2017-18 Primer: Philadelphia Flyers
With the NHL season now just a month away, it’s time to look at what each team has done this summer and what to watch for in the year to come. Today, we focus on the Philadelphia Flyers.
Last Season: 39-33-10 record (88 points), sixth in Metropolitan Division (missed the playoffs)
Remaining Cap Space: $4.9MM per CapFriendly
Key Additions: G Brian Elliott (free agency, Calgary), F Jori Lehtera (trade with St. Louis), F Nolan Patrick (entry draft)
Key Departures: F Nick Cousins (trade with Arizona), D Michael Del Zotto (free agency, Vancouver), F Roman Lyubimov (CSKA Moscow, KHL), G Steve Mason (free agency, Winnipeg), F Brayden Schenn (trade with St. Louis), D Nick Schultz (free agency, unsigned)
[Related: Flyers Depth Chart From Roster Resource]
Player To Watch: F Claude Giroux – Giroux has been Philadelphia’s front line center pretty much full-time since 2010-11. However, after hovering at a point-per-game or better for three straight years (2011-12 through 2013-14), his production has dropped for three straight years with his output last season (14 goals and 58 points) checking in well below his career averages.
Giroux is still just 29 and shouldn’t be on the downswing just yet but it’s fair to question if his decline is a sign of things to come or are better days on the horizon? With no real help being brought in offensively over the course of the summer (Schenn to Lehtera is a bit of a step back), the team is undoubtedly counting on Giroux to pick up his play.
The Flyers have their top line center of the future in Patrick but he’s still a few years away from realistically being ready to ascend to that role. Their other internal options (Lehtera, Valtteri Filppula, and Sean Couturier) aren’t capable of being top liners so expectations are going to remain high on Giroux for this season and well beyond. If he can get back to even around the 70 point mark, Philadelphia will be much better off for it.
Key Storyline: There aren’t many certainties around the league from year-to-year but one of them is the annual question of whether the Flyers have good enough goaltending and this season is no exception.
Elliott did not play particularly well with Calgary last season and his numbers were only marginally better than what Mason put up as the starter in 2016-17, a level of production that wasn’t good enough. If Elliott plays similarly this year, starting goaltending will likely be a problem once again. That said, there is upside here based on his play with St. Louis over the previous few seasons. If Elliott gets even close to that level of performance, then Philadelphia will have a reliable starter.
Michal Neuvirth is still in the fold as well and will be looking to push for more playing time as well. He’s also coming off of a down campaign but is only one year removed from a strong year with Philly. However, he hasn’t been able to hold down the number one role for long in the past.
In a perfect world, both veterans rebound and provide the team with above average goaltending but if they repeat their performances from last season, their play between the pipes will be problematic once again. One of these years, the Flyers will find themselves with some stability in goal with a proven, high-quality starter but 2017-18 isn’t going to be the year it happens.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Evening Notes: Giroux, Nash, LA’s Goalie Pipeline
The Philadelphia Flyers have spent quite a bit of time pondering how they didn’t make the playoffs a year ago. The team finished with a 39-33-10 season, including a 10-game winning streak, but their 88 points was not enough to propel them into the playoffs. In fact, their 88 points wasn’t even enough to place ninth in the Eastern Conference standings. Nor 10th. Their record notched them an 11th place finish with the Carolina Hurricanes in 12th only by a point. Granted, the Flyers weren’t really that close to the Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning, who each finished with 94 points, but the team is driven to come back this year.
Of course, Sam Cardichi of Philly.com writes that they will have to do that while integrating four to five rookies into the lineup this year, which likely would include Nolan Patrick, Oskar Lindblom and defenders Samuel Morin and Robert Hagg. That doesn’t even include breaking in a new goaltender in Brian Elliott.
Cardichi writes that he believes the team will be looking for veteran Claude Giroux to have a bounce-back season. After averaging 25 goals over the previous three seasons for the Flyers, the 29-year-old center scored just 14 last year. If he can return to his old form, the Flyers have a much better chance to rebound this year.
- NBC Sports Cam Tucker writes that Rick Nash is also looking to bounce back this season. The New York Rangers’ veteran, who has been a goal-scoring machine in his career is closing in on 500 goals for his career, but has seen the last two years hampered with offensive struggles and numerous injuries. With two seasons in which he combined for just 38 goals, well below his career average, he must come up big this year, before he hits unrestricted free agency after this season. “Every year I want to have the best year possible. But this year, it’s an important year for me personally,” said Nash.
- Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider writes that the Los Angeles Kings have finally accomplished their goal of building up their goaltending pipeline with three key acquisitions this summer. The team brought in former Minnesota Wild backup Darcy Kuemper to backup veteran Jonathan Quick this year on a one-year deal. That was step one. However, the key acquisitions were signing Notre Dame goaltender Cal Petersen on the first day of free agency in July and then drafting Matthew Villalta in the third round of the 2017 draft this summer. According to Rosen, that stocks the pipeline for the next few years. Petersen was the first goalie to be named captain in Notre Dame’s history and finished with 23 wins, 2.22 GAA and a .926 save percentage in his junior season, taking the team to its third Frozen Four appearance. He also was among the top five finalists for the Mike Richter Award, which goes to the top collegiate goaltender. The 18-year-old Villalta was a third-round pick in the 2017 draft, picking up 25 wins and a 2.41 GAA and a .918 save percentage for the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Snapshots: Olczyk, Giroux, Rielly
The hockey world received sad news today, as long-time NBC broadcaster, former coach and player Eddie Olczyk was diagnosed with colon cancer. Olcyzk is perhaps best known for his even-handed color commentary and general good standing league wide. Olczyk played over 1000 NHL contests, splitting time between Chicago, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, and Los Angeles. His short foray into the coaching world for the Penguins in 2003-04 and 2005-06 was relatively unsuccessful, but Olczyk found a home as a broadcaster, first for his local Comcast SportsNet Chicago before taking on a more national role. His legacy within the Blackhawks fanbase is that of a fair, enthusiastic lover of the sport, who provides solid and humor-filled insight.
Olczyk had a tumor removed successfully but still needs to undergo chemotherapy. Olczyk stated that he hopes to return to the broadcast booth for the upcoming season, and hockey fans everywhere will be hoping and praying for his quick recovery.
- Claude Giroux reached out to Sporting News Canada’s Pam Murray, revealing in an article his thoughts going forward as captain of the Flyers. Essentially, the team couldn’t find a proper groove and “lots of things didn’t go (their) way”. The Flyers had a massive win-streak that was rendered irrelevant by long stretches of non-productivity and defensive inconsistency. Giroux mentioned how excited he is to work with the young prospects making the leap this season, not least among them Nolan Patrick. Philadelphia is a difficult city to play hockey in, and missing the playoffs can apply pressure to even the most savvy of veteran leaders. Giroux, especially with his massive caphit, will be under the limelight if things start to go sour again.
- Although it may go as no surprise, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ off-season acquisition of Ron Hainsey was apparently to help guide along Morgan Rielly. Talking to NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy, coach Mike Babcock stated that “finding a partner” for Rielly was always the team’s intention this summer. Hainsey is no doubt a useful veteran player, but taking top minutes may be more than he can handle at this stage of his career. His skating has noticeably slowed and his mediocre puck-moving ability was exploited often in Pittsburgh. A restful off-season may go a long way toward allowing him to handle the load of 20+ minutes once again, but his 39.7% Corsi For in the Penguins’ run certainly didn’t inspire many onlookers. He’ll need to clean up the turnovers and simplify his game a great deal, which, with Rielly on his left, might be feasible.
Flyers’ Bloated Forward Contracts Becoming Issue
The Philadelphia Flyers haven’t seen the second round of the post-season since 2012, and in those 5 seasons since, missed the show entirely 3 times. For a team that spends as much on offense as the Flyers, their production has been incredibly mediocre. Many point to the seemingly never-ending goaltending carousel as the root cause of the team’s woes, and they wouldn’t be entirely incorrect. That said, over the last four seasons, their goals for per 60 minutes (GF60) is good for only 25th league-wide. That puts them above only the Vancouver Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes, Arizona Coyotes, New Jersey Devils, and Buffalo Sabres in that timeframe. In short, their offense has been remarkably underwhelming for years. And yet, the team is allocating $47.32 MM of its available $75 MM to its forward group in 2017-18, with most of that money tied up in only a handful of skaters. For comparison’s sake, that’s more than $5 MM more than their divisional rivals in Pittsburgh or Washington.
Leading the pack in terms of bloated contracts are the team’s captain Claude Giroux and last season’s team-points-leader Jakub Voracek. Neither player is detrimental to the cause – they both have tallied multiple 50+ point seasons with relative consistency. That said, their contracts are some of the most exorbitant in the league. Giroux’s $8.275 MM AAV for the next 5 seasons puts him in an elite group of forwards. So does Voracek’s $8.25 MM for the next 7 seasons. This places them 12th and 13th respectively among the highest paid players league-wide for the 2017-18 season. Giroux’s career PPG is .87, while Voracek’s is a measly .71. Excluding defensemen P.K. Subban and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, these stats simply don’t match up to the rest of the “elite” group. Jonathan Toews‘ and Anze Kopitar both also account for around .87 PPG, but unarguably do far more on the defensive side of the puck than the simply capable Giroux. One of these bloated contracts alone would be a hindrance; two on the same roster is nearly insurmountable.
