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Decisions Decisions
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With the NHL Trade Deadline of March 8th fast approaching, the Philadelphia Flyers have some tough decisions to make in the next couple of days. For what seems like months now, the Flyers have found themselves in third place in the Metropolitan Division. A position that, if they continue to be able to hold onto it, will allow them to be a participant in playoff hockey once again.
But, while this news is exciting, the Flyers’ General Manager Danny Briere knows that while making it in would be nice, this still rebuilding team’s real shot at contention will come a couple more years down the road when young players on the current roster and others still in the teams’ system will have had an appropriate amount of time to progress.
These comments by Briere and others that were of a similar nature made by the teams’ President of Hockey Operations, Keith Jones, may seem very blunt to a fan that is just happy that the team is back on the winning track, but should be viewed as refreshing considering managements goals under this new administration are now to compete to win championships not just to make it to the playoffs to get beat in the first round by the Bruins or Rangers and end up with a less than stellar draft pick for their efforts.
So, in saying that, the team has to decide: do they sell off assets like impending unrestricted free agents that they are due to lose for nothing in a couple of months? Do they stand pat and continue with the current roster that has got them this far with the hopes that their promising youth gets the chance to experience a bit of post-season hockey? Or do they decide to push their chips into the pot and add a few pieces that will not only help them fill some holes in their lineup this year but will be able to contribute to the team’s future success as well?
Well, in a perfect world, I would say they should do all of the above. Let me explain. At first, glance, that last statement may sound crazy to some, but to get a better understanding of where the team is at as a whole and what they must do to improve, I think you need to break it down into positions: goaltending, defense, and offense. All three have good and bad things going for them right now, and all three areas currently have some concerns that need to be addressed.
Goaltending
So, let us start with the area of most concern in my mind, and that is goaltending. With the sudden departure of Carter Hart this season, the Flyers have been left with a big hole to fill. Gone are the days of one goalie playing 65-70 games a year. The league is set up differently now. Teams do not play as many divisional games as they once did. Years ago, it would seem as though the Flyers played the New Jersey Devils or the New York Islanders 10 games a piece each season. Clubs now travel a lot more, seeing that they are now forced to play every team in the league at least twice each year—one game at home and one game away. So, teams have become reliant on having a pair of capable goaltenders on their roster to combat the rigors of the newly modified NHL season. So, while I will agree with the ideology of the team’s Head coach, John Tortorella, when it comes to letting the Flyers’ rookie sensation Samuel Ersson take over the majority of games in between the pipes to see what he can do, I believe the team also has a duty to protect Ersson by finding him a more suitable short term partner than a 29-year-old netminder in Cal Petersen who to this point has lacked the consistency needed to maintain a spot in the NHL.
Take, for instance, Petersen’s two prior games. On February 10th, Cal looked solid in a win against Seattle in which he only let in two goals. But in his very next outing last night against the Pittsburgh Penguins, he let in seven goals! Cal was only able to stop 78.1% of the shots he faced. Some of which were not even quality chances that he let in. They were off-angle flukey goals. It was just not the kind of effort you would expect from someone who is signed to a deal that is paying him five million dollars a season.
And if this team still wants to be competitive over the next couple of seasons, they are going to have to address this issue. There is no way the Flyers should have lost a game in which they scored six goals, especially not to a team that currently finds themselves three spots below them in the standings. Those are what you call MUST-WIN games, folks, and if the Flyers wish to be competitive, they must find themselves a backup or 1B option so that Ersson can relax on one of his rare nights off.
What are their options, you might be asking? Well, a couple of weeks ago, I offered up some goalies on the trade block who will be made available in the next couple of days, but they may not be what the Flyers really need or are currently looking for.
Philadelphia has promising prospects of their own in net in Alexei Kolosov, Carson Bjarnason, and Yegor Zavragin. However, each is still a year or more away from competing in the NHL. So, my recommendation would be to call around to teams with an abundance of goalies, so much so that they may be hindering some of their developments, so they might not mind if someone comes inquiring about their availability. Teams like the Predators, the Bruins, the Islanders, and the Sabers come to mind. When you think of goaltending when it comes to the Preds, you think of Juuse Saros, but Nashville also has a competent goalie in 21-year-old Yaroslav Askarov, who they spent a 2020 1st round pick on. Currently, Yaroslav is just waiting in the wings of the AHL. Now, I would believe Askarov to be untouchable, seeing the team thinks of him as their future. Still, it is feasible to think a guy like current NHL backup 28-year-old Kevin Lankinen, who is signed to an expiring contract of $2 million, could be viewed as expendable.
Or how about the Bruins? They are obviously set with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman in net. So, why not call them up about either Brandon Bussi, who is 25, or Michael DiPietro, who is 24? Both are budding prospects who look more than capable of jumping up and contributing in the NHL tomorrow, but they will not get their chance any time soon seeing who is ahead of them on the depth chart. Besides, it’s not even like the Bruins would miss them, considering they continue to hit on goalies in the draft and could sign one of their other prospects in net, like Reid Dyck or Philip Svedeback, to take their place on the depth chart.
Trading for Bussi or DiPietro at the deadline would give the Flyers a viable partner for Ersson moving forward that would not only compete with him on a daily basis but be able to bring peace of mind to the Flyers coaching staff so that when they do decide to give Sam a night off he won’t have to be looking to grab his gear a period into the game because his backup has already let in four goals. Management has a duty to Sam to get him this type of relief so that he will not become known as just another promising goalie the Flyers had whose career was for not because the team misused them or rushed their development.
Defense
Here is a position that the Flyers’ new management has put a big emphasis on improving. But it somehow is still the area with the most decisions left to make. Now, I don’t know about you, but I am sick of seeing the team play this 11 forwards and seven defensemen scheme. It does not allow for some of our young players to build chemistry with a particular linemate, and frankly, I don’t think we owe the 37-year-old Marc Staal (who is beginning to show his age) anything!
In saying that, the Flyers have a lot of decisions ahead of them on the back end; they have two soon-to-be unrestricted free agents in, 29-year-old Sean Walker and 30-year-old Nick Seeler, who have been playing some of the best hockey of their careers this year. So much so that teams from around the league have been rumored to be calling about their possible availability, and although it would be nice to re-sign them, the likelihood of that happening is slim, considering the fact that the team has defensive prospects like Egor Zamula, Ronnie Attard, Emil Andre, Adam Ginning, and Helge Grans all waiting patiently for their chance to shine.
So, why not deal Seeler and Walker for draft capital, right? Well, it’s not that simple now, either. The team’s long-awaited top-pairing right-hand-shot defender, 21-year-old Jamie Drysdale, who they recently acquired from the Anaheim Ducks, sustained an injury to what appears to be his left shoulder in Sunday’s game against the Penguins when he received a questionable hit from Pittsburgh’s Jansen Harkins. This injury has the potential to be damming, considering it’s the same shoulder that Drysdale injured last year that limited him to just eight games played in the 22-23 campaign.
