The Flyers locked Cam York down for five years on Monday. (Photo: Eric Hartline, Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/98b40262-e608-499e-845c-967249d3ff38.jpeg] The Flyers locked Cam York down for five years on Monday. (Photo: Eric Hartline, Imagn Images) After re-signing Cam York, the Philadelphia Flyers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers] have depleted virtually all of their salary cap space ahead of the start of the 2025-26 season. York, 24, signed a five-year, $25.75 million ($5.15 AAV) contract with the Flyers on Monday morning, wrapping up the team's offseason business but leaving them in a short-term bind financially. At the time of this writing, PuckPedia shows [https://puckpedia.com/team/philadelphia-flyers] the Flyers have just $370k in cap space with only 11 forwards on the active roster, which is assuming Tyson Foerster [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers/flyers-built-to-survive-tyson-foerster-injury] will begin the 2025-26 season on injured reserve. This meager amount of cap space, is, as we know, not nearly enough to bring up a 12th forward to the active roster at this time. By the start of the season, the Flyers are expected to send goalie Ivan Fedotov [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers/flyers-expected-to-send-ivan-fedotov-to-the-ahl-in-2025-26] and his $3.275 million cap hit to the AHL, which will generate $1.15 million in cap space via the burial threshold. That's enough for one replacement player and one player only. Assuming Foerster and Rasmus Ristolainen [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers/report-flyers-rejected-big-maple-leafs-trade-for-rasmus-ristolainen] are both indeed unavailable to start the season, the Flyers will, for all intents and purposes, begin the next campaign with just one extra healthy body on the roster. Foerster's vacancy in the lineup creates a second opening on the left wing; Alex Bump [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers/alex-bump-ready-to-take-perfectly-clear-path-to-flyers-roster-spot] and Nikita Grebenkin [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers/don-t-discount-nikita-grebenkin-in-battle-for-flyers-roster-spot] are the two likeliest options to fill these holes. By extension, this also means that Nick Deslauriers will have to play every night to start the year. With Bump, Grebenkin, and newcomer Dennis Gilbert on the roster, and with Noah Juulsen wresting control of a spot in the opening night lineup, the Flyers would be down to $495k in cap space with Foerster and Ristolainen on injured reserve. Flyers' salary cap situation with Grebenkin, Bump, and Gilbert on the roster and with Foerster and Ristolainen injured. (PuckPedia) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/6a5875c8-5006-4e74-a306-6a0d6862c87d.png] Flyers' salary cap situation with Grebenkin, Bump, and Gilbert on the roster and with Foerster and Ristolainen injured. (PuckPedia) Now, this is meaningful for a few reasons. First is that the Flyers won't have the money to call up another player from the AHL in the event of further injury. Second is that the NHL [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers/where-did-these-former-flyers-end-up-in-nhl-free-agency] manages salary cap on a daily basis, and each day, a portion of each player's salary counts against the team's cap. If a team spends less than the maximum cap on a given day, that unused cap space is accumulated and added to the bank. So, the more unused cap space, the better, and the Flyers are pushing it to the limit at the moment. Flyers Among NHL Leaders in Dead Salary Cap Space [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/cb7b4258-57d0-45a7-bf66-7fb7b70b4b19.webp] Flyers Among NHL Leaders in Dead Salary Cap Space The <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> will head into the 2025-26 season with the third-highest amount of dead salary cap space in the NHL. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers/flyers-among-nhl-leaders-in-dead-salary-cap-space] The Flyers could always add Foerster, Ristolainen, or Ryan Ellis to LTIR to create space in a pinch, but they would then cease to accrue the aforementioned cap space. The Flyers are a team that likes to keep its options open going forward, and it's possible they use their last salary retention spot to facilitate a trade at some point this season. In the end, the Flyers got a great deal with York's new contract in terms of both length and salary, but they'll first need to navigate some short-term obstacles before they begin truly reaping the rewards.
