What Your Team Is Thankful For: Philadelphia Flyers
In the spirit of the holiday season, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season passes the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Philadelphia Flyers.
What are the Flyers thankful for?
Their new coach.
It’s hard to gauge time with all the postponements, but the Flyers have only played eight games since firing Alain Vigneault on December 6. Since then, however, the Flyers have either gotten lucky or turned a corner, going 5-2-2 under interim coach Mike Yeo so far. The two regulation losses were their first two games under Yeo, a 7-5 loss to Colorado on December 6 and a 3-0 loss to New Jersey on December 8. Since then, they’ve yet to lose in regulation and have won by multiple goals in two of their five wins.
The defensive bleeding is starting to improve, albeit slowly. Philadelphia hasn’t allowed more than three goals since that Colorado loss.
Better goaltending this season will help the Flyers in the long run, and under Yeo, it looks like the team is starting to turn a corner in front of Carter Hart and Martin Jones. If Ryan Ellis can stay healthy later in the season, he’ll be a big help as well.
Who are the Flyers thankful for?
Not much was made of the Atkinson-for-Jakub Voracek swap this summer. It was a trade of ageing wingers who’d underperformed in recent years, and it allowed the Flyers to gain some salary cap flexibility for future moves. That trade’s paid dividends for both teams, though, especially the Flyers. Atkinson holds the team lead with 12 goals in 31 games and has the best +/- rating on the team by far (+13).
He’s on a 32-goal pace, which would be the third-highest total of his career. COVID hit right after his career-high 41-goal campaign in 2018-19, but he’s now already hit his 12-goal mark in 2019-20 and is only three goals shy of his 2020-21 mark. The +/- mark is especially impressive for a team that’s had the defensive struggles of Philadelphia. That +13 rating is already tied for the second-best in his career. It may be a stretch to say it’s a career season for Atkinson given the 41-goal mark, but it’s certainly one of his best.
What would the Flyers be even more thankful for?
Health and more production from Sean Couturier.
Philadelphia’s defensive struggles this year were exacerbated by a somewhat unexpected lack of scoring. Couturier’s still been as trustworthy as ever defensively, but after signing an eight-year, $62MM extension this offseason, he’s got just six goals and 17 points through 29 games. It’s not awful by any stretch, but he’s been hovering around a point-per-game for the past few seasons and the dip is somewhat concerning.
It won’t be happening anytime soon, though. Couturier was injured recently and team announced he’s now out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
What should be on the Flyers’ Holiday Wish list?
A Rasmus Ristolainen deal at the trade deadline.
Philadelphia, barring a miracle, is extremely unlikely to make the playoffs. They are tied for ninth in the conference with the Bruins, but Boston has four games in hand on them. With other teams behind Philadelphia looking to make runs as well, it doesn’t seem like they’ll be able to pull away from the pack by the trade deadline.
The Flyers paid a pretty penny to acquire Ristolainen from Buffalo this offseason, but it just hasn’t worked out. He’s still struggled mightily in his own end, and he has just eight points in 29 games this year. The team needs cap space and assets, and shipping out Ristolainen in the last year of his deal would allow them to at least recoup some assets for the ill-advised acquisition.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Philadelphia Flyers Add Three To COVID Protocol
The Philadelphia Flyers have added Derick Brassard, Carter Hart, and Scott Laughton to the COVID protocol, making them unavailable for the time being. Max Willman, who had previously been in the protocol, was activated today and rejoined the team at practice. Jackson Cates, Gerald Mayhew, and Felix Sandstrom have been recalled to join the team’s taxi squad.
Losing Brassard and Laughton certainly isn’t ideal, but Hart is the biggest blow for the Flyers today. The young netminder has rebounded this season and carries a .918 save percentage through 19 appearances, carrying the majority of the load for the team. Martin Jones will now become the de facto starter for the time being, though the group in front of him is certainly not at full strength.