On top of that, the Flyers also have defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen out with an upper-body injury that will likely still see him wearing a suit in the press box for at least the next couple of weeks. This, too, is heartbreaking, considering Rasmus’ name was starting to pop up in the rumor mills as a possible player who could be moved to a team that desires a defenseman with a bit of an edge.
So, it looks as though this team is caught between a rock and a hard place. Should they keep Walker and Seeler through the deadline and risk losing them for nothing at the season’s end? Or should they trade them anyway and get the assets that will help them move forward?
I say if a solid trade presents itself for either of them, then do it! Neither one of those guys are game changers. They are just solid aging veterans who play the game the right way. And to be honest, teams like Carolina have proven that you can go out every off-season and not only find but sign those types of guys at a reduced rate. So, the team should not be hesitant to move them. The Flyers have the kind of depth at defense that will allow multiple young blue-liners to get the chance to prove themselves on the big stage if such a deal is made. And that will allow this team to see what they have moving forward.
Sit Staal and let the youth play. Everything else will work itself out, or it won’t, but at least the team will know what they actually have and what they may still need to go out and obtain.
Forwards
Now to the offense. Management must be pleased to see their once horrific penalty-killing unit now be amongst the best in the league. With the additions of free agents Ryan Poehling and Garnet Hathaway this year, the team has been killing off the opposing team’s man advantages at an impressive 86.1% rate. Along with that, they currently lead the league with 13 short-handed goals in 59 games played.
In addition to that, the team has had the pleasure of witnessing guys like Owen Tippett, Bobby Brink, and Tyson Foerster continue to evolve, with Tyson totaling three of his 13 goals on the season in just the last two games alone.
But as good as those things are, they have had their problems as well. Guys like Atkinson, who is supposed to be an essential part of this offense, is on an 11-game goalless draught. The coaching staff can’t seem to get him and others going, and they don’t seem to have a plan in place to try and rectify this situation any time soon.
Because of this, areas of the game, like the power play, have suffered. The Flyers are well off the league’s pace of 53 power-play goals, seeing that they only have 25 to their credit. In fact, their ineffectiveness on the man advantage is so bad that they find themselves only cashing in on 13.2% of their chances if you were wondering if that’s the league’s worst.
But I guess when you factor in that the team has a former fighter in Rocky Thompson (who has never scored a goal in the NHL, let alone seen time out on the power play) drawing up the X’s and O’s during a TV time out then you can come to expect it.
What needs to change? Well, besides firing Rocky, I think they should try to acquire the Los Angeles Kings’ 22-year-old winger Arthur Kaliyev. Kaliyev, who was once thought of as one of the Kings’ highest-rated prospects, has since fallen out of favor with the team and its fans. Prospects like Alex Laferriere and Quinton Byfield have taken over that spotlight offensively for the team to the point that Arthur has found himself being labeled a healthy scratch some nights.
In fact, if veteran winger Viktor Arvidsson wasn’t injured right now, Kaliyev might still find himself in the press box. But I assure you, he shouldn’t be. This 6’2, 209-pound winger who can play on either side of the face-off dots has gotten a bit of a bad wrap recently, and it’s simply because he is trying too hard to get noticed. Arthur doesn’t shy away from contact, and at times, over the past couple of seasons, he may have made some hits he shouldn’t have.
These questionable hits have led to him receiving a suspension or two, but they all have been things that can be attributed to the simple growing pains of competing young players. He was just trying too hard to make a play and made a mistake. Unfortunately for him, LA is loaded with prospects just like him vying for their chance. Now that others have surpassed him in their system, Kaliyev has been left in a very similar situation to that in which Owen Tippett found himself in Florida. He is a player with a ton of offensive talent who is being given no ice time to prove his true worth.
Arthur, who was born in Uzbekistan before moving over to the US at a young age, should be considered a sniper. He is a shoot-first player who, if acquired by the Flyers, could instantaneously come in and help this team’s power play. The Kings originally drafted Arthur back in 2019 in the second round from the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL, where, throughout three seasons, Kaliyev was able to score 126 goals and 248 points.
If you view the videos of this still young player, you will see that he is dangerous with the puck on his stick. Whether it’s a slap shot, wrist shot, one-timer, etc., it doesn’t matter; Kaliyev can rifle the puck on the net. And it is these scoring attributes that have allowed him to win on every level up to this point.
There is no question that this young man has all the talent in the world; he might just need a second chance and a change of venue to prove it. Kaliyev is a restricted free agent who may have worn out his welcome in LA but should be given the opportunity to be reborn in Philly. He is a low-risk, high-reward type of guy who is young enough to fit right in with the likes of Tippett, Farabee, and Foerster. He has shown he can contribute offensively while playing in the NHL, setting career highs of 14 goals thus far, but has the potential to be a 30-goal scorer one day. My suggestion would be to trade for this still-green prospect and see him pay dividends for years to come. The Kings are fighting for a playoff spot right now and could be easily swayed to give him up for what they view as a must-have. So, if it costs the team a player like Scott Laughton, so be it. The Flyers will be fine without him, considering they like to employ others just like him in the form of Couturier, Poehling, and Cates. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather get a proven NHL prospect back in return rather than a draft pick that may never turn out anyway.
These are just a few of my suggestions for the Flyers to make if the opportunity presents itself in the coming days leading up to the deadline. For the first time in a long time, I feel the team is in capable hands with Jones and Briere and, therefore, I am looking forward to seeing where this new leadership group takes us.
How the Flyers can be Both Sellers and make Themselves Better at the Same Time
With the NHL All-Star festivities finishing up, it has allowed potential playoff-bound teams time to assess their current roster and make a decision on what/who they feel they need to acquire in order to ensure that their club is the one that finds themselves raising the 131-year-old relic known as Stanley Cup this spring.
This is something that I feel the Flyers, regardless of their current third-place standing in the Metropolitan Division, should shy away from, and here’s why. Regardless of the fact that their head coach, John Tortorella, has managed to have his team playing above expectations this season. I fear the recent impact of star prospect Cutter Gauthier having to be traded away because he no longer wished to sign with the team and the Flyers decision to recently make Carter Hart a non-roster player upon him facing sexual assault allegations in Canada may have taken some wind out of the team’s sails. And I don’t think it is going to get better any time soon. To find validity to that statement, you need to look no further than the five-game skid Philadelphia is currently on.
In saying that, it does not mean that I think the team should NOT be active come the trade deadline. On the contrary, I believe that the Flyers should try to garner as much help for the future as they can using a little method called addition-through-subtraction. There’s no doubt that if the Flyers do intend to be sellers by the March 8th trade deadline, they will look to get rid of one or both of their unrestricted free agent defensemen in Sean Walker and Nick Seeler that will gain them some draft pick compensation.
