Off to arguably the worst start of any team in the NHL, the Philadelphia Flyers clearly felt like they had to do something in response. Plenty of options were on the table. A trade? A high-profile benching? A promotion of a young player from the AHL? A demotion of one from the NHL club? A free agent signing?
With Michael Bunting, Flyers general manager Daniel Briere went with the fifth of those options.
On Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after a listless 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning dropped them to 0-2-2, the Flyers agreed to terms with 31-year old winger Bunting, who spent last season with the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars. A team source confirmed the one-year, $1.2 million contract.
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13 Comments (11 conversations)
Bob MCH
Yeah, bringing in a 14 goal contributor should do the trick. Not much to worry about now.
jimmyb
Can’t hurt to try Bunting after what we’ve seen. The team has had no jam, and we can all go on and on about how enforcers/agitators are of a bygone era, but they missed DLo and Hathaway last night. Completely pushed around after whistles and then the cheap shot on Martone that went largely unaddressed. And hey, maybe he provides flexibility asset-wise for a trade.
Richard
Bunting doesn’t need to finish. If he can drive play around the net and boost shot totals, that will help the rest of the forward group.
etcz
Great, another guy that Tocchet is familiar with… like Dvorak. How’s he doing? Why not look at Knuble and Luchanko first? Clearly no one was in a rush to sign Bunting and he’s available for a reason. Knuble would be a shot in the arm and Luchanko would provide maybe a 4th(!) viable option to ACTUALLY skate the puck up ice.
Send down Grundstrom, Bump, and Jiricek. Call up Knuble, Luchanko, and Bonk. If Jiricek gets claimed, best of luck with that.
anise
I don’t know that you can compare Bunting to Dvorak as a guy Tocchet is familiar with. Dvorak was a mainstay on the Coyotes the entire time Tocchet was there. Bunting played 26 games under Tocchet. That would be like saying Rodrigo Abols is one of Tortorella’s guys because he played 22 games under him.
jonas
The parade is now booked for Broad.
Kiall Jennett
Precursor move to a trade? One where a top 9 winger or two get moved?
Randy
Aaaand….Simon Edvinsson, Come On Down!!!
Warren Broudy
Glad to see Danny got the Scotch tape out . Hopefully, this guy can provide some toughness so that people stop taking potshots at Martone !! The team is playing like a bunch of pus_ies. What happened to the flyers after the cheap shot to Martone last night ? No where to be found 🤷♂️Step it up guys play like u mean it ..
ifollowcharlieo
A Grundstrom upgrade is by far the most likely explanation.
But, I will continue to daydream about what an Edvinsson trade might look like and why Bunting might temporarily fill a hole if a Flyers regular were traded. Damn Friedman for making me take a wild trade rumor seriously.
Michael Sheahan
It’s going to be a Loooooog season….
trebor
If this is intended to be a shakeup DB needs to have his head examined.
David LaVeck
Good, honest assessment of this signing and its potential impact on the team. They need a spark but I believe it needs to come from within the current roster.