Flyers willing to sign young winger to a long-term deal

The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco reported that the Philadelphia Flyers are willing to sign 24-year-old winger Owen Tippett to a long-term deal, as long as the average annual value is reasonable. 

Di Marco added that “long-term” could mean a deal similar to the eight-year extension that Brandon Hagel received in Tampa Bay, although Hagel’s $6.5M AAV would be “a little high” for Tippett, a source told Di Marco.

The Flyers only have five players currently signed beyond the 2025-26 season. Of that list, only one — 23-year-old Joel Farabee — is under 27. So the interest in signing young players to long-term deals is both timely and refreshing. 

It’s another step in new general manager Daniel Briere building out something sustainable over time, and locking up core lineup pieces like Tippett is a great way to start. 

While the young winger hasn’t jumped off the page with his scoring — recording over half of his career scoring when he netted 49 points last season — he’s found other ways to make his impact felt, ranking fourth on the team in CF% (Corsi-For Percentage) since 2021-22, among plays with 25-or-more games.

Tippett’s pending extension, and how it affects other young pieces of the Flyers lineup, will be exciting to monitor over the course of the season.

Other notes from around the league:

• Anaheim Ducks head coach Greg Cronin shared an update on Jamie Drysdale’s lower-body injury, saying that it’s a hard injury to pinpoint a recovery timeline for. Cronin said that Drysdale is working closely with the team’s training staff and that the Ducks will want him, “fully healed” before he comes back. The exact nature of Drysdale’s injury hasn’t been revealed, although he was placed on injured reserve in late-October, retroactive to Oct. 15.
• Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy shared a pair of injury updates, noting that Alec Martinez is expected to play in the team’s Wednesday game while Nicolas Roy is expected to sit out, despite skating with the team Tuesday. Roy has been on injured reserve since Oct. 29, nursing an undisclosed injury.