To go along with this, though, the Flyers have noticed that during their week off, both centers Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan were traded by their respective teams for first-round picks. So, the Flyers made it known that they were willing to listen to offers for their 29-year-old center Scott Laughton, which I have no problem with if they move on from him because they essentially have multiple “younger” defensive centers just like him signed to cheaper contracts in the form of Ryan Poehling and Noah Cates. In fact, getting out from under Scott’s inflated $3 million cap hit that they currently are due to shell out for the rest of this season and the next two seasons after this one might help them to acquire a short-term replacement for Hart this off-season that could provide aid until goaltending prospects within the Flyers system are ready. But although I like Laughton as a player, his drop in point production this season may not get Philadelphia the kind of return they are seeking. For instance, Monahan’s goal total is nearly triple Scott’s five lamp lighters this year.
Along with that, both Lindholm and Monahan have 12-15 more total points scored so far this season. So, the Flyers shouldn’t necessarily expect the same kind of return for Scott. They will more than likely be forced to settle for a second or third-round pick for his services. And while the team can definitely use that. The timetable for a player drafted with that acquired pick won’t likely be able to crack the Flyers’ lineup for a couple of seasons, if ever.
So, if they really want to bolster their lineup now and moving forward, I suggest they offer up someone to prospecting teams who would bring them back a much bigger return. And that player is Morgan Frost.
Frost, who once again finds his name in the trade rumor mill, was initially drafted by Ron Hextall back in the first round of 2017. He came to this franchise with great offensive potential, scoring multiple 100-point seasons in the Ontario Hockey League. Since then, though, he has had minimal success in the parts of the five seasons he’s played with the Flyers thus far. And yes, I am taking into effect that this now 24-year-old center set career highs last year with 19 goals and 46 points. If you’re a fan of his, just know that there is a reason why he has still managed to find himself being a healthy scratch on eleven different occasions this season. And the reason for that is he just plain doesn’t seem to fit in here! Frost does not play Flyers hockey. He tends to avoid contact and shows the inability to create and capitalize on his OWN scoring chances, which is probably why the Flyers seemed a little reluctant to re-sign him this season. When others his age with similar draft stock around the league were receiving big paydays this off-season, Morgan found himself forced to wait an extended period of time before finally being able to settle on a two-year, 4.2 million dollar deal. And it appears as though the team was wise not to re-sign him for any more than the 2.1 million dollar cap hit that they gave him, seeing that Frost is on pace to finish with only 13 goals this season.
But trading a 24-year-old center away for potentially a late 1st or 2nd round pick isn’t going to help this team succeed anytime soon. What they need to do is try and take advantage of a playoff-bound team who is in a win-now mode and would be willing to give up an NHL prospect with great potential in order for that win-now team to gain the one player who may push them over the hump and help them raise a banner this season.
In saying that, the Flyers target should be the aging Dallas Stars. The Stars, who have been in the playoffs for multiple seasons in a row, now failed just short of being able to compete for the Stanley Cup last season when they lost to the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the Conference Finals. But time may be running out for this AARP-bound team, who currently finds themselves in second place in the Central Division right now. Dallas’ management has to know that this will likely be their last real push with this current group of aging veterans. Because defenseman Ryan Suter and forward Joe Pavelski are both 39 years old. Their captain, Jamie Benn, along with Evgenii Dadonov and Craig Smith, are 34. Not to mention that Matt Duchene is 33, and Tyler Seguin is 32. They fell short of reaching their goal last year clearly not because they lacked experience, but because after playing an 82-game season and taking an additional 13 games to get by both the Minnesota Wild and the Seattle Kraken before reaching the Conference Finals, they were tired and did not have enough established youth in their lineup to keep up with the Golden Knights.
That’s where Frost would come in. By not taking the Chuck Fletcher approach of just sitting around and waiting for teams to come to them with offers for their players. The flyers could be proactive and call the Stars up and sell the idea to them that Morgan would be a much better upgrade over either Sam Steel or the aging Craig Smith for their third-line center position so Frost could help revitalize Seguin. Or the Stars could take a little strain off of the aging Pavelski and move him over to wing as they have done before to allow for a possible second line of Frost, Benn, and Pavelski. That kind of move very well could boost this nearly there team over the top to the point of them being Stanley Cup contenders.
But who or what should the Flyers GM Danny Briere ask back for if such a move were to be made? Well, I would imagine they would have to be willing to take back some salary to make it work, which might be someone like Craig Smith, who has a one-million-dollar expiring contract. But the proven prospect I would want would be Logan Stankoven. This 20-year-old center, who was drafted back in the second round of the 2021 draft, reminds me a lot of Briere himself. Logan, who is just 5’8, played for the Kamloops Blazers and was the 21-22 WHL Player of the Year, as well as the CHL Player of the Year. In a season where he scored 45 goals and 59 assists for 104 points, all mind you, while averaging a +45. In addition to that, Stankoven is a 3-time World Junior Gold Medal Champion for Team Canada.
And with him not having to prove anything else in Junior hockey, Logan then turned pro this season, where in 40 games played thus far for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars, Stankoven has been able to score 20 goals and 31 assists for a total of 51 points. That 1.27 points-per-game average is good enough to see him leading the American League in points right now.
What has allowed Stankoven to reach such success despite his diminutive size is his drive to win. Although he may lack the speed of other elite prospects, Logan’s feet are never still. He is shifty and is not scared to get physical when needed. He does not stay to the outside of the ice either, like other players his size; he forces his way into the middle to create a better scoring chance for himself on a breakaway, and when he does not have the puck, you can find him setting up shop in and around the net to put back a juicy rebound.
If you’re beginning to ask yourself why in the world would the Stars be willing to trade away a player like this, remember they are in a win-now mode! Plus, the Stars, unlike the Flyers, have a lot of up-and-coming prospects. So, although it might seem hard for us to fathom trading away a player like Stankoven, I assure you the Stars could get over it pretty quickly, given the fact that they also have a 22-year-old center in Mavrik Bourque playing in the AHL who currently sits in second place overall in points behind Logan with 48 of his own.
So, you see if the Flyers can continue to get rid of prior GM’s players who don’t fit in on South Broad Street to teams in need of someone now. They could expedite their rebuild by replacing them with exciting NHL-ready prospects. And I don’t know about you, but even if the Stars wanted something extra back in return for Stankoven (I.E., a second or third-round pick), I would gladly give it up in order to add a proven prospect who could be called up to the NHL tomorrow and instantly bring some offense down the center. Not to mention the fact that he would most likely help aid promising Flyers players like Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster, and Bobby Brink reach their full potential as well.
Fast Rising Prospects of the 2024 NHL Draft
Photo Credit: Steven Ellis
Now that most leagues around the world are well into their respective seasons, we are starting to see a few names that previously weren’t on anybody’s radar begin to shoot up some of the latest mock draft boards. But while these players (that I am going to talk about in this article) may have virtually been unknowns a few months ago, the time and effort they have put into developing their craft this season may prove to pay off big time as they are certainly starting to have scouts scrambling to book plane tickets to be able to see them play in person.