The Flyers are now at seven players in the COVID protocol, as Brassard, Hart, and Laughton join Kevin Hayes, Ryan Ellis, Sean Couturier, and Morgan Frost. Those are some pretty important names that could be unavailable when the team is scheduled to return to action Wednesday night.
Metropolitan Notes: Flyers, Shesterkin, Nemeth, Hurricanes
The Flyers announced that they’ve placed Max Willman and a staff member in COVID protocol. The 26-year-old has been a feel-good story for Philadelphia this season as he made his NHL debut this season and has chipped in with two goals and an assist in a dozen games. Willman was originally drafted by Buffalo back in 2014 but didn’t sign. He becomes the second Flyer currently in COVID protocol joining center Morgan Frost.
Meanwhile, goaltender Carter Hart will be unavailable for tonight’s game against Ottawa due to an undetermined illness. The team announced (Twitter link) that Felix Sandstrom has been recalled from AHL Lehigh Valley to serve as Martin Jones’ backup. They will get some help on the injury front, however, as winger Joel Farabee will return to the lineup after missing the last seven games due to a shoulder injury. The 21-year-old has seven goals in 21 games so far this season.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin is ready to return from his lower-body injury as the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been activated off injured reserve with Keith Kinkaid being returned to AHL Hartford in a corresponding move. The 25-year-old missed just over two weeks with the injury and had been off to a strong start to his season with a 2.05 GAA and a .937 SV% in 18 games. Kinkaid, meanwhile, picked up the victory on Wednesday against Arizona.
- From that same announcement, Rangers blueliner Patrik Nemeth has been placed in COVID protocol. The 30-year-old had played in all 30 of New York’s games to this point, recording two assists along with 57 blocked shots while logging just over 17 minutes per game. He’ll miss the next ten days.
- Carolina won’t be getting any help on the injury front for a little while as Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes’ team site relays (Twitter link) that winger Jordan Martinook and defenseman Jalen Chatfield aren’t close to returning from their respective lower-body injuries. Martinook has been out for a little more than two weeks and head coach Rod Brind’Amour acknowledged that the 29-year-old could start skating soon but still will need a fair bit of time before he’s able to come back. Meanwhile, Chatfield’s injury was more recent, sustained back on Sunday against his former team in Vancouver.
Snapshots: Olympics, Blackwell, Crosby
Each country participating in the upcoming Olympics had to submit their long list of 50 skaters and five goalies by last Friday. While those lists weren’t made public, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported in the latest TSN Insider Trading segment that Canada was granted a special exemption to add a sixth goaltender to their list in Canadiens netminder Carey Price who is currently out indefinitely after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. The other five goalies are Darcy Kuemper, Carter Hart, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jordan Binnington, and Mackenzie Blackwood. Canada’s Olympic committee recently announced a vaccination mandate in order to participate which makes Blackwood’s presence on here noteworthy as he is believed to be one of the four NHL players currently not vaccinated. LeBrun mentions that the Devils’ goalie is working through the process of getting that done which should make him eligible to participate in the tournament in February if selected.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Kraken center Colin Blackwell has resumed light skating as he works his way back from a lower-body injury that kept him out of training camp, notes Marisa Ingemi of the Seattle Times. He’s hoping to avoid surgery but it appears he’s still a few weeks away from returning. Blackwell was selected back in expansion after picking up 12 goals and 10 assists in 47 games (all career highs) last season with the Rangers.
- Penguins center Sidney Crosby returned to practice today after missing the last four team skates, relays NHL.com’s Wes Crosby. He indicated that he has yet to go through any physical or faceoff drills which will need to happen before he can return. Crosby, who is working his way back from wrist surgery that carried a minimum recovery time of six weeks, has missed just more than that and hasn’t pegged a target date for him to make his season debut.
