Just my take on things and what I'd like to see:
Needs: Third line center, entirely new fourth line, more youth to the defense, stability in the nets until one of the big three are ready
Replacements internally: Samuel Morin, Nicholas Aube-Kubel, Dannick Martel
Available pieces to move: Wayne Simmonds, Andrew MacDonald, Robert Hagg
Let them walk: Valteri Filppula, Brandon Manning, Petr Mrazek, Matt Read
Buy out: Jori Lehtera
So, right off the bat, it's time to end the Andrew MacDonald experiment. The fans can see that he offers nothing to the club. Veteran presence? Come on. Gudas, Provorov and Gostisbehere now offer that. There is absolutely no reason to keep him around anymore. Eat 40% of his contract and move him for picks. That's it. Just get that bloated contract and dead weight off the books.
In terms of Simmonds, you're looking at a guy who's averaged 29 goals and 53 points a year since arriving in Philadelphia. What's his value? I'd have to think that a young roster player and a blue chip prospect should be the asking price.
Finally, I get that Robert Hagg is a young defender, but with Gostisbehere and Gudas playing the right side, he just doesn't fit into the middle or bottom role. I'd move him, especially because he does nothing significant on the blue line. Yes he's a good skater. Yes, he's physical. And every now and again, he does something that catches your eye. But more often than not, he's nothing to write home about. Once again, draft picks are what I'd look for.
So, in terms of filling out the roster, I think it's safe to say that the top six is solidified. So, we know that Giroux, Couturier, Konecny, Lindblom, Patrick and Voracek should be the top six. With Valteri Fillpula and Simmonds out of the lineup, I'd look at moving Laughton to the left side, signing Riley Nash from Boston to be the center and then putting Aube-Kubel on the right side.
As for the fourth line, Dannick Martel goes to the left side, sign Mark Letestu to be the center and Michael Raffl goes to the right side.
So, internal replacements are Martel and Aube-Kubel and then the signings are Nash and Letestu.
The forwards then shape up as follows:
Giroux - Couturier - Konecny
Lindblom - Patrick - Voracek
Laughton - Nash - Aube-Kubel
Martel - Letestu - Raffl
In terms of the defense, after letting Manning walk and moving MacDonald and Hagg, we're left with Provorov, Gostisbehere, Sanheim and Gudas. Split the Provorov/Gostisbehere pairing. Instead, pair Gostisbehere with Sam Morin and pair Sanheim and Gudas together (with the understanding that Gudas will be the defensive cog on the line and that he won't need to do any heavy lifting offensively - his job is simply to get the puck to Sanheim). As for Provorov, he's the top dog, but he needs a guy to pair along side him. John Carlson would normally be the guy I'd target, but you know he's going to get a 7 year deal at $8 million plus a year, so he's out of the question. As for Mike Green, I want no part of him. Right now, the two guys I'd like to see the Flyers target, even though they're RFAs are either Cody Ceci or Ryan Pulock. Ceci is a minutes eater and I'm not going to hold that horrible plus/minus stat against him because Ottawa was a dumpster fire. He'd be the guy I'd look at targeting first. This is where I'd flip the Simmonds acquisitions for him. I think he'd be a good fit along side Provorov. You're also getting a young veteran as well. So, the defense now shapes up as:
Provorov - Ceci
Morin - Gostisbehere
Sanheim - Gudas
Finally, in terms of goaltending, Mrazek and Neuvirth are gone. Mrazek is just too wildly inconsistent and just doesn't grasp the concept of less is more. As for Neuvirth, he's so brittle that he simply can't be relied upon. Let him be someone else's problem going forward. As for replacements, it's pretty much bottom of the barrel scraping, but if Colorado lets him walk, Jonathan Bernier should be the guy the Flyers target. So, the Flyers goaltending now is Elliott and Bernier going forward for a few years. It gives some breathing room and no need to rush any one of Hart/Sandstrom/Ustimenko.
Elliott/Bernier
This is just my hope for the off-season. Sorry for the long windedness.