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What Your Team Is Thankful For: Philadelphia Flyers

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As the holiday season quickly approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. Let’s take a look at what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Philadelphia Flyers.  Click here for the other articles in this series. 

What are the Flyers most thankful for?

The Flyers should be thankful that the team has made the necessary front-office and coaching changes and can now move forward for the rest of the year. While the firing of general manager Ron Hextall came as a shock to many, the team has since hired GM Chuck Fletcher who has replaced Dave Hakstol and seems poised to stick with current coach Scott Gordon for the remainder of the season at the very least, which gives the team some current stability. The hope is that between Fletcher and Gordon, the team can attempt to refocus their energy on the ice and try to fix some of the issues that have plagued the team.

Fletcher is likely going to make several moves, whatever those are going to be. There are questions whether Fletcher will attempt to trade for a goaltender now that Carter Hart has debuted in Philadelphia, but the team may also be more inclined to focus more on their defensive struggles as the team just isn’t getting it done on the blueline. Regardless, change is coming and should be here within two months.

Who are the Flyers most thankful for?

While the Flyers had one of the best first lines in hockey a season ago with Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Sean Couturier, only Giroux seems to be keeping with an impressive pace this year. Giroux is the only player who averaging more than a point per game as he has 12 goals and 42 points, which is good for 16th in the NHL. While his goal totals aren’t as high as last season when he tallied 34 goals for the season, Giroux continues to work his magic and set up as many of his teammates as possible.

While he hasn’t seen as much time with both Voracek and Couturier, the team has opted to move Giroux back to the center position to focus on getting some of their wingers moving. The most recent attempts is pairing him up with Travis Konecny and James van Riemsdyk, but he has seen time with a number of players to get more involved in the team’s 18th-ranked offense.

What would the Flyers be even more thankful for?

An improved blueline. The team had high expectations with their defense, especially from their top two as Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov were expected to continue their ascent to develop among the top NHL D-men. Instead, both have struggled a bit, especially on offense. Gostisbehere has a team-low minus-15 rating and just 15 points on offense so far this season, quite down from his 65-point season. Provorov hasn’t performed much better with a minus-8 rating and has just 11 points after a 41-point campaign. Few others on the blueline have stepped up either. The team ranks third in the league in goals against as they have allowed an average of 3.62 goals per game.

What should be on the Flyers’ Holiday Wish List?

The team must figure out its goaltending situation as soon as possible. Hextall spent most of his time waiting for his multitude of goalies to return from injury, but neither the original intended starters, Brian Elliott or Michal Neuvirth, have been able to stay healthy for any significant amount of time. Elliott has fared adequately in 14 appearances this year as he boasts a 2.59 GAA and a .911 save percentage. Neuvirth has been a disaster. Anthony Stolarz showed some success recently, but when he went down, the Flyers had no choice but to bring up Hart, who has fared well in his first three starts. However, at 20 years old, few believe that he can keep up the pace at the NHL level. The team must decide whether to use some of their assets to acquire an interim goaltender.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Philadelphia Flyers Could Be Ready To Make Coaching Change

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Sunday: Despite the Flyers falling 5-1 to Vancouver Saturday and the road trip being completed, there has been no coaching changes made of yet, according to Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi. The scribe writes that while a coaching change MAY happen at some point, rumors that the team has hired Joel Quenneville are not accurate. Hakstol remains the coach in Philadelphia.

Saturday: While it likely wouldn’t come as any surprise, they Philadelphia Flyers may be ready to make a coaching change. The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor tweeted that he’s heard rumblings from key people that the Flyers may be ready to fire head coach Dave Hakstol after their road trip ends, which will be tonight after their game against Vancouver.

While Hakstol had an impressive coaching resume when he was hired back in 2015, that success hasn’t necessarily translated to the NHL. While he’s reached the playoffs twice on a rebuilding roster, the team has failed to get past the first round of the playoffs and the team has been abysmal in a season where many people felt the team was ready to compete for the top of their division. Instead, the Flyers have struggled this season, currently holding a record of 12-14-4, tied for last place in the Metropolitan Division.