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Carter Hart
The Philadelphia Flyers have locked up their young goaltender, signing Carter Hart to a three-year contract. The deal carries an average annual value of $3.979MM. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff provides the full breakdown:
- 2021-22: $3.2MM salary + $279K signing bonus
- 2022-23: $3.6MM salary + $379K signing bonus
- 2023-24: $4.479MM
Hart, 22, was absolutely brutal this season, recording an .877 save percentage in 27 appearances for the Flyers. That was a huge reason why Philadelphia fell out of contention early, though the rest of the roster also seemed to have down years. At any rate, the team obviously still believes in their young netminder, giving him one of the biggest second contracts ever for a goaltender his age.
There are lots of reasons to believe that Hart can turn things around. Not only was he one of the most successful netminders in CHL history, winning the Del Wilson Trophy as the WHL’s Goaltender of the Year in three straight seasons, but his early NHL career was also outstanding. In his first two seasons, Hart posted a .915 save percentage in 74 appearances, going 40-26-4 for the Flyers. It was easy to crown him as one of the league’s best up-and-coming goaltenders, a calming presence in the Philadelphia net.
Now, as the team commits a rather hefty sum to the young netminder, Hart will need to get back to that previous performance. The team won’t be able to go anywhere without a return to form, especially given who they brought in as a backup this year. Martin Jones, who was once a strong starter in the league, has posted an .896 save percentage in each of the last three seasons. Unless he experiences a career turnaround, the team won’t be able to rely on him to carry the load should Hart struggle.
This deal also means that Hart will be left with an expensive qualifying offer in 2024. That $4.479MM offer will be a high price if he fails to return to previous form, especially as he will also be arbitration-eligible at that point. Because he started his career so early, Hart will actually be on track for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2025, after he completes seven seasons in the NHL.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Carter Hart Out For Rest Of Season
The Philadelphia Flyers have just seven games left, but Carter Hart won’t be playing in any of them. The team announced today that Hart has been ruled out for the rest of the regular season with an MCL sprain in his left knee.
It’s a fitting end for an extremely disappointing season, in which Hart saw his numbers plummet across the board. The 22-year-old netminder posted a 9-11-5 record in 27 appearances, registering just an .877 save percentage and 3.67 goals-against average. Those numbers aren’t good enough for an NHL backup, let alone one of the most exciting up-and-coming goaltenders in the league that was supposed to challenge for the Vezina Trophy in short order.
The young netminder will have to find a way to put this season behind him and get his career back on track, but this injury certainly won’t help. There was a good chance that even with his struggles he could have been on Team Canada at the upcoming IIHF World Championship. Canada’s goaltending for the 2022 Olympics (assuming NHL players attend) is far from set, with names like Carey Price and Jordan Binnington dealing with their own struggles.
Perhaps more importantly, this poor season could have an effect on Hart’s contract negotiations this summer. The young goaltender is a restricted free agent for the first time and will not have arbitration rights. It was assumed that he would be locked up long-term at the first chance Philadelphia had, but most players wouldn’t want to ink a multi-year deal coming off such a poor season. It will be interesting to see if the two sides go for a bridge contract instead, allowing Hart to get his game back on track while also leaving enough cap space to bring in (or back) a proven veteran.
Currently, the Flyers have just a single goaltender—22-year-old Kirill Ustimenko who underwent major hip surgery in December—under contract for the 2021-22 season.
East Notes: Ovechkin, Penguins, Hart, Lafreniere
The Washington Capitals were without star forward Alex Ovechkin, who missed his first game Saturday (due to injury) since May 5, 2015 due to a lower-body injury. His ability to stay healthy throughout his career is one reason why many people believe that the 35-year-old has a chance to break the goals scored record (held by Wayne Gretzky). However, the forward will be a game-time decision on Tuesday against the Islanders as well, according to NHL.com.
“I think with some injuries, you don’t know what’s going to go on, whether somebody’s going to be available or not available and that’s why I think people say ‘day to day’, because they’re unsure,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said Saturday. “Will he be there for the next game? I’m not sure at this point, so we’ll err on the side of caution at this point in the season. We’re not going to risk anything as we head towards the playoffs, but hopefully he continues to improve.”