The first name that has been catching many people’s attention lately is the towering 6’7, 207-pound Russian defenseman Anton Silayev. This impressive young blueliner, who is only 17 years old, has already managed to make his way to Russia’s top professional hockey league, the KHL. He plays for the Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod and, through 54 games played thus far, has been able to accumulate three goals and eight assists for a total of eleven points.
Anton is highly coveted right now because, along with his impressive size and grit, he possesses the rare ability (for a big man) to move his feet. In fact, I would go so far as to say that he skates so well that he is capable of outskating most defenders who are a foot smaller than him. But that’s not all. Silayev already has broken KHL records for most points scored by a defenseman under the age of 18. He managed to break that record by utilizing his NHL-caliber shot to fire in that piece of vulcanized rubber from the point at speeds the goalie cannot see but can only hope to get in front of and later (because of the bruising) wish they didn’t.
Because of these attributes, Anton is starting to draw comparisons to future Hall of Famers like the Lightning’s Victor Hedman. And, I have to say, although that seems like an enormous reach, I’m starting to believe there is some validity to those evaluations.
With that being said, as his stock continues to rise, the sky is the limit for Silayev because it is extremely rare that teams ever have the opportunity to draft a player with his size and skill set. So much so that you should not be surprised if you hear his name being called as one of the top ten players selected this summer.
Switching gears, we will now take a look at an imposing 17-year-old center who goes by the name Cayden Lindstrom. This 6’4 216 pound forward, who plays for Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League, exhibits just the right blend of physicality and skill that should have teams clamoring about on the draft floor for the chance to select this intimidating power forward.
At the beginning of the season, Lindstrom appeared as though he would be nothing more than a potent scoring threat, but throughout the course of this season, he has proved to be so much more. Being a true student of the game, Cayden continues to impress scouts with something new every time they head back up to Alberta to watch him play. This is the case because, with each passing game, Lindstrom appears to have improved in yet another facet of the game. For example, his noticeable size and strength would lead one to believe that Cayden would rely solely on brute force to create chances offensively. But he instead has been able to transcend those physical traits into things like a powerful skating stride to create the kind of speed that allows him to have the separation he needs to breakaway from defenders. Or how about his ability to utilize his size and strength to protect the puck so well that he can stick handle using only one hand to get by the opposition so he can then sell an apparent shot with his body in order to make a perfect pass to an awaiting teammate in scoring position. Therefore, it is these constantly changing intangibles to Lindstrom’s game that make his potential seem immeasurable.
To date, Cayden has played 32 games for the Tigers this season and, during that time, has managed to score 27 goals and 19 assists for 46 points. Folks that means Lindstrom is scoring at a 1.46-point-per-game pace right now, which, if you happen to tune into a game, is believable considering that he looks like a man playing against boys out there.
Since we have been talking about guys who would appear better suited to play basketball rather than hockey given their physical stature, I thought we should continue with that trend and mention the 6’7, 209-pound center known as Dean Letourneau, who plays for Saints at St. Andrews College in Aurora, Ontario, Canada. All jokes aside, Letourneau has exploded onto the map this season to the point where St. Andrews might have to begin to limit their seating for their student body in order to accommodate the growing number of scouts in attendance for their games.
Now, some are comparing Dean to the Buffalo Sabers’ Tage Thompson for his obvious size and elite scoring ability. And there is definitely a reason for that, considering Letourneau has been able to total a combined 57 goals and 49 assists for 106 points in just 49 games played so far this season. He is so dominant, in fact, that it appears that he can quite literally score any time he wants to while out on the ice.
And when you’re scoring goals at a rate of over a goal per game and accumulating over two points a game, you can expect one of those teams with scouts in the stands to come calling. Much like Boston College did when they recently persuaded Dean to agree to play for them in the not-so-distant future. With all this being said, expect a team to take a chance on him by moving up to select Dean late in the first round.
The last player that we will talk about who has been making noise as of late is Justin Porier. Justin, (who is the younger brother of the Flames’ Jeremie Poirer), plays for the Bair-Comeau Drakkar of the Qubeuc Major Juinor Hockey League. But unlike the others listed in this article, Porier does not possess great size and strength. Instead, this 5’8 diminutive player relies heavily on his shoot first and ask questions later approach that has gotten him to where he is today.
Luckily for Porier, he is able to back that sometimes selfish approach up with the kind of shot-to-goal ratio that few others are currently capable of achieving. For instance, this season, Justin has been able to record an impressive 35 goals and 17 assists for 52 in just 47 games played thus far. And if he keeps playing at this pace, he will finish the season with over 50 goals to his credit.
As you probably saw in this highlight video presented above, Porier already possesses all the pieces needed to be an offensive threat at the NHL level. He has a great one-timer, a strong wrist shot, and the kind of speed that allows him to set the pace needed to develop the optimal scoring chance for every situation he encounters along the way.
The only thing is, because of his size or lack thereof, Justin is probably destined to be taken in the second round rather than the first. But let me assure you, whatever team that chooses to select Porier will see him paying dividends soon enough.
As always, stay tuned in to Prospect Watch to find out all the latest news on these players and other great ones like them as the season continues to draw to a close.
What are the Flyers to do with the Sudden Vacancy In-Between the Pipes?
With the recent heart-wrenching news that Flyers goalie Carter Hart had to ask the team for an indefinite leave of absence due to him being named a person of interest by the London Ontario Police Department in their ongoing 2018 Team Canada rape investigation, Philadelphia has been left in not the best of situations.
On the one hand, they do not want to overreact and trade for a starting goalie with the possibility of Carter still being found innocent of any wrongdoing and thus cleared of all impending charges. But on the other hand, they don’t know how long this ongoing investigation will last or how much time Hart may be looking at if convicted.
So, what are their options? Well, they still have Samuel Ersson on the roster. Still, while this 24-year-old netminder has looked rock solid at times this season (especially in shootout situations), the idea of forcing a kid who has only played in 37 career NHL games into solely taking over the starting role does seem a bit too much to ask of this promising youth.
And in saying that, if you thought that goalie Cal Peterson (who the Flyers acquired from the Kings in the trade of Ivan Provorov) was a viable option to back up Ersson for the rest of the season, you are sadly mistaken. For example, in fifteen American Hockey League games played this year for the Phantoms, this now 29-year-old veteran netminder who is signed to a five million-dollar-a-year deal has managed to win just five games. In addition to that, when he played with the Flyers this year, Cal managed to win just one game out of his three appearances. And to add insult to injury, in those three outings, Peterson maintained a less-than-impressive goals-against average of 3.38 and a .889 save percentage.
With those facts now out in the open, it is my opinion that if the Flyers wish to stop their current skid and remain in playoff contention, they better be willing to go out and obtain Ersson some help.
