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Deadline Primer: Philadelphia Flyers

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With the trade deadline less than a week away, we continue to take a closer look at each team. Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?

The Philadelphia Flyers are one of the most depressing stories of the season so far (sorry Flyers fans) after their hot start has crumbled in front of their eyes. Once winners of ten straight, the Flyers have gone 9-15-4 since then and have almost seen their playoff hopes vanish entirely. They are currently five points out of a playoff spot with two teams between them, and are in danger of being overtaken by the surging Tampa Bay Lightning and perhaps even the Buffalo Sabres.

It’s not all bad for the Flyers though, who have seen Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny have solid debuts as teenagers, and Wayne Simmonds continue to make his deal look like one of the best in the NHL. They have two games remaining before the deadline, one against their cross-state rival Pittsburgh Penguins, and one against the lowly Colorado Avalanche. Perhaps they will decide the fate of the Flyers come the deadline.

Record

28-25-7, 6th in Metropolitan Division

Deadline Status

Likely Seller, but with eyes on a quick reload.

Deadline Cap Space

$740K – full-season cap hit, 46/50 contracts per CapFriendly.

Draft Picks

2017: PHI 1st, PHI 2nd, PHI 3rd, BOS 3rd, PHI 4th, NYI 4th, PHI 5th, PHI 6th, PHI 7th
2018: PHI 1st, PHI 2nd, PHI 3rd, PHI 4th, PHI 5th, PHI 6th, PHI 7th

Trade Chips

Michael Del ZottoIt’s all about the rental defensemen for the Flyers, who have a few options to sell at the deadline. If they want to move on from both Mark Streit and Michael Del Zotto, there will be takers for both. While neither is a defensive dynamo, both provide offensive ability and can be used to boost a powerplay. Their value is fairly low, as both have been healthy scratches at times this season and aren’t reliable enough in their own end to warrant a high draft pick or top prospect.

Both Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth are free agents at the end of the year, but neither has played well enough for a team to think they could help them win games down the stretch. Philadelphia is likely stuck with them for the rest of the year, unless they can convince someone to take Mason’s hit in a salary-swapping deal.

It will be interesting to see if the Flyers push any of their other assets into the fray, and try a little rebuild on the fly. They’ve benched Shayne Gostisbehere at times this season to try and help his development defensively, and could get a ransom for him if they made him available. Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier would both be considered among the best available names if they listened on them, and could bring back packages close to the ones Joe Sakic is looking for in Colorado.

Likely though the deadline will come down to shopping defenders for Philadelphia, who would listen on Radko Gudas and Andrew MacDonald if anyone called. Both players (especially MacDonald) likely have too big of a contract to deal in-season though.

Five Players To Watch: D Michael Del Zotto, D Mark Streit, D Radko Gudas, C Nick Cousins, F Chris VandeVelde

Team Needs

1) Expansion Draft Goaltending: The Flyers have a decision to make at the expansion draft, as currently the only goaltender that fills the requirement is Anthony Stolarz, a prospect they likely wouldn’t want to lose—though they do also have Carter Hart and Alex Lyon in the pipeline. They’ll either have to re-sign one of the two pending free agents, or bring in another goaltender to expose. It doesn’t have to be anyone who will play for the team next season, but look for them to at least address that situation by the deadline.

2) Young Roster-Ready Players – The Flyers won’t want to undergo a complete rebuild, with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek right in their prime and signed long-term. Mid-round draft picks are nice to keep a pipeline full of talent, but the Flyers need to get better now. Look for them to go after any pre-prime player that is available, though those are few and far between this season. The crunch up front in Tampa Bay, or the crop of good young defenders in Carolina and Anaheim could be targets but will likely have to wait until the summer to get anything done.

Snapshots: Vegas, Howard, Flyers

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As the March 1st trade deadline approaches, so does the start of the Vegas Golden Knights capacity to make deals around the league. While he won’t be able to make any moves for active players, he can start shaping the future of the Golden Knights in just over a week. Michael Russo of the Star Tribune caught up with Vegas GM George McPhee and talked to him about the kind of team he’d like to build.