Ovechkin left late in the third period of Thursday’s game with the Islanders due to the injury. He has 24 goals in 43 games this season and sits sixth on the NHL all-time goals leaders with 730, just one short of tying Marcel Dionne.
- Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said (via the Penguins) that injured players Evgeni Malkin, Brandon Tanev and Frederick Gaudreau all skated Sunday morning with the taxi squad. While the coach admitted they all are making progress, he said their status with the team has not changed. Malkin has been out with a lower body injury since March 16. Tanev has appeared in just two games since March 18 with an upper-body injury, while Gaudreau has been out since April 11 with a lower-body injury.
- With just nine games remaining in the Philadelphia Flyers season, Philadelphia Inquirer’s Ed Barkowitz writes that one of the key things to watch is the return and the play of young goaltender Carter Hart. However, head coach Alain Vigneault has not indicated when Hart will return from the mild knee sprain he suffered on April 15, suggesting it might be a bit longer before he returns to the ice. The team is 1-2-1 without him since the injury.
- The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello (subscription required) writes that New York Rangers rookie Alexis Lafreniere looked impressive Friday when he was promoted to the top line next to Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich when Chris Kreider sat out, scoring a goal and an assist in the process. The scribe writes that the team might benefit during the final stretch of games remaining this season to see what Lafreniere can do on the top line.
East Notes: Eichel, Beecher, Boston Injuries, Hart
While Sabres center Jack Eichel continues to rehab his neck injury and wait for a decision on whether or not to have surgery, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported in a recent appearance on WGR 550 (audio link) that Eichel’s preference is to simply have the procedure, one that carries a six-week recovery time. That would give him plenty of time to rehab and be ready for training camp in the fall.
Where he goes for that camp is going to be one of the storylines to watch for this summer. Eichel has been in trade speculation for a while now but a trade in-season would have been tough to do for salary cap purposes. Dreger reports that the Kings are one of the teams that have been interested in the 24-year-old. They would be an interesting fit as they have young center prospects (including Quinton Byfield, Alex Turcotte, and Gabriel Vilardi) that would need to be part of the deal plus the cap space to afford his $10MM price tag. Of course, should the Sabres make him available, there will be plenty of other suitors as well.
More from the East Division:
- The Bruins aren’t expected to try to turn John Beecher pro this summer, suggests Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). His sophomore campaign at Michigan came to an early end due to shoulder surgery and he was limited to just 16 games, recording four goals and four assists. Accordingly, it makes sense for Boston to want him to stay in college for another year although Divver indicated that if Beecher wants to turn pro, they will oblige that request.
- Still with Boston, the Bruins were happy to have Tuukka Rask back in the lineup on Thursday for their match-up against the New York Islanders. However, that appears to be the only addition from the infirmary that they’ll get, as Matt Grzelcyk (upper body), Brandon Carlo (upper body), and Kevan Miller (undisclosed) aren’t expected to return for the team’s next game on Sunday, according to The Boston Globe’s Matt Porter.
- Flyers goaltender Carter Hart was a late scratch from this afternoon’s contest against Washington with the team tweeting that he has a lower-body injury. Hart has been better this month after a disastrous March, posting a .910 SV% in five games before this setback. There’s no word yet on how long he’ll miss.
Trade Rumors: Hall, Flyers, Panthers
While he stopped short of stating that there is a lot of interest in Buffalo Sabres winger Taylor Hall, TSN’s Darren Dreger noted on “Insider Trading” this evening that the team is receiving different varieties of offers for the former MVP. While some teams see Hall strictly as a rental, Dreger reports that GM Kevyn Adams has also received calls from teams with interest in a trade-and-sign potential. Despite Hall’s struggles this season, it seems that there are clubs who still believe in his long-term value once he escapes Buffalo. Normally, these teams would not necessarily need to inform the opposing GM of their post-trade intentions. However, given Hall’s No-Movement Clause there seems to be more transparency from suitors in hopes that Hall would waive to come to their team. Dreger relays that Adams and Hall’s agent, Darren Ferris, recently met to discuss these offers as well as those from teams who have not yet expressed interest in an extended relationship with Hall.