Further down the roster, you see other albatross contracts. Valtteri Filppula was acquired by the Flyers to shore up the center position and increase playmaking ability. He only scored 8 points through 20 games in Philadelphia. Thankfully for the Flyers, his $5 MM contract expires at the end of 2017-18. Jori Lehtera was acquired this off-season in a bizarre move for Brayden Schenn, who arguably saw a great deal of improvement last season. Lehtera has only two seasons remaining at $4.7 MM, but his only effective (44 points) season is two years in the past. He scored only 7 goals all last season. Then there’s Sean Couturier, who while not a total dud, has failed to progress the way the organization hoped when they drafted him with the 8th overall in 2011 acquired as part of the Jeff Carter transaction. He provides solid defensive play, but he has never broken 40 points, and seemingly regressed last season, falling out of Selke conversations. He has 5 seasons remaining at a moderate $4.33 MM AAV. Wayne Simmonds (the one true bargain on the team) and Matt Read both make over $3 MM, while Dale Weise and Michael Raffl both draw over $2 MM. For a team that truly struggles to put the puck in the net, a lot of money is being spent on marginal players.
Ultimately, the Flyers are in a difficult spot playing in the Metropolitan Division. With the high-flying, offensively-dynamic Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins competing for playoff positioning, the inclination to try and duplicate those franchises is only natural. The team did luck into a dynamic, potentially franchise, talent in Nolan Patrick, which may help alleviate some of the problems with consistent offensive production. That said, if the Flyers continue to struggle this season, look for some of the offensive big guns to find themselves on the trading block. Excluding the one year of Filppula and the incredibly valuable Simmonds, only Giroux has any sort of no-movement clause. With Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere looking to be core pieces on the back-end for many years, the day may soon come where an offensive overhaul visits Philadelphia. GM Ron Hextall will have money moving out in the next few seasons, but he undoubtedly has decisions to make going forward, particularly if this season again falls short of a playoff appearance.
Flames To Sign Spencer Foo
One of the biggest college free agent prizes has decided on his NHL destination, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie. Union forward Spencer Foo will sign with the Calgary Flames. The 6’0″, 180 pound right winger scored 26 goals and added 36 assists in his Junior season with the Union Dutchmen. He was known in NCAA circles for being the motor behind the highest scoring line in college hockey, alongside Mike Vecchione, who ended up in Philadelphia.
Foo was previously linked to other teams, most seriously those same Flyers. However, Foo decided to change course, as he and his agent were pursued by other teams with more glaring holes at the winger position. Although details are scarce as to the rationale, one has to imagine that he was looking to have a serious opportunity on the right side. Calgary is weak on the right side, and only two players are under contract that naturally slot there: Troy Brouwer and Michael Frolik. The Flyers, by comparison, have multiple flexible core players who can slot on that side, including mainstays Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, and Jakub Voracek, with Matt Read and Dale Weise also getting looks. In Calgary, he is almost certain to have a crack at the top-9 on the roster, with the ability to play with creative talents Johnny Gaudreau and Sam Bennett.
Foo is tough for his size and has good skating ability. He has been lauded for his exceptional work ethic and conditioning, which at 23 will provide a decent opportunity to smoothly transition. The odds are against him to make an immediate offensive impact, as many college signings still take time to develop. For the re-building Flames, however, the signing is a perfect fit. Foo will be allowed to blossom alongside the young core that is already present, without worrying too heavily about internal competition for ice time on the wing.
Terms will not be revealed until that July 1st date, when the Unrestricted Free Agency signing period starts. Flames Nation’s Ryan Pike expects the deal to be a two-year entry level contract, at somewhere near the maximum $925,000 per year.
Deadline Approaches To Ask Players To Waive No-Movement Clauses
On the heels of yesterday’s report that both Keith Yandle and Dion Phaneuf had been asked to waive their no-movement clauses in order to be exposed for the upcoming expansion draft, speculation is running rampant around the league on who else will be asked. Below is the full list of players who currently require protection due to their clauses. The deadline to submit a request to a player is 4pm CDT today, while the player must inform the team of his decision by the same time on Friday June 16th. Because the Stanley Cup Finals ended last night, Nashville and Pittsburgh will not receive an extension and will need to submit their requests at the same time as every other team.
Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet radio today and mentioned that the Anaheim Ducks have spoken with Kevin Bieksa about possibly waiving his clause, something examined at length in our recent Ducks Expansion Primer.
Anaheim (4)
Kevin Bieksa — Expected to be asked.
Ryan Getzlaf
Ryan Kesler
Corey Perry
Arizona (1)
Alex Goligoski
Boston (4)
David Backes
Patrice Bergeron
Zdeno Chara
David Krejci
Expansion Primer: Philadelphia Flyers
Over the next few weeks we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.
The Philadelphia Flyers are coming off a disappointing season of Metropolitan struggles. Thankfully, with the #2 pick in the upcoming draft, they will receive an infusion a top level talent in Nico Hischier or Nolan Patrick. There aren’t a ton of success stories from this last season for the Flyers, in which Wayne Simmonds led the way up front. Many players took a noticeable step back and the younger forwards failed to produce at an impactful clip.
The Flyers are in desperate need of embracing a full youth movement. The longer they cling to players like Andrew MacDonald, the worse off their rebuild will be. This is not a team that can compete for a Stanley Cup in the near future and with the expansion draft forcing tough decisions, now is the time to embrace that organizational mentality.
Eligible Players (Non-UFA)
Forwards
Claude Giroux (NMC), Valtteri Filppula (NMC), Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier, Matt Read, Dale Weise, Michael Raffl, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Nick Cousins, Scott Laughton, Greg Carey, Colin McDonald, Taylor Leier
Defense
Andrew MacDonald, Radko Gudas, Brandon Manning, Shayne Gostisbehere, T.J. Brennan, Will O’Neill, Jesper Pettersson
Goaltender
Michal Neuvirth, Anthony Stolarz
Notable Exemptions
Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, Samuel Morin, Carter Hart
Key Decisions
The Flyers have to protect two players – both of whom are probably not deserving of the no movement clause they have been granted. Giroux had his second straight offensively disappointing season. At $8.275 MM a season until 2022, the Flyers have created a really difficult situation for themselves. And although previous GM Paul Holmgren was somehow able to unload Mike Richards prior to his momentous fall from grace, Giroux is already known to be an albatross. He’s still producing, with 14 goals and 58 points in his last outing, but he is struggling to be a difference maker against tough competition. Filppula only played 20 games this past season for Philadelphia, so any criticism might be premature. But the well-rounded center has only broken 20 goals twice in his career, most recently 4 seasons ago. He seems rather redundant on a team with lots of mediocre offensive talents.
Voracek might also be slightly overpaid for what he brings to the team ($8.25 MM), as his possession metrics have trended consistently downward over the course of four seasons. That said, he was Philadelphia’s leading scorer in 2016-17 and has a secure roster spot. He’s only two years removed from an All-Star appearance, but is he dominant enough to carry an offense if another key member struggles again? Simmonds is an obvious keeper for the physical edge he brings along with his consistent production. The net-front presence and leadership skills make him a prime candidate for captain if Giroux were somehow jettisoned in the near future. Both Schenn and Couturier are promising key pieces to the future of the squad, and had solid outings last season.
From here, the decision at forward gets difficult. Weal had solid underlying metrics and showed flexibility in his game. Does GM Ron Hextall believe there is there more to his game, and if so, is he worth signing as a UFA before the expansion draft, burning a protection slot? Probably not. Some believe Cousins is worth protecting, as he is still young at 23 years old, and shown potential at the AHL level. With the other players vying for the position, however, the organization would have to be incredibly high on his ability to piece it all together next season.
The three serious remaining choices – Laughton, Raffl, and Bellemare – a group which likely contains the player to be claimed by Vegas, poses a question which will be entirely decided by organizational philosophy. Laughton is the player who has the highest upside but also the greatest potential for bust. Mike Raffl is a consistent producer whose ability would guarantee a certain amount of offense on a forward corps that can really struggles over long stretches. Bellemare is your classic heart-and-soul player – his latest perfomance in the World Championships put that on display for all onlookers. In the end, based on the praise afforded him by the coaching staff and other players, as well as his assistant captainship, Bellemare could easily find himself as the final protected player. Whether that is the correct long-term decision will be a topic of great scrutiny.
On defense, there are very few players signed. Gudas and Gostisbehere will absolutely be protected, so the third choice is the only one up for debate. Many believe that MacDonald is considered the veteran savvy anchor, but his possession stats have been poor, while his turnover frequency has been disturbing. He plays over 20 minutes a night, but hasn’t performed as consistently as a top-pairing player should. Manning still has room to improve, is four years younger, and posts a positive Corsi influence (51.3%) on a corps that truly floundered all season. Neither is going to be a game breaker for Vegas, but it would seem odd that Philadelphia wouldn’t roll the dice and expose MacDonald in hopes that his $5 MM contract for three more seasons could be removed from the books.
