It seems to me this is still the key to the Flyers' strategy, even though a billionaire owner can theoretically do this more easily than a corporation.
And then, there’s the raw cash involved. The Flyers heavily frontloaded the structure of their deal and tied the bulk of the money up in bonuses, which they are still allowed to do until September when new CBA rules kick in to make such contract structures illegal. How frontloaded and bonus-heavy, you might ask? According to Friedman, Carlsson will have to be paid around $39 million over the first 12 months of the contract, and per PuckPedia, a whopping $85.3 million of the total $90 million must be paid out in bonuses — lump-sum payments issued at the start of each league year. Those are big checks to write out.
The other fun thing is the Flyers aren't worried the Ducks would retaliate by offering Zegras or Drysdale.
Charlie also thinks enough teams will be interested in Tippett or Cates to balance out Briere's loss of leverage.