The team’s struggles already cost the job of general manager Ron Hextall back on Nov. 26 and replaced soon after with new GM Chuck Fletcher, whose intention was to sit back and observe the team before making any changes. Hakstol’s chances are likely near an end, however, after the team’s recent losing streak as they have gone 3-7-3 in the last 13 games. That has included a recent string of tough losses, which started with a 7-1 loss to Winnipeg last Sunday, followed by a 6-5 overtime loss to Calgary in which the Flyers held a two-goal lead with 68 seconds left in the game and still lost. The team followed that up with a 4-1 loss Friday to Edmonton.

While the team seems to be waiting until after the road trip, that’s not too unusual. The Los Angeles Kings fired head coach John Stevens on Nov. 4 after the team pulled off a 4-1 victory over Columbus the day before, suggesting the team had already made up their mind about firing Stevens. The same could happen here. The Flyers are a team loaded with a core of top forwards, including Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Nolan Patrick, James van Riemsdyk, Wayne Simmonds as well as top defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov, but haven’t been able to put anything together. The team’s goaltending situation is a mess and likely to be one of Fletcher’s first acts as GM, to find a reliable netminder. Regardless, the team doesn’t seem to be responding to Hakstol at the moment.

Metropolitan Notes: Penguins, Brassard, Van Riemsdyk

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Penguins GM Jim Rutherford has made it clear that he’s not happy with how his team has performed this season.  He indicated earlier in the week that he will be actively pursuing trades if Pittsburgh doesn’t turn it around and noted to Josh Yohe of The Athletic (subscription required) that had they not fared well on their Western road trip earlier in the season, a move likely would have been made already.

Unfortunately for the Penguins, they haven’t won since that trip, losing five straight games heading into play on Saturday.  They also have very limited cap room to work with; while defenseman Justin Schultz is on LTIR, he’ll be back before the end of the season so they can’t really add a significant contract at the moment.  If they did, they’d have to make another move to get back into cap compliance before they could activate Schultz when he’s expected to return sometime in February.  As a result, if Rutherford wants to shake things up beyond a move involving Daniel Sprong, they will likely have to come close to matching contracts in whatever they decide to do.

More from the Metropolitan Division:

  • Still with the Penguins, center Derick Brassard has resumed skating as he works his way back from a lower-body injury, notes Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He has been out of the lineup since sustaining a lower-body injury back on October 25th.  He’s still likely a week or so away from being cleared to return though as he’ll have to get the green light for contact first and get in some practices with the team.  The 31-year-old has a goal and four assists in eight games so far this season.
  • While Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk has resumed skating, he indicated to Dave Isaac of the Cherry Hill Courier-Post that his return is still likely another week away. The 29-year-old was brought in to bring Philadelphia another notable scoring threat up from but he was injured in the second game of the season and has been out since then.

James Van Riemsdyk Out Five To Six Weeks

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James van Riemsdyk’s latest tenure with the Philadelphia Flyers isn’t off to a good start, as the team announced today that the forward will miss the next five to six weeks with a lower-body injury. The injury was sustained in the Flyers’ recent game against the Colorado Avalanche.

The return of van Riemsdyk to Philadelphia, where he was drafted 11 years ago was supposed to be a triumphant one after six excellent seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 29-year old winger registered 154 goals during his time in Toronto, including 36 last season. A dominant presence within five feet of the net, van Riemsdyk can provide the Flyers with a different offensive weapon to support the other superstars up front. Unfortunately the team will now have to wait quite a while to see his first goal back in a Philadelphia uniform, as five weeks takes them into the middle of November.

Philadelphia is off to a 1-1 start this season after a pair of 5-2 games and will welcome the San Jose Sharks in on Tuesday to continue their season. After an impressive year in 2017-18, Claude Giroux will be looking to lead them back to the playoffs and perhaps a Metropolitan Division crown. Their big offseason addition won’t be able to help for now, but hopefully van Riemsdyk can return to full health this season and contribute towards those goals.

Morning Notes: Mason, Van Riemsdyk, Hutchinson, Maroon

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While there are a few free agents still out on the market, one may not be coming back. Free agent goaltender Steve Mason may be ready to hang up his skates despite having received an offer from an NHL team looking for a backup, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston on Saturday Headlines.

“He had a ton of injuries last season, he had concussion and knee issues, he’s been through a lot in his career, and the sense is he may actually be done in the NHL,” Johnston said.

Mason signed a two-year, $8.2MM deal last offseason with the Winnipeg Jets, but was limited to just 13 games due to multiple concussions and a knee injury. He finished the season with a 3.24 GAA and a .906 save percentage. The Jets, looking to free up some cap space, sent Mason, Joel Armia and two draft picks to Montreal for prospect Simon Bourque (who has since been released) to unload him. Montreal bought Mason out not long thereafter, making him a free agent.

