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Winless in their first four games, the Philadelphia Flyers (0-2-2) decided to shake up their lineup on Tuesday. They announced the signing of veteran left wing Michael Bunting to a one year, $1.2 million contract.
The Flyers are coming off another disastrous outing in Tampa Bay, in which they were outshot by a 36-15 margin in a 4-1 loss. With a 158-76 shot deficit (minus 82) over four games, they’ve played with a lack of confidence and fight. So general manager Daniel Briere decided to bring in some outside help to give his players a jolt.
Enter Bunting, a tenacious forechecker whose entire NHL brand has been grittiness and fight. The Scarborough, Ontario native scored 14 goals and 33 points split between Nashville and Dallas last season. Bunting didn’t latch on with an NHL team during the offseason. Now he joins a forward group struggling near the bottom of the league in expected goals and shot attempts.
How Will Bunting Will Fit With Flyers?
On the face of it, the Bunting signing seems like a natural fit for Philadelphia. While some will point to the coach’s familiarity with him when he with the Arizona Coyotes, he was also teammates with goalie Joseph Woll in Toronto and Noel Acciari in Pittsburgh.
Bunting has carved out a career as a versatile complimentary player. He’s always shown a willingness to battle along the boards, in the corners, and in front of the net. Those are prime areas where the Flyers have struggled through the first four games of the season.
And with the team seemingly without internal guidance following a bad training camp and lackluster start, it’s clear that Briere and Tocchet view his game like “smelling salts” for their young core of forwards. They likely value Bunting for his perceived intangibles more than any scoring output that he might provide.
Expect that Bunting will be a player that Tocchet will likely deploy anywhere in his line-up if he thinks he can be the connective tissue for it. One game you might see him on Trevor Zegras’ wing, other games he might be playing with Noah Cates or Sean Couturier. Considering the Flyers’ power-play desperation, it’s certainly plausible that he could work the net-front for rebounds.
And one of the other main benefits in signing Bunting is that it allows the Flyers take their time with their forward prospects. Management can avoid the temptation to rush up Jett Luchanko, Cole Knuble, and others on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Concerns Regarding Overall Impact
Bunting had his greatest NHL success with the Toronto Maple Leafs, often on a line with Auston Matthews. During his time there, his scoring apex was during the 2021-22 season. During that season, he racked up 23 goals and 63 points, and was a plus 27. He followed that up with a 49 point season in 2022-23 and a plus 21 rating.
However, after leaving Toronto for Carolina in the 2023-24 season, he’s been traded to another team in every season since. His recent goal scoring production has hovered between 14 and 19 goals per season, with the later over the past two. His overall scoring output have hovered in the 30-point range. But he had a combined minus-24 between Nashville and Dallas last season. He also doesn’t shoot the puck nearly as much as he did when he was with the Leafs.
In the overall picture, the Bunting signing is only a band-aid over larger issues. By himself, he can’t improve the team’s woeful five-on-five play and their horrific shot differential. However, it can be seen as the first salvo that Briere and company are pointing at young players like Porter Martone and Alex Bump. Both are underperforming based on their expectations coming into this season.
While Carl Grundstrom cleared waivers and could be sent to the AHL, the pressure is beginning to mount on Bump. The second year forward was a healthy scratch in Monday’s game, with Denver Barkey taking his place. Bump hasn’t appeared ready to play at hockey’s highest level in either of his first two pro seasons. He’s not the only one struggling, but the Bunting signing will likely affect his season outlook.
While there’s still 80 games left to play, if the team’s overall play doesn’t improve, we could see the Flyers take more drastic lineup measures, such as a trade.
While Bunting might help give them a spark, there’s little question the rest of his new teammates need to figure out what’s ailing them soon.
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