The Flyers announced on Saturday evening that they have signed Ivan Provorov, their top pick from last week’s NHL Draft, to an entry-level contract. The contract is the standard three-year entry-level deal, and has an anticipated cap hit of the maximum $925,000 (along with any potential bonuses that are as of yet unknown).
Provorov was taken at No. 7 overall in the June draft, and rumors had persisted in the days leading up to the draft that he was the guy the Flyers had coveted in that spot all along. The Flyers are obviously thrilled to have got him in the draft, and the fact that he’s already under contract suggests that they’re already very confident in what he can do.
Naturally, the question from here shifts to whether or not Provorov will be able to make the NHL roster next year for the Flyers.
It’s important to note that the signing of his entry-level deal does not guarantee Provorov a spot on the team this year. If the Flyers don’t think Provorov is NHL-ready this year or don’t want him with the NHL team for whatever other reason, they can slide his contract and cap hit by one year and have it start next year (meaning it would end in the summer of 2019). They could also do the exact same next season if they so wish, pushing the end of the contract all the way back until summer 2020.
If Provorov doesn’t stick with the Flyers in either year, he’ll go back to Brandon in the WHL for the entire season (he is, unfortunately, not eligible to play in the AHL this season). His cap hit and three-year deal would then slide one additional year.
With that all said, it’s fair to ask: will he make the team? There are scouts in the organization who think he may already be one of the team’s best defensemen, and when head coach Dave Hakstol spoke about Provorov in an interview on Thursday morning, he made a point to talk about how mature of a player he is. It’s impossible to say whether or not he will stick around this year, but it seems clear that the Flyers are at least going to give Provorov every chance to stick with the NHL team this fall.
(And, if you want to read into these kinds of things: 2014 first-round pick Travis Sanheim signed his entry-level deal two weeks before the season started, 2013 first-rounder Samuel Morin got his around the same time the year before, and 2012 first-rounder Scott Laughton in August of that year. So, Provorov got his right out of the gate compared to those guys.)
One could argue that, given the state of this team, it’d be best to slide Provorov and not use one of his inexpensive entry-level seasons this year, on a team that may not look much like a playoff contender. But if Ron Hextall thinks that Provorov is (a) ready to play in the NHL and (b) one of the organization’s six best NHL defensemen, it’s pretty likely that he’ll stick around.
In any case, we’ve got three months to wonder about that. For now, let’s officially welcome the Flyers’ newest defenseman into the fold. He will of course be at the Flyers’ development camp which opens up this Tuesday, July 7.