  • The Philadelphia Flyers will have to wait until Monday to find out the injury status of marquee free agent James van Riemsdyk, who was hit in his right knee during the first period of Saturday’s game against Colorado and was forced to leave the game, according to Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi. The 29-year-old posted 36 goals last season for Toronto and would be a big loss if he had to miss any stretch of time. “I’m concerned he wasn’t able to come back,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “I don’t know the extent of it.”
  • The Athletic’s George Richards reports that the Florida Panthers intend to recall Michael Hutchinson from Springfield of the AHL at some point in the next few days, but with the team not playing again until Thursday, the team doesn’t have to make an immediate move. The Panthers signed Hutchinson this offseason, who has more than 100 games of NHL experience, as the team’s third-string goalie for this reason as Luongo has a long injury history. Hutchinson played 26 games for the Manitoba Moose of the AHL last season and boasted a .936 save percentage. Due to injuries, however, he only made three appearances with the Jets last year.
  • St. Louis Blues’ Pat Maroon could be playing himself into a long-term extension with his play Saturday night, according to The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford (subscription required). The 6-foot-3, 225-pound power forward dominated the game for the St. Louis Blues, despite eventually falling in overtime to Chicago. Maroon, who signed a one-year, $1.75MM contract to return to him hometown, could walk away with a more lucrative deal after the season is over if he continues to play the way he did Saturday.

Metropolitan Notes: Namestnikov, Copley, Hagg, Sanheim

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The New York Rangers and new head coach David Quinn sent an early message to forward Vladislav Namestnikov Saturday when the team benched him in favor of veteran Cody McLeod for today’s game against Buffalo. While Quinn said the move was meant more to reward the play of McLeod, it’s obvious the team’s new coach is sending a message to Namestnikov, according to New York Post’s Larry Brooks.

The scribe believes this is Quinn’s message to the team to play physical “in your face” hockey and not doing that, is unacceptable. Namestnikov didn’t make that adjustment in his game against Nashville on Thursday and hasn’t played physically all preseason. Enter McLeod, the 34-year-old veteran.

“Cody had a good camp, he played well, and I think he will bring a little more pace and energy to the group,” Quinn said before the optional morning skate. “This will give him a chance to continue to build off his camp. Vladdy and I had a good conversation. He’s still fighting his way through it.”

  • The Athletic’s Chris Kuk, in a mailbag piece (subscription required) writes that while the Washington Capitals could have considered going after a backup goaltender in the waiver wire last week, the team’s No. 1 priority was going after a forward to replace the loss of Tom Wilson, who was suspended for 20 games. They did that when they claimed Dmitrij Jaskins. However, Kuk doesn’t believe the team would have gone after a goaltender anyway as they feel that starter Braden Holtby can take a bigger load early in the season as the team monitors the play of Pheonix Copley. If they feel at the trade deadline that Copley isn’t the answer, they can trade for one then.
  • While the Philadelphia Flyers have little to worry about when it comes to offense when it has two players capable of putting up 30 goals in James van Riemsdyk and Wayne Simmonds, the team does have to worry about its defense. Even with two of the top young defenders on their roster in Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov, the team really needs to develop second year players Robert Hagg and Travis Sanheim, according to Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi. Both players had their ups and downs last year. The physical Hagg started the season strong, but struggled as the season wore on, while Sanheim was sent to the AHL early on in the season last year and came back much improved. If the two can show some consistency this year, the Flyers chances of a playoff run could be much improved.

Poll: Which Free Agent Contract Will Be Regretted The Most?

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Two years ago the unrestricted free agent was flooded with aging players who still looked like they might have a few effective seasons left in them. That led teams to get into bidding wars and overpay, hoping that they could inject some production into the lineup while dealing with the consequences later down the line. Unfortunately, most of these contracts blew up immediately and provided very little value.

