NHL free agency is coming. Will the Flyers be active?

There was a time in this town, not that long ago, when a coming free-agent signing period garnered far more buzz about the Flyers than a coming draft did.

Danny Briere. Mike Knuble. Jeremy Roenick.

Ilya Bryzgalov.

Oww.

Oww, for a few reasons, not the least of which is that his signing – popular at the time – impeded the development of promising rookie Sergei Bobrovsky and expedited his exit from Philadelphia. As then-owner Ed Snider said one year and one Vezina Trophy later, "He wasn't going to re-sign with us. He was going to go back to Russia (or) he was going to go with another team, but he wasn't going to be a second-string goalie for the rest of his life.''

And he wasn't. Meanwhile, the Flyers used two of the draft picks acquired in the deal with Columbus (they traded the other) to draft goaltender Anthony Stolarz and forward Taylor Leier, two players who are still part of the organization and still figure in their future.

How they figure is the muddling part. The NHL's unrestricted free-agent signing period will begin Saturday, but teams have been allowed to converse with potential free agents and their agents since Sunday morning. At the top of that list is a bunch of big names, some of them goalies, most of whom are near or at hockey's usual effective-player expiration dates. Joe Thornton will be 38 on Sunday. Justin Williams is 35. Thomas Vanek, 33.

It would be an interesting press conference if, after trading away 25-year-old, 25-goal scorer Brayden Schenn for draft picks and an older, even more unproductive, overpriced veteran in Jori Lehtera, Flyers general manager Ron Hextall held a press conference to announce the signing of one of the 30-something forwards on this year's watch list.

But OK, let's play anyway. For a team in which leadership was a year-long discussion, Mike Fisher, 37, the captain of the Stanley Cup-finalist Predators, might make some sense. For a team that was among the league's smallest, the 6-foot-6, 226-pound Martin Hanzal from the Minnesota Wild might make sense, too — and he's only 30! Should 6-2 second pick Nolan Patrick become the immediate force hoped for, he and Hanzal might quickly make the Flyers tougher to play against and free up some space for beleaguered captain Claude Giroux.

OK, game over. The Flyers, with nine picks from this draft, a farm system replete with prospects and a slew of picks lined up for 2018's rich draft, are not expected to be big players. But as Hextall made clear after the exit meetings that followed their disappointing 2016-17 season, and again after last weekend's draft, he is in the market for a goaltender.

Who, for how much, and most importantly, for how long? Ah, therein lies the rub. When Hextall dealt Harvard's Merrick Madsen to Phoenix on the eve of the draft for a 2018 fifth-round pick and 20-year-old University of Michigan forward Brendan Warren, he reduced the number of goaltenders in the Flyers system to six. He bumped that number back up quickly, though, when he somewhat unexpectedly used a third-round pick and the 80th overall to draft Russian goalie Kirill Ustimenko, who impressed during the Under-18 World Junior Championships.

Consider it the Sam Hinkie approach to goaltending.

In the meantime, however, Hextall isn't comfortable entering the coming "getting younger'' season with a tandem of Michal Neuvirth and Stolarz. Especially when, based on the sheer number of goaltenders expected to be available, he shouldn't have to. Among the familiar names on that list are 36-year-old Ryan Miller (54 games in 2016-17), 28-year-old Jonathan Bernier (39 games), 32-year-old Brian Elliott (49 games) and, of course, 29-year-old Steve Mason (58 games).

All will be seeking contracts that ensure No.1 status. Few will get them. Which is why Hextall continues to insist, "Mase is still in the mix.''

Mason made it clear on that exit day that he is no fan of being in any goaltender mix. He would like to be a No. 1. But he also said that day that he would love to return to Philadelphia, and his leadership emergence last season was among the few highlights.

Like Miller, Bernier and the others, he's looking for a multi-year deal. But as Hextall is well aware, it's a buyer's market. Especially for a team intent on "getting younger'' (don't you dare say rebuilding), and with all those goalies in their system. One  – 18-year-old Carter Hart, perhaps? – has to be the real deal, right?

The others might help with depth or be used to obtain assets.

Before Hinkie, Hextall and Phillies GM Matt Klentak dotted our sports landscape, these were phrases that mostly brought about yawns.

Now? Now,they're what passes for excitement around here.