Flyers GM Fletcher stuns everyone with terrible free agency revelation

You thought things were bad in Philadelphia. Let me tell you how worse it got on Wednesday once the free agency market opened and Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher met with media members.

The Flyers made some moves on Wednesday, signing free agent forward Nicolas Deslauriers to a four-year contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of $1.75M. The team also added free agent defenseman Justin Braun to a one-year contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of 1.75M.

But that’s not the free agent the fanbase wanted to see sign in Philly. There were many rumours that the most coveted forward on the market, Johnny Gaudreau was dreaming of getting an offer by the Flyers.

When Fletcher started many moves to possibly shift around some money, like buying out beloved Oskar Lindblom, fans thought he would make things happen to land Gaudreau.

The star forward is coming off his most productive season, putting up career-high numbers in 2021-22, scoring 40 goals and 75 assists while posting a league-best plus-64 rating and tallying nine game-winning goals. He also got 14 points during a 12-game playoff run for Calgary. And has a home near Philadelphia with family ties to the city. He wanted to get an offer from the Flyers.

But then Fletcher not only crushed the fans’ spirits by not tending him an offer, he admitted on Wednesday that the Flyers were never in the mix to sign him.

This is unbelievable! The guy wants to play for you and you’re not even going to make an effort to get him! Fans on social media are terribly upset and we get why.

In the meantime, the Flyers spent money and now have $1.7M available on their cap space. They wouldn't have had enough forGaudreau who, later on Wednesday, signed a seven-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.