GM, agent, and player will all need to be on the same page for a deal to get done, but Hall has already stated that he is open to waiving his NMC for the right move, so it seems likely that he will end up traded. Yet, don’t be surprised if the deal doesn’t happen until deadline day. Dreger believes that Adams could hold on to Hall as long as he can, allowing Hall’s pro-rated cap hit to decrease as much as possible, as a tactic to improve or at least maintain his trade value. With so many team’s facing a salary cap crunch, a cheaper Hall is a more valuable Hall. To this point, it seems teams have balked at Buffalo’s first-round price tag for Hall, but their best chance of netting that return will likely be on deadline day.
- As young Carter Hart continues to struggle this season, it is becoming more and more likely that the Philadelphia Flyers will have to add another goalie if they want to compete for a playoff spot down the stretch. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that they are certainly considering a move, but have not made a decision yet. While the numbers for Hart as well as Brian Elliott are not appealing so far this season, bringing in a third netminder is not a simple decision. The Flyers would need to have the cap flexibility to carry three goalies and would also need to consider the mental status of Hart if they were to essentially bump the season-opening starter to a third-string role. LeBrun believes that Philadelphia will wait as long as possible to make a deal, hoping that their current tandem improves but also in order to take a realistic look at their playoff chances at the deadline and weigh whether a move in worth it. If the Flyers do opt to seek another goalie, LeBrun notes that the name they are being linked to is Detroit Red Wings veteran Jonathan Bernier.
- It would surprise no one to hear that the Florida Panthers are looking for a defenseman in light of the season-ending injury suffered by stalwart Aaron Ekblad. However, Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards reports that the team was actually scouring the market for a top-four blue liner even before Ekblad’s injury, which only served to up their efforts. The Panthers had enjoyed strong seasons from Ekblad, MacKenzie Weegar, and Keith Yandle and had not hesitated to give considerable play time to Anton Stralman, Gustav Forsling, and Radko Gudas as well. However, the team recently waived Stralman, which just goes to show how much they value his contribution so far this season. And while Yandle and Gudas have played well, the two are somewhat of specialists, only excelling at one end of the ice. With Ekblad gone, the Panthers will have to rely on Weegar and Forsling as their most complete defensemen and neither has the experience needed to lead a contender on a deep playoff run. It is likely this concern that prompted a search even before Ekblad went down.
Philadelphia Flyers Re-Sign Brian Elliott
Veteran goaltender Brian Elliott will be back in the Philadelphia net for a fourth season in 2020-21. The Flyers have announced a new one-year contract for Elliott, who was set to reach free agency on Friday. Elliott will play for an AAV of $1.5MM this coming season, a savings of $500K for Philly from the one-year extension he signed last off-season.
Elliott, 35, hasn’t exactly been sharp over his time with the Flyers, but he has been a great mentor to young Carter Hart, who has supplanted him as starter and should see his workload increase even more this year. Elliott avoided injury this season after missing 41 games in 2018-19 and did see a slight improvement in his goals against average. He also impressed in two postseason appearances. However, the former All-Star still recorded a lowly .899 save percentage in 31 appearances. With many options in goal on the free agent and trade markets to upgrade the backup position, admittedly at a high price with many needy teams, Philadelphia’s decision means they clearly feel comfortable with their current tandem and Hart’s ability to take on a greater role so as to limit the pressure on the aging Elliott.
Speaking to the intangibles of the veteran netminder, GM Chuck Fletcher stated the following in the team’s release: “Brian is a quality, veteran goaltender who is also an important part of our leadership group. His preparation and work ethic are exemplary. With Brian and Carter, we believe we have a strong goaltending duo who have each had success and work very well with each other.”