good on the power play or did some genius finally like, oh, maybe the big strong guy who like can take punishment and has soft hands. Maybe he should be a net front guy on our power play. Oh my God. He's good at it. Amazing. I remember reading this book. You like when I was a kid about Bobby or like the first page was a like a quote from like one of his first youth coaches and or was playing forward at the time. It's like, I just saw the way he skated with the puck and I thought, what if he did that like to break out of the zone and so I put him on defense and it's like, ah, and you just had the idea and the best defense would have all time. Like, sometimes it is just, hey, why don't we, you know, he scores a lot of goals on the rush. What if we gave him more rush opportunities, like it's that simple. They created a situation where does he, where does he thrive? He thrives on the rush. Oh, you know, where you get rushes when you block shots on the power play, when you get a poke check at the point and take it the other way. That's a rush. Oh, well, yeah, it works. Six more goals a year because of that and it's turned him into a 30 goal score. Like that is good coaching, but he had to buy in like, and I think it's good to reward the guys who buy in and want to be here as much as I don't know if I love this contract. I don't know if it's the smartest allocation of assets. There are things I like about it and rewarding a homegrown guy who has taken the time to improve his game. I think is important. No, he wants to be here again. This is the second second day in a row, I'm shouting out this guy, but fuck you, Jimmy Saul Goodman, who was presenting for three years on Twitter to anyone who would listen. The belief that everyone in Philadelphia desperately wanted to leave cut his burner. Yeah. Probably like Carter's cousin or something, but seriously, like, like that was a narrative that was put out here. And again, I spent too much time on Twitter, which is why it annoyed me as much as I did, because every other day someone would be sending me one of his tweets and being like, what do you think about this? Like, I don't know. He's a moron. Like, but, but it's abundantly clear like last this time last year, they were being like, Oh, and Tim is never going to resign. Travis Connect. He's never going to resign. They're racing out of here, like got news for it. They're not because they want to be here. And before we go any further, I want to thank our diehards very much for their continued contributions to, uh, to this show and everything we do here at all PHLY all city. We couldn't do this without the diehards. So thank you very much. Certainly could not diehards. My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big row as man, then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend. My friends still laughing me to this day. Not everyone gets B2B, but with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do get a $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to linkedin.com/results to claim your credit. That's linkedin.com/results. Terms and conditions apply linked in the place to be to be. Thank you. Know the Brooks ghost. Think again, introducing the all new, better than ever ghost 16. Now with nitrogen infused cushioning for lightweight, supreme softness that feels good every step, every street, every single day. So go ahead. Make your daily joy ride in the all new nitrogen infused ghost 16. It'll turn your everyday miles into everyday endorphins. Let's run there. Head to brooksrunning.com to learn more. All right, Charlie. I guess we go through the superchats. Superchats. Oh, yeah. We have a bunch. Okay. I mean, the big thing happened today. I figured people would want to be involved. I honestly just forgot about the superchats until you mentioned it. So I'm glad that you mentioned it. I need the ticker at the bottom. Now that we have the breaking news, I'm very, you just need to have your mind. Focus. I'm very, you know, like routine oriented. Okay. That's the only way I can keep my head straight. All right. Let's start with space lettuce speaking of keeping your head straight. Should we all go to Mishkov's debut on 922 in DC, September 22nd in DC. That's the opening preseason game. I thought it was the 23rd. I, I cannot tell you that I've memorized the preseason schedule. I'm looking to go to Chicago that weekend for riot fest and a Cubs game. So I believe it's, it might be the 20s. You're, I forget, but yeah, that would be a lot of fun if we get a good fliers contingent down in DC for a freaking preseason game. That's today was supposed to be all about Mishkov's like rookie year expectations and stuff. It's like everyone's, you know, you do have to temper expectations. It's coming over whole new country is only 19 and it's like, we're going to fill up in away arena for a preseason game. Goddamn it. Yeah. Our expectations are tempered. All right. I love it. Space lettuce. All right. Linden 49 happy days, TK signs, Matt Fae Mishkov is here dog days, my ass. I will, I will say, as much as I had a whole other show plan today, it is nice when things happen. Yeah. Because guess what's going to happen next week? There's going to be a dead day and we can just kind of push everything down the day. That is kind of nice. So I will say it is a happy day in that regard. But I do, there are, I think we spend too much time because like, who's the most likely to say something? It's a person who's pissed off about something and has agitated and wants to send you a message. Like a lot of fans do really like TK. Yeah. There are a lot of TK fans out there, there's a ton of TK jerseys in the seats. He is a fan favorite. Yeah. And I do believe that the, just as I made the argument a few weeks ago that, wow, the online contingent is very annoyed with the lack of movement in the off season that most fans, most of the casual fans, and not even casual, but like, just don't spend