One way that they could do that so it would not cost the Flyers to have to cough up that much for a player’s services would be to watch the waiver wire closely. Waiting for a team to be forced to waive one of their up-and-coming netminders that they intend to send back down to the minors after one of their everyday NHL netminders returns from injury would be ideal. However, there is no guarantee that it will happen again any time soon, considering the Blue Jackets just lost goalie Spencer Martin to the Carolina Hurricanes when the team recently tried to send him back down to the minors.
If the Flyers did not wish to wait for a similar situation to happen, they could try to acquire 27-year-old Finnish netminder Kaapo Kahkonen from the San Jose Sharks. Kaapo is in the last year of a contract that pays him a reasonable 2.75 million dollars, making him an impending free agent. Kahkonen rose to fame a few years ago while playing for the Minnesota Wild in his rookie campaign, where he was able to win 16 of the 24 games that he saw time in.
But, after Marc-Andre Fleury joined the team, Kahkonen was quickly dealt to the Sharks, and his progression then came to a grinding halt. Now, while there’s no telling that if attained by the Flyers, Kaapo would be able to return to his winning ways, he would undoubtedly be an improvement over Cal Peterson.
Another short-term-ish option for the Flyers that might be made available in the coming weeks would be Czech-born Karel Vejmelka of the Arizona Coyotes. Karel, who is also 27 years old, is a big, bodied guy whose 6’4, 224-pound frame tends to take up a lot of the net. And, while his stats may not appear at first glance to be that impressive, you have to remember he has been stuck playing with a team in the Coyotes who have been in a rebuilding phase since they moved to the desert from Winnipeg back in 1996. Because of this, though, Vejmelka should be able to be had for a minuscule return. Karel is currently signed for this year and next at the rate of $2,725,000 and could prove to be a solid 1B option until the club’s already drafted goaltender prospects come to fruition.
The last and possibly the best trade option for the Flyers, in the long term, may be to obtain the 29-year-old Latvian-born guardian of the blue paint, Elvis Merzlikins, from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Since his first appearance in the NHL some five years ago, Elvis has been a solid option for the struggling Blue Jackets. That is until recently when he felt that his apparent starting job had been taken away from him undeservingly by the Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent in an effort to give newcomer Daniil Tarasov, who is 24 years old, more playing time to prove himself capable of being the starter of the future. This decision infuriated Merzlikins so much so that he asked the team for a trade because he only just started to not have to share his crease after his former goaltending partner Joonas Korpisalo was traded to the Los Angeles Kings last season. But it won’t be easy to obtain Elvis because he is in just the second season of a five-year $27 million deal that pays him $5.4 million a season. Now, you notice I said difficult but not impossible, and that’s because the Blue Jackets are well aware that in order to expedite getting this now frustrated goalie out of the teams’ locker-room, they know they may need to retain some of his salary.
And, if things weren’t already hard enough to attain Elvis, he has a 10-team no-trade clause that he has the right to invoke.
These are, of course all options to gain help A.S.A.P. ONCE/IF it is deemed that Carter Hart will no longer be returning to the Flyers and thus be forced to play for the Canadian Penal Hockey Leagues.
If the team is relucent to make a trade, what then may be in the best interest of the Flyers (especially if the team continues its recent descent in the standings over the next few weeks) is to wait it out until potential reinforcements come next season in the form of one of their already drafted goalie prospects.
One of those such players for the Flyers who could perhaps be deemed the most NHL-ready out of the bunch would be the already-signed goaltender Alexei Kolosov. Alexei, who was drafted by the Flyers back in the third round of the 2021 draft, is now 22 years old, and after being loaned to the KHL this season so he could play for the Dinamo Minsk, he has managed to play in 37 games so far, this year. In those games, Alexei has managed to average a very respectable 2.39 goals against average and a .906 save percentage.
As for the other prospects in the system that strap on the pads, neither Carson Bjarnason, who was drafted by the Flyers last summer in the second round, or Yegor Zavragin, who was taken in the third, will be ready to make that jump next season.
In the end, there is no good option for the harsh reality of what recently blindsided most fans. And I fear that regardless of the outcome of this case, Hart’s wholesome reputation will forever be tarnished in this city. Ultimately, leading to his eventual departure from Philadelphia, that is, if he ever returns. So, in an effort to make the best of a bad situation, I feel it is imperative that the Flyers try and acquire Samuel Ersson some help sooner rather than later before the pressures of being thrown into a starting role affect his development so much that he becomes the next goalie in a long line to play for the Flyers whose promising career was for not.
Was the Re-Signing of Center Ryan Poehling what the Flyers Really Needed?
Recently, the Philadelphia Flyers chose to sign their 25-year-old center Ryan Poehling to a two-year contract extension worth $3.8 million; this new deal will ensure he gets paid a $1.9 million salary for the next couple of seasons. This deal comes after the team was wise enough to bring in this then-free agent to assist them in trying to fortify their ailing penalty-killing unit. A feat that Ryan proved to be more than capable of doing, seeing that the Flyers currently rank second in the entire league in that particular category.
But was this re-signing really needed? Now, I recognize that under the direction of head coach John Tortorella, there is undoubtedly a set standard that all his centers are to be defensively responsible 200ft. players, but CAN WE GET ONE THAT CAN SCORE A GOAL?
If you take a closer look at the Flyers’ depth chart at the center position, they seem as though they were made from the same cookie cutter-like mold. Let me explain.
Sean Couturier, the team’s 2011 first-round pick that the Flyers chose to take 8th overall that year, has developed into what they think is a capable top-line center. So much so that the team decided to reward this now 12-year veteran with an eight-year 62 million dollar contract a season ago that is due to pay him $7,750,000 until the end of the 29-30 season. Now, I’m not doubting the fact that he is a good player; we all know he won the Selke Trophy back in the 19-20 season for being voted the league’s best defensive forward. He’s just not the stereotypical first-line scoring center most people think of and other teams’ employee. For instance, Sean, who is 31 years old, has played in 766 NHL games with the Flyers to date and has a career-high of 33 goals during that time. But if you take into account his entire body of work, he has only averaged 15 goals a season for his career, or to put it another way, Sean has managed to score only 0.24 goals per game (G.P.G.) That’s not exactly hitting the mark of some others that we will compare these guys to later in the article.
Morgan Frost, for whatever reason, has been viewed by the team as their second-line center for some time now. He is 24 years old and was initially drafted by the team back in 2017 in the first round with the 27th overall pick. He was seen as being a potential offensive juggernaut coming out of the Ontario Hockey League, where he had back-to-back 100+ point seasons while playing for the Soo Greyhounds, but has done very little offensively since turning pro some five seasons ago now. During that time, Morgan set a career-high in goals last season with 19 but has only managed to amass seven this season and just 33 for his career. That means, on average, Frost has only managed to post six goals a season, or 0.16 goals per game. Again, that’s well off the pace for a player taken in the first round.