I’ve built high-flying teams in the past, offensive, entertaining teams and would like to do the same thing. What we do with the expansion draft hasn’t been settled yet because until we see the entire universe of what teams want to do, who they want to protect and expose, we don’t know which way we’re going to go.

Indeed, McPhee did build the high-flying Washington Capitals that featured some of the highest goal totals in recent memory. If he constructs the Vegas team the same way, it will be fun to watch at the very least as it likely struggles through its first few seasons. If McPhee wants speed, perhaps a certain Colorado Avalanche centerman who is on the block would be of interest this summer.

  • Jimmy Howard, out since before Christmas with a sprained MCL was seen taking shots today before practice by Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. Howard—who turns 33 on March 26th—carries a hefty cap hit and two more years on his contract. While the Red Wings would love to move him for some cap relief, he’ll have to get back onto the ice and prove the start of his season wasn’t a fluke.
  • Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tells us that Hall of Fame winger and current Kings’ President of Business Operations Luc Robitaille has taken over as chairman of the board for Eisbären Berlin, a German hockey team that plays in the DEL. While under Robitaille’s leadership, the Los Angeles Kings played in Berlin back in 2011 when the NHL was testing out different markets with regular season games.
  • Sam Cardichi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the Flyers and their quickly sinking ship going into the deadline. After benching Andrew MacDonald in a Sunday night win over the Vancouver Canucks, the team is looking to get Michael Del Zotto more ice-time and are still considering their options for the trade deadline. Cardichi includes he thinks the team will be in sell mode come March 1st.

What’s Next For The Philadelphia Flyers?

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On December 15th, exactly one month ago, the Philadelphia Flyers woke up on a ten-game winning streak and safely headed for the playoffs. All the talk around the league was how both Eastern Conference wildcard spots had already been locked up, the Metropolitan division having five teams that were guaranteed a spot in the playoffs.

Now, on January 15th as they lose 5-0 at the hands of the Washington Capitals, the story is very different. Since that 10th win in a row on December 14th, the Flyers have gone 3-8-3 and find themselves in real trouble of falling out of the wildcard spot. Carolina, Ottawa, Toronto and Florida are all within two points of the Flyers, with everyone having games in hand (the Leafs and Senators have 5 each).

As the Flyers head into their mandated bye-week – the team won’t play until next Saturday – they must find an answer to their recent problems. The question for this team isn’t up front, as they have scored 132 goals, good for 5th in the conference. It’s the back end that has so many question marks.

Their goaltending tandem of Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth that started so well have both taken huge steps backwards, highlighted by the four goals in five minutes allowed by Mason today against the Capitals before he was pulled from the net. Both netminders have a save percentage under .900, which is unacceptable in the NHL.

On defense, the team scratched last year’s rookie of the year candidate Shayne Gostisbehere yesterday for the second time this year, upset with his play in his own end. While that might be a development tactic, other blueliners like Andrew MacDonald and Michael Del Zotto haven’t played well enough for the team this year either.

The team has some excellent young players; Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny are both playing well as rookies, but disappear periodically (as rookies tend to do) and are still an unknown as the season stretches out.

If the front office believes this team could compete in the playoffs should they make a move or two, expect it to come on the back end and in net. With Mark Streit, Del Zotto and Nick Schultz all unrestricted free agents this summer, the team could also decide to sell off some expiring assets and give younger players more freedom.

In goal, acquiring a real NHL netminder is paramount, except it leaves the problem of Anthony Stolarz. The young netminder is almost ready to make an impact at the NHL level, and is exposed at the upcoming expansion draft. If the team were to acquire a goalie to help long term, they’d be at risk of losing him or Stolarz. This, by the way already may happen – the team currently must leave Stolarz exposed as he’s the only netminder under contract past this year.

It will be an interesting week for the Flyers front office, who need to start making decisions on this roster now. If they go another few games without turning this ship around, it might be too late. For now, they’ll crawl home and lick their wounds, hoping the unofficial second half brings more fruitful rewards.