their entire lives online fans are going to, are going to, in September be like, "Miskoff's here." Miskoff's here. Successful off season. They got the, they got the kid. I'm excited. Let's freaking do this. It's the same thing here where, while the portion of the fan base that is, you know, more diehards that, that pay attention to the cap hits and, you know, were devastated when cap friendly got bought. And like that crew is going to be skeptical of this. A lot of the fans are just going to be like, "Well, Travis Connect, he's my kid's favorite player. He's going to be here forever. That's great." Yeah. Like I bought a TK jersey. Yeah. This is good. Yeah. Because I get to keep wearing this jersey. Yeah. So that is like that. I actually, you know what? I'm happy for the kids that own TK jerseys. Yeah. Because as someone who got a Chris Grant in Jersey as a kid, that sucked. And one point I do want to make is we've spent a lot of time talking about the organizational implications. And this goes back to something that Kelly has argued multiple times that, you know, we focus so much on the, like, becoming shills for, like, for the owners, being like, "Man, they should have got him for cheaper." I'm happy for Travis Connecting because number one, he earned this deal. Number two, like this time two years ago, going into the 2022-2023 season when he was coming off of two very disappointing years, I didn't know what direction Travis Connecting's career was going to get. That's fair. I truly did not. He had the big semi breakout in 2019-2020, then he struggles in the playoffs in the bubble, then he comes out, gets scratched within, like, two weeks of that next season, struggles for two years, and he really turned his career back around, got it back on track, and turned himself back into an impact NHL player who warrants an eight-year commitment with a massive cap hit. And I'm happy for Travis Connecting. He's matured a lot as a player. He's matured a lot as a person, and I'm really happy for him that he got this deal. He's not, like, pandemic, not exactly prospect age at that time, but even a guy, like, entering his prime, basically, in those years, and it being so fucked up, like, I think that's the number one argument for Jamie Drysdale is, like, how was he supposed to develop, first of all, like, the fliers don't even think he should have been in the NHL at that point, but regardless, it's like, how was he supposed to develop when the whole world is on fire? I think in a few years, we're going to look back at a lot of dudes in that early 20s age in 1920 and be like, oh, yeah, they didn't quite take the trajectory we thought at that time, because how could they have-- Yeah. --they were children. I mean, I've made the case, like, off the show to friends that, like, I think we still dramatically understate the impact on our collective psyches that the pandemic years had on everyone. Not just sports related, but just, like, go walk around out there. Like, Ghostbusters, too, is like, have you taken a walk outside lately? But yeah, I say that was Linden, so Gary B is next, Gary B's super chat. I love the TK extension. He should elevate Mitch Cobb's game, thought the number may be a tad high, but it's not my money he is getting, so in Danny, I trust. That is one of those things. I think that's the frustrating part about there being a cap, is that back in the Snyder days-- Didn't matter. --we could just say that. That's what people say, understandably, all the time, about the Phillies, where it's like, yeah, like, you know, maybe Cassianna's is making more money than he should, but like, hey, my problem. Whatever. Like, as long as Middleton's paying a luxury tax and spending, like, crazy, I don't give a shit. Not my problem. I wish we could look at these things like that, but unfortunately, we can't. That is-- I've said this before, but there are-- there is both a tangible and intangible benefit to salary caps. Tangible is-- it suppresses salaries. It keeps-- benefits to owners, I'm saying. It keeps money in owners' pockets. You get the quote-unquote "cost certainty," as Gary Bettman would call it. But it suppresses salaries. The intangible benefit is that it aligns players on the opposite side of fans, because fans care about the team, so they are inevitably going to side with the owner. Like, oh, I wish it was a little cheaper. Like, it cares. Well, it's because of the salary cap is why you care. But at the end of the day, I'm glad that both Gary B and you, Charlie, were like, you know what? Good for him. This guy just got-- and it's not as if he wasn't making fucking anything before, but he just signed a life-changing contract. And that's pretty sweet for him. All right. Let's go to Corey's Super Chat. How tradable is DK now on this-- Oh, my God. --new contract. Wow. It's not even an hour. Say in one to three years how easy will it be to trade in? I haven't heard if there's a new movement clause. Yeah, I don't know either. Like, there's only so much texting of sources I can do while I'm live on the show. Yeah, there's nothing-- I don't know if there's no trade protection. There's no-- And I haven't been on Twitter all that much, so I don't know if someone else is reported. I just don't know. There's nothing listed on Puckpedia yet, so I do not know if there's any protections. But the thing about it is, it's like the way I talk about the Schonkatorier contract. If he's tradable, that means he's still good and someone will keep him. Yeah. Like, if he's tradable-- It's a reasonable point, yeah. --if he's tradable, then you shouldn't trade. Yeah. The only reason why you'd want to trade him is if he stands-- If you want to trade him-- --and then therefore no one's going to want him anyway because he sticks. I mean, unless there's a hockey trade to be made and you get a number one defenseman form or something like that. It's always better to have the theoretical trade flexibility. That said, when