Scott Laughton is another center that has been around Philly for a long time. Laughton, who is now 29 years old, was taken by the Flyers back in the 2012 draft in the first round, 20th overall. Scott has played 569 games in his eleven seasons with the Flyers and is the consummate professional. It doesn’t matter where he plays up or down the lineup; Scott doesn’t complain. He is a team player and, for that, is viewed as a leader for this franchise. He, too, is a defensive dynamo. He forechecks, he backchecks, he is a 200ft player who gives it his all every time he steps foot on the ice. Although, the only place he doesn’t really seem to help the team all that much is on the scoreboard. Through his 11 seasons, Scott has managed to set a career-high of 18 goals, which came last season playing under Tortorella’s tutelage. But on average he has only been able to amass seven goals a season, or if you want to look at it this way, 0.15 goals per game. If you’re starting to keep count now, that’s three centers drafted in the first round by the Flyers, who can’t manage to put the puck in the back of the net consistently.
Ryan Poehling, now that you see where I am going with this, let’s take a look at why I say Ryan might not have been exactly what the Flyers needed moving forward. Again, I am not trying to put Poehling down here. I liked the team’s decision to sign him this season, especially considering they had just traded away Kevin Hayes and had Coots just coming back from an extensive injury at the time. But Ryan is yet another center that the team now has on their roster for the next couple of years who was a first-round pick back in 2017 that can’t score. This season, Ryan has five goals in 45 games played. That’s good enough to see him average 0.11 goals per game. I would like to say this is below average for him, but it’s not. Throughout his five-year career in the NHL, Poehling has played in 183 games and has only managed to put up a career-high of nine goals. And if you do some quick math, that means that during his career, he has averaged just five goals a season and only 0.13 goals per game.
That’s now four former-round picks playing center for the Flyers right now, who have played a combined 1,716 games in the NHL and have only been able to compile 335 combined goals to date. So, when you factor Poehling’s new contract in, that means Philadelphia has chosen to pay $14.75 million next year to four men who lineup in the dot and collectively score at a rate of just 0.19 goals per game. And you wonder why this team is ranked among the worst in the league in both goals per game (2.86) and power play percentage (13.29).
Something has to change. This type of defensive center is great to have on the roster as long as they’re playing on the team’s third or fourth line, but it is not conducive to winning games if all four of your centers are like this. The team has to stop coveting this type of player and draft someone who plays down the middle that can score! Now, I know the Flyers thought they had done just that when they selected the injury-prone Nolan Patrick second overall back in 2017, but that mistake was made more than seven years ago. Since then, what have they done to try and rectify the problem? Please don’t say draft Cutter Gauthier because he was at the time and, in my mind, is still best projected to be a winger. The Flyers were trying to coerce him to be a center out of necessity, and we all saw how that worked out for them.
I’m sorry, but if you look around the league, practically every team has a dominant first-line center who is a primary contributor offensively. But to make this article not drag on, we will not be taking a look at Western Conference teams like the Edmonton Oilers, who aren’t even playing fair in this sense since they have Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who combined have scored 897 NHL goals thus far in their careers. Instead, we will just stay focused on teams in the Eastern Conference.
Boston – is trying to find who will be their next first line center, seeing that long-time Bruins Center Patrice Bergeron just retired. But at this time they seem to be managing just fine with veteran Charlie Coyle filling in until they can draft Bergeron’s replacement.
Buffalo- has 26-year-old Tage Thompson, who was taken 26th overall back in 2016. He scored at a rate of 0.60 goals per game last year, totaling 47 lamplighters in 78 games played, as well as 22-year-old Dylan Cozens, who scored at a rate of 0.38 G.P.G. last year, totaling 31 goals in 81 games played.
Carolina – has Sebastian Aho, who is 26 years old and wasn’t taken until the second round of the 2015 draft. For his career, he has 235 goals and has scored at a rate of 0.41 G.P.G
Columbus- has youth on their side, with players such as 20-year-old Cole Sillinger already manning the faceoff circle on the team’s top line and would probably benefit more from letting both Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson revert back to center instead of making them play wing.
Detroit- has Dylan Larkin, who has 22 goals at the midpoint of the season and is scoring at a rate of 0.51 goals per game right now.
Florida- has Alexsander Barkov, who has managed to average well over 20 goals a season during his 11 years playing thus far.
Montreal- Is another team that is in the middle of a rebuild but has youth on their side, with players like Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, and Alex Newhook continuing to develop.
New Jersey- who was smart enough to pass on Nolan Patrick, now has a young duo of Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes to continue to build upon. Hughes of course surprised many last season by scoring 43.
The Islanders- traded for Bo Horvat, who has 20 goals already this year.
The Rangers- have Mika Zibanejad, who, against the Flyers alone, has 18 goals in just 42 games played versus the orange and black.
Ottawa- has the 22-year-old German-born center Tim Stutzle, who looks promising, seeing that last year he was able to light the lamp 39 times.
Pittsburgh- as we all know, our cross-state rival has had much success from having had the duo of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (who both have combined for 652 regular season goals) having played for them for almost two decades now. But they also added insult to injury when they brought in former Flyers Jeff Carter a few years back, who, although now showing some signs of slowing down, still brings with him the experience of scoring 436 NHL goals.
Tampa Bay- for years, had Steven Stamkos leading the way down the middle but now he has since moved over to the wing. But Stamkos who managed to help bring multiple Cups to the Gulf region by scoring a career 536 goals in 1,050 games played, has averaged over half a goal a game for his career. And he has turned his former role over to Brayden Point, who managed to put up 51 goals last year while centering the Lightnings top line.
Toronto- well, this one is easy, Auston Matthews. What can I say about this player that his highlight reels don’t already? He is currently scoring at an unreal rate of 0.86 points per game right now with him already netting 40 goals in only 46 games played this year. Since he came into the league some eight years ago, he has managed to average 42 goals a year. He is only 26 years old, but if he keeps up at this pace, he could find himself in talks with the likes of Gretzky, Ovechkin, Howe, Jagr, and Hull real soon. If that wasn’t enough, the Maple Leafs also have John Tavares manning the dots for them. And he isn’t anything to sneeze at either since he has managed to post 440 goals through 1076 career games thus far.
Washington- is making the most out of other teams’ discarded players like Dylan Strome, who is a former top-three pick who went from one bad team to another when the Arizona Coyotes drafted him and then traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks. But Strome has since found a home in our nation’s capital. Now, in his second year with the Caps, Dylan finds himself playing on a line with Alexander Ovechkin and has managed to score 19 goals of his own so far this season.
So, you can see, although it is nice having so many centers that can be defensively responsible like the recently re-signed Ryan Poehling, it would behoove this team (that we all love) to seek out someone with a little more offensive capabilities. Although they may already have some impressive centers like Massimo Rizzo and Denver Barkey in their system, they, too, are cut from the same pass-first, defensively responsible mold. And until the Flyers find themselves a legitimate 1st line center who can score 30-40 goals a year like they had in Bob Clarke, Eric Lindros, Jeff Carter, and Jeremy Roenick, they will continue to fall short of expectations.
