How Should Flyers Handle Cam Atkinson’s Future?

Atkinson, on the other hand, has a murkier outlook. Atkinson went over two months without finding the back of the net, going goal-less from Nov. 11 to Jan. 13. That started a red-hot two weeks where Atkinson scored 10 points in six games. But he’s been without a point since that streak ended, with his name last finding the scoresheet on Jan. 23. His play dipped so much that Tortorella made him a healthy scratch for the second time this season on Tuesday, even with fellow right winger Travis Konecny out due to injury.

This latest slump has called into question whether Atkinson will have a place on next year’s Flyers team. There are options for the Flyers if they want to move on from him, but each has some advantages and disadvantages. Here’s a look at what the team could do with the 34-year-old.

Option 1: Buyout

This is the easiest option for fans to suggest is a buyout. Not only is it a simple suggestion in theory, but it immediately gets a player off the team in the blink of an eye. But does it make sense for Atkinson?

Next season will be the last of a seven-year contract Atkinson signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets that started in the 2018-19 season. The deal carries a cap hit of $5.875 million and contains a 10-team no-trade clause (it had a full no-trade clause for its first two years). In terms of actual dollars paid out, the contract is front-loaded, with Atkinson making $7.35 million in actual money in the first two years and $5.275 million ever since. All of the money is paid in regular salary with no signing bonus.

Both of those conditions make a buyout easier. If the Flyers cut the chord with Atkinson in this way during the offseason, it would result in a $2.358 million penalty for 2024-25 and a $1.758 million charge in 2025-26, per CapFriendly’s buyout calculator. In other words, the Flyers would save about $3.4 million next season in exchange for paying roughly an extra $1.76 million two seasons from now.

That may sound like a good option in theory, but it doesn’t make as much sense for where the Flyers currently are now. Next year will almost certainly still be a rebuilding year for the organization. While they probably won’t be Cup contenders in 2025-26 either, it’s much more plausible that the team could be in a spot where they truly want to spend money, whereas next year will still be focused on player development and youth.

Philadelphia also has a fair bit of dead money on its books already. The team will still be paying $1.667 million for buying out Tony DeAngelo last summer. While that move wasn’t ideal either, it was more necessary given DeAngelo’s evident clash with Tortorella. It was also part of a unique situation with the Carolina Hurricanes to allow them to get DeAngelo at a cheaper cap hit than if they had traded for him with 50% of his salary retained. Neither of these circumstances applies to Atkinson’s case.

A buyout is a viable option, but not an ideal one. There are other paths the Flyers can pursue, though.

Option 2: Trade

There are three types of trades the Flyers could make to get rid of Atkinson: the salary dump, the salary swap and the hockey trade. Let’s look at all three.

The salary dump style of trade is almost certainly out. The Flyers would have to pay a hefty price if they wanted to get rid of Atkinson’s contract. For example, it cost the Toronto Maple Leafs a first-round pick to dump Patrick Marleau’s $6.25 million cap hit on Carolina in 2019. More recently, the New York Islanders gave up a second-round pick to remove Josh Bailey’s $5 million cap hit from their books last summer. Both of those teams were in win-now windows when they made those trades. The Flyers are not. We can comfortably cross this option off.

There is some validation to the salary swap, in which the Flyers would take on another problem contract to get rid of Atkinson’s. Ironically, this is sort of the type of trade that brought Atkinson to Philadelphia in the first place, as the Flyers were looking to move on from a productive but overpaid Jake Voracek in the 2021 offseason, leading to a one-for-one swap of the two. However, the potential for this type of trade is limited by the fact Atkinson will have just one year left on his deal after this season. It would take a special set of circumstances for the Flyers to acquire someone with more term who carries an excessive cap hit just to part with Atkinson.

The hockey trade would be the best option for the Flyers, but it’s also the hardest to pull off. Doing so would almost certainly require the Flyers to retain 50% of Atkinson’s contract, bringing his cap hit down to $2.937 million. Keep in mind that teams can only retain the salary of three players at a time and that the Flyers will already be doing so with Kevin Hayes through 2025-26. And even with the cap increasing and salary retained, $3 million is still a fair bit to take on given Atkinson’s overall ineffective campaign.

A trade would probably be the best way for the Flyers to move on from Atkinson, and there are multiple ways to do it. But there will still be challenges that could be enough to convince the Flyers to go another route.

Option 3: Keep Him

As mentioned above, the Flyers should still be in a rebuild throughout the final year-plus of Atkinson’s deal. It doesn’t seem to make sense for the team to suffer long-term just to get rid of Atkinson in the here and now when their entire strategy is all about dealing with pain in the present to be better in the long run.

Despite his struggles this season, Atkinson by all accounts has always been a good teammate and a positive influence in a Flyers locker room that is finally back on the rise. He can still serve as a bit of a Tortorella whisperer to younger or any new players given his experience after playing under him for nearly six full seasons in Columbus. And there’s always a chance Atkinson does truly bounce back next season. Maybe his struggles are more the result of missing a full season than age catching up with him. If that’s the case, maybe general manager Daniel Briere could flip his expiring contract for an asset or two at next year’s deadline.

But there is still a potential downside to staying pat. All of the forwards on the Flyers’ current roster are either under contract or under club control for next season. Prospects, such as Elliot Desnoyers and Samu Tuomaala could push for NHL jobs next season. The last thing a rebuilding team can afford is to have an ineffective veteran blocking an NHL-ready youngster from getting their shot. There’s a chance Atkinson could be that kind of roadblock if his woes continue, especially if Tortorella can’t objectively evaluate him after years of loving to coach Atkinson with the Blue Jackets.

Evaluating the Options

With where the Flyers are as an organization, a buyout should be a last-resort option. It just doesn’t make sense for a team not trying to win next season.

That leaves a trade and staying put. The Flyers should explore potential reclamation projects that could be acquired for Atkinson, especially given their success building up players like Sean Walker. Maybe they can convince another rebuilding team, and/or one that is experiencing culture problems that a respected veteran like Atkinson could be a helpful stabilizing force.

As long as Tortorella doesn’t fall in love with him to the point where he is playing over more effective options, which seems likely given he’s already benched him multiple times this year, then it probably makes the most sense to just ride out Atkinson’s deal. Hopefully, he can sustain the productive bursts he’s had in 2023-24 and restore some of his value. Regardless, it would take some crafty dealing to find a path forward that makes more sense.