Philadelphia Flyers’ Salary Cap Challenges for the 2025-26 NHL Season
As the Philadelphia Flyers gear up for the 2025-26 NHL season, they are notably grappling with substantial challenges related to salary cap management, ranking third in the league for dead salary cap space. They currently maintain $5.52 million in cap room, placing them 17th overall, thanks to a series of acquisitions during the initial day of NHL free agency. This includes valuable additions like center Christian Dvorak and goalkeeper Dan Vladar.
Re-signing Cam York
However, the organization faces a pressing task ahead: re-signing restricted free agent defenseman Cam York. The 24-year-old’s new deal is anticipated to consume a significant portion—or possibly all—of the remaining cap space, especially in light of the escalating salaries within the league and an anticipated increase in the salary cap in the upcoming years.
Dead Cap Space Overview
The Flyers’ exceptional level of dead cap is largely influenced by player transactions from prior seasons. PuckPedia reports that Philadelphia holds $6.83 million in dead cap, trailing only behind the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators, who have dead cap spaces of $9.69 million and $10.23 million, respectively. This figure reflects several contractual obligations still impacting the Flyers’ financial situation:
- Buyout cost of $1.758 million for Cam Atkinson
- Retained salary of $1.5 million for Scott Laughton
- Retained salary of $3.571 million for Kevin Hayes
Notably, Ryan Ellis‘s contract, which amounts to an additional $6.2 million, is not included in the dead cap calculation as it can be transferred to long-term injured reserve (LTIR) for cap relief during the season. Moreover, should the Flyers decide to send goalie Ivan Fedotov to the AHL, they could secure minor cap space benefiting them, although adding a forward such as Alex Bump or Porter Martone to the roster in place of Fedotov could negate the anticipated savings.
Looking Ahead
The silver lining for the Philadelphia Flyers is that these cap constraints are set to alleviate after this season, as the contracts for Atkinson, Hayes, and Laughton are all expiring. Thus, the team aims to navigate through this financial tightness while preparing for a promising future in the league.