The Disastrous Duty Of Drafting Defensemen

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In professional sports, there is an oft-quoted saying that suggests that “defense wins championships”. It’s no surprise that in the NHL, the best of the best are getting extensions like Aaron Ekblad (8 years, $60MM) and Victor Hedman (8 years, $63MM). They’re valuable assets in a league that doesn’t have enough capable defenders.

Back in the summer, we looked at the increasing value of right-handed defensemen, with players like Jason Demers (5 years, $22.5MM), Ben Lovejoy (3 years $8MM) and Roman Polak (1 year, $2.25MM) all getting contracts that seemed expensive for their on-ice value.

Perhaps it’s not just the right-handed ones though. Prices for defensemen are skyrocketing on both the open market and in trade negotiations, and it’s because even though teams want to draft and develop their own blueliners, it’s incredibly difficult to do so.

In the 2007 entry draft, there were 60 defensemen selected and only 13 of them have played more than 200 NHL games. Even that group includes players like Keaton Ellerby, Ian Cole and Yannick Weber who would not inspire much confidence at the top of anyone’s depth chart (apologies to Cole, who is having a fine season in Pittsburgh).

In comparison this is actually a fairly good draft, as in 2006 just six out of the 65 defensemen chose have crossed that 200 games threshold. While 2006 is perhaps the most stark example, as Erik Johnson (drafted first overall) is the only high-end defenseman in the entire draft – his competition for that title are the likes of Andrew MacDonald, Jeff Petry and Mike Weber.

Drafting defensemen is even more of a crap shoot, as often they develop later than forwards and rely more on experience and positioning than raw skill. In 2006, eight were taken in the first round and only Johnson is still in the NHL. Ty Wishart, Bobby Sanguinetti and Chris Summers highlight the rest of the round.

This past draft nine defenders were taken in the first round, with Jakob Chychrun in Arizona and a three-game taste from Montreal’s Mikhail Sergachev being the only forays into the NHL so far. Obviously, it’s much too early to tell whether any of these will be long-term options, but the past seems to say that many won’t.

For teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs or Edmonton Oilers, whose fan bases and media members have said for years to ’just draft a defenseman’, it’s much more difficult than it seems. Even using your first round pick on a blueliner does not guarantee success, or even an NHL player. It’s hard to find those elite defensemen, even if you sink your whole draft into them.

With only a few successful ones coming out each year, it’s no wonder players like Jacob Trouba and Cam Fowler have huge price tags on their heads. Their teams may never get a chance at a player of their caliber again (although, Anaheim seems to buck this trend and have success with a high number of defensive draft picks).

Flyers’ Michael Del Zotto To Return Saturday

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After a suffering a knee injury at the beginning of October, Flyers’ defenseman Michael Del Zotto is set to return to the lineup on Saturday night, according to Sam Carchidi of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Del Zotto was placed on injured reserve on October 7th, and originally given a timetable of 4-5 weeks which was clearly accurate.

After a successful first season with the Flyers in 2014-15, Del Zotto fought his way through another injury plagued year in 2015-16, a situation far too familiar to the 26-year old.  He’s played in 80+ games just once in his career, his rookie season with the New York Rangers, and has eclipsed 70 just one other time. If he’s to make the impact many Philadelphia fans hope, he’ll have to avoid injury for the rest of this season.

[Related: Philadelphia Flyers Depth Chart]

Expected to skate alongside Flyers’ star sophomore Shayne Gostisbehere, Del Zotto will deepen a Philadelphia defense corps that has allowed a league-leading 43 goals through 12 contests. Remarkably, the team is at 6-5-1 on the year and still poised to take a run at the playoffs again this season.

The team will have some roster work to do however before activating the defenseman, as they currently sit more than $1MM over the cap and have to be compliant before bringing Del Zotto back into the fold. The team could perhaps move Andrew MacDonald to LTIR, as he’s out at least a week with a lower-body injury.

