Ron Hextall disappointed he couldn’t find his way into trade market

Dave Isaac | The Courier-Post

DALLAS — The irony is that the Flyers got into a mess years ago by being too aggressive in free agency and paid for it dearly against the salary cap until now.

Figures that now that they’re looking to make a splash again…they can’t. For now, anyway.

“We tried. I’m sure a lot of other teams tried too,” Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said. “That’s the way it is. We’re not gonna make a bad deal for the sake of making a deal. We’re not gonna make a bad deal for the sake of trying to make our team better. We’re gonna do what’s best for the organization short- and long-term and there was nothing there that made sense for us at this point.”

CAPSULES: Why the Flyers picked these eight players in 2018 draft

MORE: Flyers, Samuel Morin agree to three-year extension

Draft weekend was a disappointment leaguewide for trades. The most notable move came after the fourth round when Calgary sent right-handed defenseman and possible Flyers target Dougie Hamilton to the Carolina Hurricanes along with Adam Fox and Micheal Ferland in exchange for Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm.

The Los Angeles Kings agreed to a three-year contract with Ilya Kovalchuk. In Washington, the newly-minted champion Capitals are clearing room to re-sign another potential Flyers target in John Carlson. John Tavares reportedly will meet with five teams on Monday.

Other than that, there’s a lot of bark and no bite in the league.

“A bust for you guys (in the media) and the fans? Yeah, I guess you could probably look at it that way,” Hextall said. “The draft didn’t have the typical big deals. I was as surprised as anybody. I thought there would be some bigger deals but that’s the way it goes. July 1, one of the big guys might not be there and who knows about the other one? Possibly. It’s hard. You don’t want to let your own players go. Players are good players, they’re hard to find so you want to keep your own.”

The Flyers still want to add a veteran defenseman, preferably a right-handed one, and a “top forward.” There won’t be many of either left by the time free agency rolls around. Prospective free agents can start meeting with teams on Monday, but not sign anything until July 1 at noon.

If the free-agent market is weak, maybe something comes loose in a trade.

“Who knows? You just never know,” Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon said. “Sometimes you think there are going to be lots of trades and other times there aren't any. You can't control what you can't control.”

Hextall normally wouldn’t mind being one of the general managers that sits out on all the exciting action and instead let his team grow organically.

They have, but even Hextall admits they need a little boost here, six years without a playoff series win.

“We want to win playoffs too. That’s our goal. That doesn’t mean we’re gonna sacrifice an A prospect for a one-year asset. It’s not gonna happen,” Hextall said. “We’re not gonna move Carter Hart or Morgan Frost for a guy that’s going to help us win for one year. If it comes down to having to wait for some of those kids to take a little bit bigger piece we’ll do that. In saying that, we want to move forward. We’d like to add a really good player and if we get a chance we will. Assuming the terms and the cap hit is right, we’ll do everything we can do and we’ll continue to explore the trade market.”

Voorhees’ Samuelsson drafted by Buffalo

Some mock drafts had Mattias Samuelsson in the first round. He didn’t go there and admitted he fretted a little Friday night.

The Voorhees native relied on his dad, Kjell, the ex-Flyer who still works for the team as a player development coach. They didn’t have to wait long Saturday. Samuelsson was the first one to go in the second round and is now part of the Buffalo Sabres.

Samuelsson was part of the U.S. National Team Development Program, but pointed to his South Jersey routes as helping get him there.

“Still live there. I love it there,” he said. “I go back and I still hang out with my friends from middle school. Playing on that Team Comcast team, that was huge for me. It helped me develop. I played for Derian Hatcher so that was great for me. I’m really thankful that’s where my childhood happened.”

Loose Pucks

The Flyers selected eight players in the draft and, for the first time in club history, none of them were Canadians. Hextall was getting some grief at his draft table from assistant GM Chris Pryor and his son Nick, one of the team’s college scouts. Both hail from Saint Paul, Minnesota … Qualifying offers are due to restricted free agents Monday by 5 p.m. The Flyers are expected to offer one to all of their RFAs except goalie Petr Mrazek. … Friday night the Flyers agreed to an extension with Samuel Morin, which will be formally signed Monday. It’s a three-year contract for the defenseman recovering from an ACL tear that pays $700,000 per season.

Dave Isaac; @davegisaac; 856-486-2479; disaac@gannett.com