The biggest contracts given out in the first few days of the 2016 UFA market were as follows:

Milan Lucic (EDM) – Seven years, $42MM

Kyle Okposo (BUF) – Seven years, $42MM

Andrew Ladd (NYI) – Seven years, $38.5MM

Loui Eriksson (VAN) – Six years, $36MM

Frans Nielsen (DET) – Six years, $31.5MM

David Backes (BOS) – Five years, $30MM

Jason Demers (FLA) – Five years, $22.5MM

Troy Brouwer (CGY) – Four years, $18MM

Mikkel Boedker (SJS) – Four years, $16MM

That list is uninspiring to say the least, with two of the players having already been traded and a third who was bought out this offseason. Some of the others are among the worst contracts in the league relative to their production, something that can be said a few seasons out of basically every UFA season. This year may be no different, though there seemed to be more talent available.

Here is a list of the biggest contracts handed out this time around:

John Tavares (TOR) – Seven years, $77MM

James van Riemsdyk (PHI) – Five years, $35MM

James Neal (CGY) – Five years, $28.75MM

Paul Stastny (VGK) – Three years, $19.5MM

Ilya Kovalchuk (LAK) – Three years, $18.75MM

Calvin de Haan (CAR) – Four years, $18.2MM

Jack Johnson (PIT) – Five years, $16.25MM

David Perron (STL) – Four years, $16MM

Tyler Bozak (STL) – Three years, $15MM

While there is an obvious difference at the very top, it does seem like teams were wary to hand out six or seven year contracts to forwards approaching or at 30 years of age. van Riemsdyk and Neal especially would have ranked among the very best available in 2016, and likely would have been able to negotiate seven-year contracts along the lines of Lucic and Okposo. Still, not all of these deals will be looked back upon fondly. Even two years from now teams may be considering trades or buyouts to get out from under the cap hit, or stuck in purgatory hoping for a bounce-back campaign.

Which contract do you think will be regretted the most? Is Tavares’ mega-deal going to bite the Maple Leafs when they need to re-sign their young forward group? Will Kovalchuk bolt for the KHL again and leave the Kings holding his big cap hit? Will van Riemsdyk be able to take on more responsibility in Philadelphia and live up to his big number?

Cast your vote below and explain why you think the contract will be regretted. If you think someone else deserves the title—perhaps an Islanders or Canucks signing?—make sure to leave a comment to include them in the conversation.

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Morning Notes: Miller, van Riemsdyk, Virtanen

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K’Andre Miller will miss out on his next opportunity to impress the New York Rangers staff as he’s been forced off the USA Hockey World Junior Summer Showcase roster due to illness. Miller, selected 22nd-overall in June’s draft, will give up his spot to Max Gildon, a third-round pick of the Florida Panthers who attended the Showcase last summer as well.

Miller will play this season at the University of Wisconsin, and continue to develop as a defenseman after switching positions from forward just two years ago. Though he’ll need time to develop his defensive instincts further, there are already signs that Miller could grade out as a top-end option for the Rangers down the line. His length and skating ability should allow him to thrive in the NCAA right away, though the World Juniors may have to wait until next year.

  • James van Riemsdyk knew that he wouldn’t be back with the Toronto Maple Leafs this season long before he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers, as his former team was up front with him heading into free agency. van Riemsdyk told media including Adam Kimelman of NHL.com that the Maple Leafs informed him they would be going in a different direction a few weeks before July 1st, and that he was grateful to them for being so honest. Interestingly, if we’re to believe that John Tavares made up his mind to go to the Maple Leafs just the night before signing, the team was prepared to let van Riemsdyk walk regardless and would have had an immense amount of cap space to go after other free agents. Signing a five-year $35MM contract with the Flyers, van Riemsdyk was arguably the second-best free agent option on the market behind Tavares.
  • Jake Virtanen has a lot of pressure on him to perform up to his high draft status this season, and he’s enlisted the help of a somewhat non-traditional source. Pavel Barber, the YouTube stickhandling sensation, has been working with Virtanen this summer according to Mike Johnston of Sportsnet. Barber runs coaching camps across North America and is known for his off-ice stickhandling routines, and Virtanen apparently can already feel an improvement in his game. After struggling to carve out a top-six role for himself despite a sixth-overall draft selection, any help is appreciated by Virtanen and the Vancouver Canucks. The 21-year old forward signed a two-year contract yesterday, and has a lot of pressure on him to perform in the next couple of seasons.

New Jersey Devils Pursued Patrick Maroon, James Van Riemsdyk

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The New Jersey Devils have signed just one forward—Kurtis Gabriel—in free agency, but it hasn’t been for lack of trying. GM Ray Shero spoke to media today including radio play-by-play announcer Matt Loughlin and admitted that the team had pursued James van Riemsdyk and Patrick Maroon, before they both ultimately signed elsewhere. Maroon specifically was offered more money to stay in New Jersey than he received from the St. Louis Blues, but made the decision to return to his hometown and play closer to his young son.

