Metro free agency: Flyers' rebuild just getting started

In his introductory press conference after being named Penguins director of hockey operations, Kyle Dubas explained how he evaluates his team against its opposition.

“I think that the major focus, No. 1, is inside our division. That’s the way I always looked at things,” Dubas said. “Rather than try to stack ourselves up against all 31 other teams, let’s focus on our division. Let’s focus on trying to win our division. We play the most games there. That’s what’s going to set our playoff seeding. We’ve got to be inside the top three to lock ourselves in, and our goal is going to be to win the division.”

Last season, the Penguins finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division, just two points behind the fourth-place New York Islanders but 16 points behind the New York Rangers, who held down the third guaranteed playoff spot behind Carolina and New Jersey.

How much has the division changed in the offseason? The Trib is offering a team-by-team look this week:

Philadelphia Flyers

With new general manager Daniel Briere, the Philadelphia Flyers are embarking on a rebuilding project and, as a result, did not pursue any of the bigger names in free agency. Instead, they primarily added some supplemental pieces such as forwards Garnet Hathaway (two years, $4,75 million) and Ryan Poehling (one year, 1.43 million) as well as defensemen Victor Mete (one year, two-way and $775,000) and Marc Staal (one year, $1.1 million). They also swung a multi-player trade involving the Columbus Blue Jackets and Los Angeles Kings in which they acquired defenseman Sean Walker, defensive prospect Helge Grans and goaltender Cal Petersen.

2023 finish: 31-38-13, 75 points, missed the playoffs

Key additions: Forward Garnet Hathaway (84 games, 13 goals, nine assists, 22 points), defenseman Victor Mete (11 games, zero goals, two assists, two points), goaltender Cal Petersen (10 games, 5-3-2 record, 3.75 goals against average, .868 save percentage), forward Ryan Poehling (53 games, seven goals, seven assists, 14 points), defenseman Marc Staal (82 games, three goals, 12 assists, 15 points), defenseman Sean Walker (70 games, three goals, 10 assists, 13 assists)

Key departures: Defenseman Justin Braun (51 games, zero goals, two assists, two points), forward Kevin Hayes (81 games, 18 goals, 36 assists, 54 points), forward Brendan Lemieux (45 games, two goals, seven assists, nine points), defenseman Ivan Provorov (82 games, six goals, 21 assists, 27 points), forward James van Riemsdyk (61 games, 12 goals, 17 assists, 29 points)

What it means: The Flyers weren’t close to being a playoff team last season, and they might actually be further away from that pursuit as they enter the 2023-24 season. But they are in a rebuilding project and are largely following the logical path. As far as their immediate additions, Hathaway and Poehling can boost the bottom-six forwards while Staal and Walker can competently man the bottom two pairings. Petersen will offer a slight upgrade at the backup goaltending role.