Each day from now until July 1, the day free agency begins, Tom Dougherty and Tim Riday will profile some of the NHL's top impending free agents and project their likelihood of signing with the Flyers.
Drew Stafford, right wing
Age: 29
Height: 6-2
Weight: 214
Last team: Winnipeg Jets
2014-15 cap hit: $4 million
Scouting report
A North Dakota product — he played for Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol — Drew Stafford is a big winger with a good mix of size and skill. He can play a physical game on the wing, and also has the ability to score in heavy areas. He has a sneaky shot, good puck skills and is a decent skater. The major holdup with Stafford is he can be inconsistent in all three zones.
The Sabres selected Stafford with the 13th-overall pick in the 2004 NHL draft. Going the college route, Stafford played three seasons at UND before making the jump to the NHL for the 2006-07 season. In his rookie season, Stafford tallied 13 goals and picked up 14 helpers in 41 games. The 6-foot-2, 214-pound winger spent his first eight years and half of last season in Buffalo before being sent to Winnipeg in the blockbuster Evander Kane trade.
Stafford, a Milwaukee native, combined for 18 goals last season between the Sabres and Jets — nine with each team — in 76 games. He finished with 43 points, while also adding a goal and an assist in four playoff games with the Jets. His best NHL season came in 2010-11 with the Sabres when he scored 31 goals and scooped up 21 assists in 62 games. He has 154 career goals with 38 power-play goals in 589 games.
Dougherty's projection
Like I said for Joel Ward, the Flyers desperately need wingers. Stafford plays wing. And he played for Hakstol in college. Automatic match? Not so fast.
While I would be on board for signing Stafford, the Flyers do have cap issues and Stafford's previous contract carried a $4 million cap hit. The Flyers don't have that kind of space. Not at the moment, at least. Could I see the Flyers attempt to bring in Stafford? Yes. He would add a winger to the NHL team, and one who could fill in on the top line with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek.
NHL
It comes down to money with Stafford. He's still young, so he's a guy you can see still being able to contribute in two to three seasons when the Flyers are actually ready to contend. But as GM Ron Hextall said before, the Flyers are going to attempt to win games next season and Stafford would help them win games. He would help them score goals. He'd be a good signing at the right price, which I'm not sure will happen. I don't see him coming here strictly because the Flyers cannot afford a $4 million cap hit for a second-line winger.
Riday's projection
The Flyers need to be careful when evaluating Stafford. There's no doubt he's a quality NHL winger, but I see entirely too many flaws in his game for the amount of money he earns.
Sure, Stafford has great size, plays a physical game, can shift over to either wing when needed and has even managed to score 20 or more goals three times in his career. But the former longtime Sabre is the definition of a streaky scorer and tends to disappear for long stretches. The consistency — in all three zones — just isn't there.
Maybe reuniting with his old college coach, Hakstol, would help Stafford correct some of those issues. Maybe it won't. Would he be able to mesh will with Giroux and Voracek? It's possible, but when you consider the Flyers' current cap situation and look at their players already under contract, can you really say Stafford is a better option than Michael Raffl at this point?
I think Stafford would be a risky signing. And I don't think Hextall would be comfortable handing out a multi-year deal and overpaying for a guy who averages 0.58 points per game in his career. My guess is that Stafford re-ups in Winnipeg and the Flyers look elsewhere to fill their need on the wing.