What are the Phillies Waiting For?
What are the Phillies waiting for? Pitchers and Catchers are due to report to Spring Training in Clearwater, FL., on February 14th. And to date, all the team has done to bolster their bullpen is invite a trio of no-name aging pitchers with limited MLB experience to camp and sign a former 2015 1st round pick of the Atlanta Braves, Kolby Allard, who, through six seasons in the MLB still finds himself being nothing more than a call-up guy who managed to average a 6.10 ERA in 69 total outings in the majors.
In multiple articles this off-season, I have been clamoring about the need for the Phillies to add to their bullpen. I, of course, started this after Philadelphia’s hopes of returning to the World Series last season went up in smoke mainly due to their long-in-the-tooth closer Craig Kimbrel apparently thinking he was sent out there to throw B.P. to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS. Thankfully, the team only signed him to a one-year deal, and now he is the Orioles’ problem.
But where does that leave us? If I’m being honest, I would have to say not in the best of spots. With many teams already having players starting to show up at their team’s spring training facilities, the Phillies continue to sit idle and watch as more and more relievers are signed by the opposition every day. For example, multiple hard-throwing relief and closing pitchers I have previously suggested that the team sign have already found new teams. Josh Hader (who is viewed as one of the best closers in the game today) has signed in Houston. Flaming throwing Jordan Hicks (whose fastball touches 105) has signed with San Francisco, Cuba’s hidden gem Yariel Rodriguez will be playing in Toronto next season, and two-time World Series Champ Aroldis Chapman will be pushing it over the plate for the Pirates in 2024. All of those players could have proved to be viable options for Phillies manager Rob Thompson to call on next season, but here we sit.
So, who else is still out there? Well, they could make a panic decision like bringing back either Hector Neris (who played for Philadelphia for eight seasons before heading to Houston for the last two years) or Brad Hand, who threw for the team in the 2022 season, but they shouldn’t, and here’s why.
To the untrained eye, Neris appeared to revitalize his career with the Astros during the regular season last year, posting a 1.71 Earned Run Average (E.R.A.) in 68.1 innings pitched. But this one-time Dominican ace seemed to lose quite a bit of velocity off his fastball last season. And it showed as teams in the postseason were able to exploit it this year. It was so bad that his E.R.A. rose to 6.48 through just 8.1 innings played in the playoffs. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the Phillies to take another chance on an aging veteran like Hector, who is getting ready to head into his now 11th MLB season at the age of 35.
The same goes for former Phillies pitcher Brad Hand. For me, I don’t care if the team’s options are dwindling; I don’t wish for them to bring back a 34-year-old pitcher who, even though his strike-out ratio was up this year, his arm couldn’t seem to hold up because as the season went on his E.R.A. continued to skyrocket. Case in point: through 40 games with the Rockies this past season, Hand was averaging an E.R.A. of 4.54. Then he was traded to the Braves, where over his next 20 outings, he saw it rise to a staggering 7.50. And, if that wasn’t bad enough in the postseason, it only seemed to continue to climb as Hand’s E.R.A. reached 9.00 after giving up a home run to Philly in the division round of the playoffs.
With that being said, there are a few names available that I think the Phillies should look to add to their pen. But in my mind, there is one guy who stands out above all the rest. He may not be as flashy of an option as some players that I have mentioned in previous articles, but he is effective nonetheless!
And that player is none other than 30-year-old Phil Maton. And if you’re wondering, the answer is yes, he is the brother of former Phillies utility infielder Nick Maton. Now, if we can continue, Phil may not be the hard-throwing late-inning guy who possesses the ability to come in and strike out the entire side that we genuinely need. Still, he is a guy with championship winning experience who can be trusted to come in on occasion and pitch multiple innings to get his team’s starters out of a jam.
What’s to like about Maton, you may be asking? Well, this innings eater is predominantly a pitcher who likes to frustrate hitters by throwing an absolutely nasty off-speed curve ball, low in the zone, that makes for easy groundouts.
That pitch is so effective, in fact, that in 68 regular season outings this season, Maton was able to strike out 74 batters and maintain a career-best 3.00 E.R.A this year. But that’s not even the best part. The main reason I would suggest Philadelphia sign Phil is that during the postseason, Maton has been known to develop ice in his veins.
For example, Over the course of three separate playoff runs, Maton has seen action in 20 separate games, where he has managed to strike out 22 and maintain an E.R.A of just 0.83. That’s with this past postseason being his best, mind you. Phil pitched in six playoff games in 2023 and somehow was able to preserve a 0.00 E.R.A. by striking out seven batters.
If the Phillies listen this time and choose to sign Maton before Spring Training, they could expect to fork out somewhere around four million dollars a season for his services. But I assure you, if they did, this deal would prove to be a bargain, considering Phil would all but solidify this team’s pen IF Jose Alvarado can manage to take over the closing role.
The Flyers’ Precocious Success is Exciting, but How Can They Continue to Add to it?
Thanks to Head Coach John Tortorella, the Flyers are once again an entertaining team to watch. If you look back all the way to the team’s inception into the NHL, the Philadelphia Flyers were always thought of as being one of the most challenging teams to line up against. From the Bullies’ brazen style of play that literally saw them beat their opponents into submission in the late ’60s all the way up to the ’80s to the highly talented teams of the ’90s and early ’00s led by the Legion of Doom Line. The Flyers were always considered to be a perennial playoff team. And, because of their many years of success, the Flyers still find themselves seventh all-time in wins to this day. That’s right, outside of the original six teams (who have over 2,600 more games played than them), the Flyers have won more games than any other expansion team.
But sadly, during the Giroux era, the Flyers seemed to lose their identity. They no longer played with the grit and tenacity that we all came to love and expect from this team. They slowly grew into a club that became less and less physical. They began not to finish their checks. They no longer stood up for one another when a dirty hit occurred. They lacked hustle and, over time, became lazy, choosing to dump and chase the puck instead of skating it into the zone and trying to set something up. Because of all this, the team lost its edge; its opponents no longer feared them, and their players appeared to become comfortable with losing.
That all changed when the Flyers chose to hire John Tortorella as their Head Coach. In just two seasons’ time (with the help of Keith Jones and Danny Briere this year), this former Jack Adams Award winner has been able to come in and revitalize this franchise. Through hard work in training camp and intense film study. John has been able to correct these players’ bad habits and rid the locker room of its bad apples, making sure to replace them with true professionals who play the game the right way.
With a decision to play the franchises youth, you can see on a nightly basis that this team is now outskating, outshooting, and, most nights, outscoring their opponents. They are no longer taking shifts off and are not willingly turning the puck over to make a change like Flyers teams of recent memory. They now play up on their skates and have the talent and speed to execute a run-and-gun offense, which has created so many more scoring chances for them.