New Jersey has an incredible amount of cap space this summer, but can’t seem to find any free agents to spend it on after trying and failing with a few forwards. Michael Grabner, who also was acquired at the trade deadline like Maroon, signed a three-year deal with the Arizona Coyotes. The Devils have a good young group of players and a superstar in Taylor Hall they have to start thinking about an extension for—Hall has two years remaining on his current deal—but could still afford to add a few names and salary before the beginning of the year. They made the playoffs in 2017-18 somewhat surprisingly and should try to continue that level of play going forward.

There’s plenty of work to do for the Devils, who have seven restricted free agents still to sign, but it is surprising there hasn’t been more announced so far. There is obviously opportunities to use that cap space as an asset, similar to the way they took Marcus Johansson off the hands of the Washington Capitals last year for a discounted price. If more situations like the reported Erik Karlsson-Tampa Bay negotiations—ones that have apparently included a search for a third team to take on salary—arise this summer you can bet the Devils will be involved.

Still, it is disappointing for a fan base that was hoping for some substantial additions in free agency. Maroon fit in quite well with the team after coming over from the Edmonton Oilers, scoring 13 points in 17 games for them down the stretch and adding some size up front. van Riemsdyk too could have given them an elite net front presence and added goal scoring, something they could use as they try to support Hall and Nico Hischier going forward. There isn’t much left on the open market, meaning they might have to wait until next season to really take part in the free agent frenzy.

Snapshots: Hossa, Zadina, Brassard

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The Chicago Blackhawks have been quieter than usual this offseason and one reason that has been the case is that while it has some cap room to work with, the team didn’t have enough to make a major splash in free agency. The team had been linked at one time or another to players such as James van Riemsdyk, James Neal and David Perron, but were unable to work out a deal and a lot of that has to do with cap space. With its minor moves made after free agency began when the team inked Chris Kunitz, Cam Ward and Brandon Manning, the team only has just over $2MM to work with.

That’s where the contract of Marian Hossa comes in. His contract of $5.275MM is still stuck on the books for yet another offseason until the team can put it on LTIR to free up the money at the start of the NHL season. That’s what Chicago did last season, using that money to sign defenseman Cody Franson and using it on shuttling AHL talent back and forth all season. However, that didn’t work, according to The Athletic’s Scott Powers.

The general belief was the team wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice and would attempt to deal the bloated contract to a team that needs the contract to get them to the cap floor. However, there haven’t been any takers as teams want an asset in return for them to take on the 39-year-old’s contract, which the Blackhawks don’t want to do. They were burned back in 2016 when they threw in Teuvo Teravainen to Carolina to get the Hurricanes to take Bryan Bickell’s final year of his contract off their books. Teravainen put up 64 points this season.

One way or another, especially if the team still has plans to make a big offseason move, is to find a way to get Hossa and his contract permanently off their books, even if they have to give up a prospect.

  • With questions surrounding where prized 2018 first-rounder Filip Zadina may end up if he doesn’t make the Detroit Red Wings NHL lineup next season has been up for debate as there are rumors that the sixth-overall pick does not have to return to his junior team next season and could be eligible to jump right to the AHL. However, regardless on how the NHL decides that case, NBC Sports James O’Brien writes that it shouldn’t even matter. He writes that the team shouldn’t want Zadina to make the team next season as the team’s main focus should be to garner another high-end lottery pick next season to complete their rebuild. A 25-goal season by the flashy winger, who many had pegged as the No. 3 pick in the draft, could vault the team to that unenviable position of not being good enough to make the playoffs, but not being bad enough to get an elite prospect either. O’Brien hopes that the addition of free agent Thomas Vanek might help force Zadina to get much needed development time in the minors, no matter where he ends up.
  • Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that while he envisions the Pittsburgh Penguins keeping Phil Kessel, who has been rumored to be moved out for much of the offseason, he could see the team move on from trade deadline acquisition Derick Brassard. The team suddenly has five centers and of them all Brassard is the most expendable. He has one year remaining on his deal at $3MM, but struggled to produce once he got to Pittsburgh, especially in the playoffs, posting just four points in 12 playoff games.

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