Snapshots: Vrbata, Detroit Injuries, Beleskey, Flyers

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Arizona right winger Radim Vrbata holds a unique distinction among the 719 players to suit up in the NHL this season, writes Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated.  Vrbata is the lone player in the league to be in his third stint with the same organization.  Vrbata played with the Coyotes in 2007-08, then was traded back there again in 2009, staying until 2014.  After a two year stint with Vancouver, he returned to the desert, signing a one year, incentive-laden deal with Arizona this summer.

When he had signed with the Canucks, Vrbata admitted that he never really wanted to leave the Coyotes and had stayed in touch with plenty of players and staffers over the past two seasons with the hope of returning down the road.  The 35 year old enjoyed the familiarity that only Arizona could provide, from the market to the coach (Dave Tippett), to even his linemate in Martin Hanzal.

That comfort level appears to have been quite helpful for Vrbata in his third stint with the team.  After following up a 63 point effort two years ago with arguably the worst season of his career in 2015-16, he’s off to a strong start with Arizona this season with four goals and six assists through his first nine games and is currently skating on their top line.

[Related: Coyotes Depth Chart]

Elsewhere around the league:

  • Red Wings right winger Thomas Vanek is expected to miss the next 2-3 weeks with a hip strain, GM Ken Holland told MLive’s Ansar Khan. Holland remains hopeful that defenseman Niklas Kronwall, who has yet to play this season with a knee injury, will be able to return to the lineup in the next week or so.  Meanwhile right winger Tomas Jurco, who is still recovering from offseason back surgery, is likely to be cleared for contact sometime next week.  Holland anticipates Jurco would need another 7-10 days beyond that to get into game shape.
  • Bruins left winger Matt Beleskey is set to be a healthy scratch tonight against Tampa Bay, notes CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty. Beleskey is off to a tough start this season with no points and a -7 rating in nine games.  Prospect Sean Kuraly will make his NHL debut in Beleskey’s spot on Boston’s third line.
  • The Flyers have sent center Scott Laughton to their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley on a conditioning assignment, the team announced. The 22 year old suffered a lower body injury back in training camp and is currently on long-term injury reserve.  He’s eligible to be activated on Saturday but it would appear that he’ll get into a couple of games in the minors before joining Philadelphia’s active roster.  Still with Philly, defenseman Andrew MacDonald is expected to miss at least the next week with a lower body injury, the club announced (Twitter link).

Flyers Notes: MacDonald, Gostisbehere, Konecny, Cousins

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After being cut and waived by the Flyers early last season, that’s not likely to be the case this time around, CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio believes.  Not only does Philadelphia have the room to keep his $5MM cap hit on the books but MacDonald’s ability to play both sides on the blueline has made him a  much more valuable player to have around.

Last season, MacDonald formed a pairing with Michael Del Zotto with MacDonald playing on the left side.  In camp, he has found himself on the right side alongside top prospect Ivan Provorov, who appears likely to make the opening night roster.

The Flyers currently have eight defensemen in camp and are expected to trim that to seven before the season gets underway.  While it remains likely that the team could ship MacDonald back to the minors as he would be a safe bet to clear waivers, another option is Brandon Manning, who was in and out of the lineup last season and would be in a similar role if he were to break camp with the team.  However, he would have to clear waivers to be sent down.  The only players who don’t are Provorov and Calder finalist Shayne Gostisbehere, who is a lock to make the team.

[Related: Flyers Depth Chart]

More out of Philadelphia:

