After trading Joe Woll and Simon Benoit to the Flyers in exchange for Emil Andrae, Samuel Ersson, and a third-round pick, GM John Chayka discussed his motivations for the move, the timeline for a head-coaching decision, and signing promising prospect Tinus-Luc Koblar to a three-year entry-level contract.
What do you like about the trade, and how do you see it helping the team moving forward?
Chayka: First of all, I want to say thanks to Joe Woll and Simon Benoit for their play with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both are very good people and good players. We appreciate everything they’ve done.
As for the trade itself, Mats and I have been working pretty hard now for the last several weeks, coming up with what we think is a pretty comprehensive offensive plan. Certainly, this is a move we feel is a part of that, but there is a lot of work to be done on the roster.
What we like about this opportunity is that it allows us to create some flexibility. Flexibility and optionality are great assets to any great organization, and certainly, this allows us to be in a better spot as we think about the entire offseason plan.
Andrae is a player I’ve watched for a number of years now. Our staff felt good about him on our roster. He’s a smart, competitive player who helps us break the puck out more efficiently. He’s a good puck mover who can also join the rush and help support offense as well. From that side, we are getting a young D in an age group where we, candidly, could use more defense in that age group. It kind of satisfied a need there for us.
We added some draft capital as well, as we look to replenish. It checked a lot of boxes.
What do you mean specifically by “flexibility” and “optionality?”
Chayka: Certainly, cap space is a real asset. And roster flexibility, with how the profile of Emil (Andrae) lines up with some of the players we’re looking to add or are part of our roster currently.
Good organizations are always keeping an eye on that. Getting draft capital that can either be used in terms of the selection to add an asset to the prospect base, or using the pick to acquire other players, are options.
As a fan, they are not as tangible, but from my chair, having options and flexibility is undervalued, candidly. For us, it sets us up very well for future moves.
It was no secret that the team had three goalies heading into next year who are not waiver-exempt. How did you make the decision that Joseph Woll was the one to move?
Chayka: I think we evaluated everything. It is great to have organizational depth at a position. Any time you can leverage that depth to create flexibility and accrue some assets — some young assets, too — that was the goal. We evaluated everything and looked at a lot of different ways, but again, I think our ability to satisfy a lot of needs and set ourselves up for the offseason was the thing we were looking for in this type of transaction. We were able to accomplish that with this one.
Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov have been in excellent form with the Marlies. How much did Hildeby and Akhtyamov’s development impact this trade, looking ahead to next season?
Chayka: In any good situation where you have organizational depth, you want the young players to force your hand a bit. Certainly, the way Dennis played — at the NHL level, even — and AA — with what he is doing on the Marlies right now — it causes you, as a manager, to take notice and make plans.
We were looking to optimize our pipeline. We felt we had a lot of similarities, and we also had the waiver situation. This allows us to maintain some organizational depth while also getting a young defenseman whom we really like, as well as a draft pick.
The way those guys are playing — and certainly, AA right now through the playoffs — is something we took notice of.
Samuel Ersson is another body in the crease. Did you intend to qualify him?
Chayka: We were able to maintain our goaltending depth through this. I think that was a helpful part of the transaction. With Curtis McElhinney, we will review everything we have. He oversees our goalie pipeline and has done a great job so far. We will make some decisions on what that looks like.
Again, he is a good young goaltender. He is someone we identified as having some upside and is someone our staff could work with. We will get together with Curtis and make that decision.
How close are you to hiring a new head coach?
Chayka: I think we are in the final phases at this stage. It has been a pretty thorough process so far. We are taking our time with it. We have had some in-person meetings recently. We are getting down to decision time. It should be in the next several days.
Beyond the goaltending and Easton Cowan with the Marlies, have you seen some players who might be able to help this team going into training camp?
Chayka: As a manager, any time you get some wins that you have nothing to do with, that is a good thing. Certainly, the Marlies‘ success is something that Ryan Hardy, his team, John Gruden, and his staff have bred over the course of seasons now.
Winning is the best development. The teams that have won, historically, have been able to move players up at a higher rate. The fact that they’re sitting where they are is a good sign for the organization and is something we take notice of.
It forces you to evaluate a lot of those guys. There have been some really high-end performances by some veteran players who truly care and have shown they are passionate about raising their game and playing at the highest level. There have been some young players who keep developing and continue to get better day after day and game after game. There have been some guys who have been in the AHL for a while who are also progressing.
Whether it is Danford, Cowan, some of the veterans we talked about, or some of the guys who came up and showed well throughout the season, there are definitely a lot of pieces we are evaluating, and this is the best evaluation right now.
The team signed Tinus-Luc Koblar to an entry-level contract. What excites you about his development?
Chayka: I didn’t know as much about him coming in, obviously. These are the types of picks that are super helpful as you are building out an organization. The team did a great job of getting him where they got him. He is a big player with size who is a very smart player.
He showed very well at the World Championships and is a very good prospect. The development staff did a very good job working with him and rounding out his game. He is a guy who we think has a lot of upside. We are excited to get him signed as the next step in the process.
Development is never linear. I am sure he will have some ups and downs, but to date, if you think about his year since he was drafted, he has certainly made a lot of progress. He’s an exciting prospect for us.
What is the latest with Max Domi’s status? Is there a timeline? Could he be ready for camp?
Chayka: It is the same update as the combine. He is progressing. He had a complication with offseason surgery related to an injury he played through. We are going to get to camp. He’ll be evaluated like everybody else in camp, and we will have an update at that time. Nothing further than what I shared a couple of weeks ago.