this is, again, just me spitballing because I don't know. The contract got announced that we were on it, so I flipped this video. I have no time at this point to be texting sources and trying to dig into this. But my guess is that usually when it's an eight-year contract with a huge cabin, they usually come with some form of trade protection. So I'm guessing there's something. They've thrown around a couple of those, like, OK, this year you have a five team. Those are the flexible trade. There's a trade list, but it changes your year. The only deal I can remember that notably did not have any trade protection that was huge was the Voorham check deal. And I think the flyers paid him a bit more to avoid giving him no trade protection. Well, thank God, we got those a couple of years out of Cam Atkinson. Let's go to Eric Garner with the Super Chat. Hey, guys, two things. First, does this TK extension make you think it's more likely Faribee gets moved? Second, what are the chances the flyers sign? Yes. David is 20-26. Yes. A free agent. If he becomes a free agent, I think the chances of them signing him are 420%. Nice. We can go on from that. I see 9%. Now we can go on. Do you think Faribee, whoever, like the way we say Zegris, we now say Zegris type, let's say a Faribee type player, one of the other wingers, do you think this has down roster ramifications? Like, all right, TK is here and he's staying and we know he's staying. Are they more likely to move on from a Faribee or whoever? The reason why I don't think so, like, Faribee might get moved at some point. It's possible. But the reason why I don't think so is because the flyers entered this summer believing they were going to resign traps connecting. So they were, I mean, obviously, they still had to agree to a deal. You never know what can happen in negotiation. But they were operating under the assumption that Travis Connected was going to be in their lineup for 2024-2025 and then long beyond. So they entered the offseason believing that and they haven't traded to all Faribee. If it was that, if it was very much a, we got to pick one of them, my guess is they would have been a lot more motivated to trade to all Faribee, they haven't. So I think they very much envisioned a world where both of them could be on the same team, where Owen Tippett is part of the long term, where Tyson Forrester is part of the long term. Does it mean that they're all locks to be on the team for the next eight years? Of course not. But I don't think that signing connecting means that, "Oh, well, now they're going to trade Faribee." I don't think that's the case because if that were the case, they would have already traded to all Faribee. It's crazy to think about signing an eight-year contract. Like I signed a multiple-year contract here. It's the first contract I ever signed that was, like, that was two years. I cannot imagine what it feels like to be like, "I know what I'm doing for the next eight years. I know exactly where I'm going to be going to. That must be a wild feeling." All right. We got two more. We got to get out. We got to run through them quick because I have to jump on a Zoom call with Travis Connecting and seven minutes. That show. Okay. Will Wadsworth, Dana Brier said, "Mitch Cobb coming now doesn't change the rebuild plan." If he scores 90 points this year, who would you want to pick up to accelerate the rebuild? Everyone. I would want to pick up. Yeah. If he scores 90 points, whoever is available, they'll get them. Great trade for Zegres. Yeah. And I know I always say Zegres. It's not even that I particularly want Zegres. It's just that someone of that ilk. He's going to get traded at some point, and it's a position of need for the flyers, and we've done business with everything. If you can dig up another, if Ottawa, for some stupid reasons, decides that Tim Stutzel isn't that good. Yeah, get him. Yeah. Like any of those types of guys. All right. And this last one here from Catholic Nano, assessing future value is pointless. No one knows what is going to happen. How about we just let it play out for a few years, then make projections for a Catholic. You're very nihilistic. Yeah. I mean, let it play out, like, okay, and then that's the show, like, sorry, you have to think about the future. GMs have to be projecting future value. GMs have to be projecting down the line. If they don't, they become the second half of Paul Holgren's time. And in a rebuild, especially, everything is about the future. The GM just said to us yesterday, yeah, we might make the playoffs, but like, I don't doubt it. Maybe. You know, like, so it's all about the future. So that's what we're thinking about. But thank you for the, uh, super chat. All right. That is all the time we have for you today on PHLY Flyers. Thank you all for listening. Thank you for hanging out. If you haven't already, you got to hit that subscribe button follows right here on YouTube. Hit that like button too. But set your reminders. Never miss a live show. We'll be back tomorrow at one with F around Friday, um, follows on Twitter at PHLY underscore flyers and follow the podcast wherever you find those PHLY Flyers. Yep. That's it. Just another, just another boring summer day. Travis connecting sign eight years, eight point seven, five million average annual value. That's it. My name's Bill Matts. That's Charlie O'Connor. Stay loose and sexy Philly. Y'all sitting like the mayor. I'm. a lot of people. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm.
As soon as we went live, we had breaking Travis Konecny news!
The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Twitter that RW Travis Konecny has signed an 8 year, $8.75M AAV extension. After debating all offseason whether or not the Flyers should or would re-sign TK, Bill and Charlie react to the news and whether this is a good deal for Konecny and the Orange and Black.
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