Jake Voracek finished the 2011-12 NHL season with his highest goal total to date- 18 goals- but did not break his previous record for points. His 49 points in 78 games played is one point shy of the record he set for himself two seasons ago with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The 22 year-old Czech winger has arguably the second-best playmaking ability on the Philadelphia Flyers behind Claude Giroux, but he also hasn’t had a true “break out” season since his rookie season in 2008. As a former #7 overall pick, the expectations have always been astronomical for him.
Last year, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren signed Voracek to a one-year, $2.25 million contract that was in line with other signings at the time for a player of his potential and history.
This year, Holmgren may not be able to afford his services.
Voracek is a restricted free agent. The Flyers are the only team that has the right to negotiate with him for a future contract, but other organizations can extend offer sheets to him in exchange for draft pick compensation.
In his end-of-the-year session with the local media, Holmgren stated, “We’ll talk about [an extension] with his agent here over the course of the summer. I think Jake had a good year. I think there’s areas he can still get better at. I think he can work on his shot a little more, he can probably shoot the puck more. But he’s an exciting young player who’s going to continue to get better.”
Reading between the lines, Voracek will be back if the price is fair. Unfortunately, “fair” has a way of changing every time the salary cap increases.
The salary cap for the 2012-13 NHL season is expected to increase from the current level of $64.3 million to as much as $70.3 million. As Flyers fans, salary cap increases are often met with joy, as it means that the organization may actually have space to make improvements to the roster.
Salary cap increases also have a way of over-inflating market values. In 2011, forwards Ville Leino and Tomas Fleischmann both received six-year, $27 million contracts despite neither “deserving” one based on history. Fleischmann’s turned out to be well worth it, as he led all Panthers in goals and helped them reach the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.
Leino’s… not so much.
Voracek would certainly be brought back if the Flyers could lock him in for multiple years at $3.5 million per year or less, but what happens if someone throws an offer sheet?
The current collective bargaining agreement breaks down draft pick compensation into offer brackets. In Voracek’s case, an offer between $3,134,088 and $4,701,131 that, if not matched, would provide the Flyers with a 1st and a 3rd round pick in return,
I really don’t think that a six-year, $27 million contract is out of the question in today’s NHL for a player of Voracek’s services. Hopefully, if Holmgren doesn’t think he can sign Voracek, he will find a way to trade him for a better return before it reaches that point.
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I think the Flyers should retain Voracheck who has much more upside and talent than many other players on the Flyers like Scott Hartnell (who will have difficult time achieving the Stats that he did this season) or a Max Talbot is fizzeld down the stretch.. Voracheck defintely needs more discipline and a more consistent effort but with his wheels, his long reach and skill level, I thnk he could blossom into a real scoring threat and could be a real weapon on the power play & short-handed situation due to his speed, puck-handling and overall long reach to cover more space..
They have to resign him. Put him on the 1st line and he will blossom.
You don’t trade Carter and get only Courtier in return
Another reason why, bringing back Jagr & Carle, are BIG MISTAKES! But by no means is Voracek worth 6 years $27M. No way! He’s a young 3rd liner, borderline 2nd liner, still on the rise. That contract, would eclipse the STUPIDITY of the idiotic, undeserved, JVR extension. We have plenty of talented, young forwards, to pickup for his production. He by no means, was a superstar. He was invisible, most of the season, & puck handles entirely too much. He’s Leino 2.0. I would re-sign him, but only at a team friendly contract. We need DEFENSEMEN & ANOTHER 2-WAY VETERAN FORWARD, like Talbot, for the 4th line. Read, Wellwood, & Zolnierchek need to be on the 1st 3 lines. We have plenty of bad contracts already.
There’s no way Jagr is coming back, I believe the Flyers and Jagr himself have already acknowledge this..
Paul, there were reports on several sites, the last couple of weeks, that Carle is a lock to come back & Petr Svoboda (X Flyer, Jagr’s agent) said Jagr wants to come back. They are just waiting until July 1st.
Where is the output to pay this guy 4 1/2 mil per year. Wellwood could easily take his spot. The most goals that he has ever had was 16 and the most points he has ever had is 50. That is not a 4 mil player. Sorry, I agree with Dcar in that there are more pressing needs.
I think Carle comes back, but not Jagr (at least not to the Flyers)
Bugsy, it’s not that the output is there- it’s “what would an NHL general manager be willing to pay him?”
Another guy signed with a $4.5 million cap hit last season was Erik Cole. Cole was an impending Carolina UFA that many Flyers fans (myself included) thought the Flyers should go after. Its hard to argue that his cap hit with Montreal is terrible, as the guy scored 35 goals this season, but was it an overpayment?
Another example- David Jones, an impending UFA forward from Colorado, was re-signed recently to a four-year, $16 million contract. This is a guy who scored 27 goals once, and 20 goals last season. He is not defensively responsible. Is he worth that much money? When the salary cap inflates every year, so does the market value for free agents.
If someone throws an offer worth even $4 million, is that still too much for the Flyers to match? That’s the question I’m wondering. Unfortunately, they only have $3.08 million space with which to spend until July 1, when the next salary cap goes into effect. Teams are not allowed to spend more than the current year’s cap until then.
Also, for what it’s worth, Jagr’s agent, Petr Svoboda, is the same agent for Voracek. This is *purely* speculation, but my gut says that the only way in which Jagr will be brought back is if the Flyers deal a forward like Voracek or JVR for a defenseman. Jagr could be brought back on another one year deal as “insurance” much like he was this year, but if and only if they deal a top six forward.
What’s your thoughts Josh about Jagr,
Do you think the Flyers should try to re-sign and move forward without him..
He had a pretty good regualr season and better than I expected but was invisable for most of the playoffs when the Team could have really used his experience.. then Again, most of the Team was ineffective versus the Devils..
The issue is that the Flyers have a log jam of forwards and it’s unlikely Jagr gives them much of a discount. He was very well liked in the locker room and by the organization, though. If and only if they move JVR or Voracek, I would see the benefit of re-signing him for one year to a similar contract.
In that scenario, you’d have Giroux/Hartnell/Jagr, JVracek/Briere/Schenn, Read/Couturier/Simmonds, Talbot/Wellwood/Rinaldo.
We need D-man, plural, not a lateral move of bringing back Carle. IMHO, he isn’t worth the $$$, Suter is a lateral movement. No to Jagr. I’m OK with bringing back Voracek, only if, it is at a team friendly deal. JJ, I agree, I think JVR & maybe even Coburn/ Meszaros are traded at the draft, for a D-man, at the draft. Homer needs to be creative. My hopes are that Nashville re-signs Suter, so we can make a bid for Weber. Trade JVR for Luke Schenn & sign Schultz. It’s easier said than done, but it’s very possible. This DF, definitely needs an overhaul. We’ll see.
Joah, I understand it is what GMs will pay him, but I don’t think that this guy is worth that much money. Is he gonna score 30+ goals next year? If not then this GM (Homer) shouldn’t pay him that much money.
In the end, it is and should be about output. If you have to put him on the top line to get him to 30, then he is not worth that money, because a lot of the other kids could get to 30 playing with Giroux.
I know that in the end it just turns out to be Couturier for Carter, but I am ok with that. I just don’t see them re-signing him unless they move another contract.