The goaltending decision will be an interesting one for outside watchers. With Steve Mason gone, Neuvirth is obviously their tender going forward, correct? Well, perhaps not. Neuvirth’s stats (.901 SV%) really don’t justify his protection, and especially considering the forward situation, he would almost certainly not be claimed. Stolarz is the goaltender of the immediate future for the team and will see quite a bit of duty this year. The 6’6″ former London Knight is going to be relied upon to take a step forward, and his progression in Lehigh Valley has been quite promising. Exposing him could backfire in a way that leaving Neuvirth open for taking could not. If the team is serious about a youth movement, his value as an asset needs to be shielded.
After quite a few tough determinations, and trying to be realistic about the organization’s valuation of certain players, what follows is the final projection for Philadelphia.
Projected Protection List
Scheme: 7F / 3D / 1G
Forwards
Claude Giroux (NMC)
Valtteri Filppula (NMC)
Sean Couturier
Wayne Simmonds
Brayden Schenn
Jakub Voracek
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
Defensemen
Shayne Gostisbehere
Radko Gudas
Brandon Manning
Goaltender
Anthony Stolarz
Team Canada Names Eighteen Players To World Championship Squad
With the World Championships beginning in just a few weeks Team Canada has released their first wave of players, announcing 18 names for the upcoming tournament. Five players are returning from the 2016 gold medal team: Calvin Pickard, Michael Matheson, Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly and Mark Scheifele. The full roster so far is as follows:
Eric Comrie (Winnipeg Jets)
Calvin Pickard (Colorado Avalanche)
Tyson Barrie (Colorado Avalanche)
Calvin de Haan (New York Islanders)
Jason Demers (Florida Panthers)
Michael Matheson (Florida Panthers)
Josh Morrissey (Winnipeg Jets)
Sean Couturier (Philadelphia Flyers)
Matt Duchene (Colorado Avalanche)
Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers
Alex Killorn (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Travis Konecny (Philadelphia Flyers)
Ryan O’Reilly (Buffalo Sabres)
Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche)
Brayden Point (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg Jets)
Wayne Simmonds (Philadelphia Flyers)
Jeff Skinner (Carolina Hurricanes)
The tournament will start on May 5th for Canada with their first game coming against the Czech Republic, and will be held in Paris, France and Cologne, Germany. The coaching staff will be made up of Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay Lightning), Gerard Gallant (Vegas Golden Knights), Dave Hakstol (Philadelphia Flyers) and Dave King.
Flyers Notes: Del Zotto, Schultz, Hextall, Mason
Philadelphia’s defense is setting up to look a lot different next season as youngsters like Samuel Morin and Travis Sanheim, among others, make a push for a full-time roster spot. Accordingly, their pending unrestricted free agents, Michael Del Zotto, aren’t likely to return next season.
Del Zotto confirmed to Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer that there haven’t been any talks about a potential contract extension. The blueliner acknowledged he has been frustrated this season after seeing his role change considerably; his average ice time is down nearly four minutes a night from last year while he has also spent time as a healthy scratch.
As for Schultz, he acknowledged to CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio that there’s a good chance he won’t play next season. He doesn’t like the idea of moving his family to sign a one year deal while it’s unlikely that the Flyers will look to bring him back, even in the current depth role he finds himself in.
Combined, the duo accounted for a little over $6MM on Philadelphia’s salary cap this season and if they are replaced with players on entry level deals, GM Ron Hextall should have some flexibility heading into the offseason.
More from Philly:
- In a separate column, Panaccio reports that Hextall has no plans of dealing any of his core players away this summer. He highlights forwards Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek, and Brayden Schenn in that group. Each of those players is signed for at least two more years beyond this one with Voracek being under contract the longest through 2023-24. As things stand, the Flyers have nearly $60MM committed for next season to 16 players which should give them enough room to add another core piece without necessarily having to take one away to free up payroll space to do so in more of a shake-up type of deal.
- On top of not negotiating with their pending UFA blueliners, no contract talks have been held with goaltender Steve Mason, notes Sam Carchidi, also of the Philadelphia Inquirer. As a result, he reports that it’s unlikely the Flyers will try to bring the pending UFA back next season. The team re-signed Michal Neuvirth to a two year extension back at the trade deadline and could opt to bring in another goalie via free agency or give intriguing prospect Anthony Stolarz a shot at full-time NHL duty. It has been a tough year from Mason, whose .908 SV% is his lowest since 2011-12 back when he was with Columbus.