  • While rookies who quickly surge to become impact players midseason often drop off the next year, the Flyers are expecting Gostisbehere to buck that trend, writes Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post. After starting last season in the AHL, he was recalled and quickly became a force, scoring 17 goals while adding 29 assists in just 64 games and merely repeating those numbers over a full season would have him among the higher scoring blueliners in the league once again.  The 23 year old logged just over 20 minutes per game last season and will likely shoulder a similar workload in 2016-17.
  • Speed is a huge factor in today’s NHL which should work well for 2015 Flyer first rounder Travis Konecny, Isaac pens in a separate piece. The 19 year old is looking to forego his last junior season (with OHL Sarnia) to stick with Philadelphia and has made a strong impression at camp, leading the team in preseason scoring with four points in four games.  However, at just 5’10, he’s undersized for the bottom six role he would likely play with the team.  As a junior aged player, Konecny can play in nine NHL games before burning the first year of his entry level contract.
  • Also from the above column, center Nick Cousins is attempting to transition to the left wing. Although he spent a good portion of the season as their third line center last year, the bottom two spots at that position appear to be earmarked for returnee Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and newcomer Boyd Gordon.  Cousins appears to be open to the move, telling Isaac, “It’s going to be a little different, but I’m open to try it. I think once I get used to it, I’ll be good at it. I’ll fit in wherever they want me.”

Flyers Notes: Schultz, Gudas, Cuts

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Training camp can be dangerous. According to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, Nick Schultz will be out 4-7 days with a ’lower body injury’ after crashing into the boards last night. Schultz is coming off back to back seasons in which he played at least 80 games, and isn’t in danger of missing any time at the beginning of the season.

Penciled into the bottom pairing for the Flyers, Schultz provides a dependable presence on the back end, but won’t provide much in terms of offense. In his entire 14-year career, his highest point total came in at 20.

  • Another defenseman on the mend, Radko Gudas is set to return to game action very soon according to Jordan Hall of CSNPhilly. Gudas say’s he’s pretty close to 100 percent and has already begun shooting pucks with his ailing hand. Gudas, like Schultz, isn’t one of the marquee defenders on this team but does see almost 20 minutes a night in a shutdown role. He’ll continue to get a lot of defensive zone starts, while Michael Del Zotto and Shayne Gostisbehere provide all the offense from the back end.
  • Issac also tells us that another round of cuts is coming tomorrow, after the ones earlier today. Philadelphia trimmed the roster to 49 today, and is expected to take about 15 off that number tomorrow. Eventually, the team will have some tough decisions to make about their last defense spot. Will it go to the big contract of Andrew MacDonald, or does Brandon Manning deserve a real chance? The Flyers open the season October 14th in Los Angeles.

Flyers Notes: Del Zotto, Gordon, MacDonald

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While Flyers defenseman Michael Del Zotto will be ready to go once the season gets underway, he acknowledged to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post that the range of motion in his surgically repaired wrist won’t the same as it was before the operation:

“I’m as good as I’m going to be. It’s just how they do the surgery, how they tighten the ligament back up. It just has a protective barrier up so I’ll never have that, but I feel great. It’s not restricting me in any way and I’m good.”

Del Zotto underwent the procedure back in February and as a result, played in just 52 games with Philadelphia last season; he also missed their first round series against Washington.  His numbers were well down from his output from the previous year (32 points in 64 games) as he managed just four goals and nine assists in those 52 contests despite playing a career high 23:25 per game.

The 26 year old is entering the final season of his contract, one that carries a cap hit of $3.875MM and a salary of $4MM.  He will be an unrestricted free agent in July and will be counted on to provide some secondary offence from their back end behind returnees Shayne Gostisbehere and Mark Streit.

[Related: Flyers Depth Chart]

In other Flyers news:

  • Offseason acquisition Boyd Gordon left an informal skate yesterday after a collision near the boards, writes Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He left the ice under his own power and received facial stitches.  He’s not expected to miss any time.  Gordon joined the Flyers on a one year, $950K deal this summer after spending last year with Arizona.
  • After a challenging 2015-16 campaign, defenseman Andrew MacDonald is mentally stronger heading into training camp, Carchidi penned in a separate column. The 30 year old got off to a slow start last season and despite having a $5MM cap hit, was waived and demoted to their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley where he spent more than half the season.  He was brought back to the Flyers when Del Zotto went down last year and was a much steadier presence on their back end.  With several quality prospects such as Samuel Morin and Ivan Provorov expected to contend for a roster spot in training camp, MacDonald will be in a battle to secure a position despite having the most financial stability among any blueliner on the team with four years left on his current contract.

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