So much so that the Flyers are now leading the league in shots and have become defensively responsible by choosing to leave their goalies no longer hung out to dry. In fact, it has become the complete opposite to the point where they now find themselves among the league leaders in killing penalties.
For fans, this has been refreshing, to say the least, but I assure you it is more than just Torts taking it back to basics in practice and now holding players accountable for the way they play the game that has willed this team to win. Credit should also go to management, who were able to bring in the right veteran players to act as both on and off-ice coaches to this team’s youthful core.
The unrestricted free agent signing of penalty-killing specialist Garnet Hathaway has obviously paid dividends this season. In addition to that, both defensemen Sean Walker and Marc Staal have clearly helped to sure up a once struggling defensive core.
But now that the Flyers are playing well and once again looking like a team that is destined to be in playoff contention, a question must be asked. Should Philadelphia change gears and now look to bring in players who can further help them complete their transformation from a lazy dump-and-chase team to one who plays a more lethal run-and-gun style?
Well, with the recent addition of the much-needed first-pairing right-hand shot defender, Jamie Drysdale from the Anaheim Ducks, the Flyers might have already begun to do just that. Overnight, this 21-year-old defender was able to come in and bring an all-but-deceased Flyer’s power play unit back to life. From his unreal skating ability to his incredible saucer-like passes, Drysdale seems like the missing cog that has unlocked this team’s offense. But sadly, regardless of how wide open this team’s offense has become, with them now leading the league in shots on goal, their ability to cash in on those chances hasn’t entirely caught up as they rank just 18th in the league in total goals scored.
That’s why I thought it wise to take a look at some other players, like potential impending free agents the Flyers could both possibly look to acquire for a playoff push or bring in this upcoming offseason who play a similar style to theirs. This roster, although it has already gone through some changes, is proving that it still has some transitioning left to do. Some players left over from the Ron Hextall and Chuck Fletcher eras still need to find the door, in my opinion, in order to complete this current coaching and administration staff’s vision for how they want this team to play moving forward.
And with players like Jamie Drysdale and a young Egor Zamula now solidifying their roles on the back end with the team, approaching free agent blue liners like 29-year-old defenseman Sean Walker and 30-year-old Nick Seeler should now be considered trade bait that could bring back some much-needed draft compensation after the lose of Cutter Gauthier.
In addition to those players, 37-year-old player/coach Marc Staal is due to come off the books as well after this season, thus creating the opportunity to bring multiple other players next season.
However, one player who could help the Flyers sooner rather than later for a potential playoff push (depending on the price) is Anthony Duclair. Now, hear me out. The Flyers desperately need a finisher. They are dead last in the league in terms of the power play for a reason. Duclair could be an affordable upgrade that could step in on day one and help to fix this problem. Let’s face it. A lot of time has passed since Torts and Duclair had it out in Columbus (some six seasons ago). Both are now older and wiser and don’t make all the same mistakes that they once did. So, this now 28-year-old winger who still possesses the same fantastic speed and finishing ability that he always did might just be willing to now listen to his former coach this time around for the chance to play for a contender. Duclair, who has struggled to find a home over the years, is currently playing for the Western Conference’s last-place team, the San Jose Sharks, and should be made available in the coming weeks since he is an impending free agent.
Furthermore, I don’t even think it would cost the Flyers a lot to acquire him, considering Anthony has never really appeared to have settled into San Jose, where he has been forced to play with a less-than-stellar supporting cast. To date, Duclair (who is making three million dollars this season) has scored just eight goals and eight assists for 16 points this year. These stats are a far cry from the season he had back in Florida a couple of years ago, where he was able to score 31 goals and 27 assists for 58 points. But here is the kicker. The only reason the Panthers did not bring him back was because he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury that required him to have surgery that included an extensive recovery time. But that’s behind him now; Duclair has proven post-injury that he still has the speed that would allow him to return to the 30-goal scorer he once was, especially if he got the chance to play here in Philly with guys like Konecny, Farabee, Tippett, Foerster, and Frost who all would be able to skate stride for stride with him on an odd-man rush.
Now, whether Torts would be willing to give this talented competitor another chance to play in his offense is yet to be seen. But it’s something the two of them would have time to work out if the team made a trade for him come the deadline. In my mind, it has the possibility of being a low-risk, high-reward type situation. And for that, I think the Flyers would be crazy not to try at least and acquire this former 30-goal scorer if they are still in the race come March 8th.
Another name that comes to mind as an impending free agent that may have the Flyers drooling after this season’s completion is Nashville’s Yakov Trenin. This 27-year-old feisty Russian forward, who stands at 6’2 and 201 pounds, has been invaluable to the Predators over the years. From his unrelenting hustle to his physical play and tenacious forecheck, this veteran forward appears as though he was all but born to play in a John Tortorella-style offense. And if those traits weren’t enough for Flyers fans to make him an instant fan favorite, if acquired, Trenin’s fearlessness is. Yakov is amongst the league leaders every year in hits, and he has shown a willingness to drop the gloves with anyone! This includes Zdeno Chara, who he almost brought to his knees a few years back, as you can see in the video provided below.
But the fist to cuffs is not all those hands are suitable for. Trenin is also known to be able to play up and down the lineup when needed, where he is able to use his speed to create fast breaks for himself as well as set up his awaiting teammates. Yakov has set a career-high of 17 goals for himself during his five-year tenure with the Predators and may now be looking for a slightly more significant role elsewhere this off-season. Currently, Trenin is making a very affordable $1.7 million this year, and if signed, he would prove to be a much-needed upgrade to the Flyers bottom six forward group next season.
Lastly, with the Flyers potentially losing all those blueliners (mentioned above) next season to free agency, I would suggest they then take a look at replacing them with a 6’6 225 pound 31-year-old defenseman in Jani Hakanpaa who currently plays for the Dallas Stars. This towering defenseman, who is making just $1.5 million this season, plays the game exactly how the Flyers thought Rasmus Ristolainen would when they traded for him a few seasons ago. Hakanpaa is a stay-at-home right-hand shot defender who would pair perfectly with a young, offensively driven Cam York.
Although not offensively minded, Hakanpaa still provides his employer with a lot for their money. In any given season, you can expect Jani to dish out somewhere around 225 hits, as well as tally up over 100 blocked shots. This behemoth has shown he is more capable of moving distractions out from in front of his goalie net, as well as being more than willing to drop the gloves when needed to come to the defense of a fellow teammate. Best of all, though, unlike Ristolainen, who is a career -180, Jani is a career-plus player.
Signing Hakanpaa to say a one-year deal for next season would give the team a better option for the present time and not stunt the progression of other defensemen who are currently progressing through the team’s system already, like Emil Andre, Helge Grans, and Oliver Bonk.
Combining these suggested moves along with management continuing to emphasize making intelligent decisions on draft day, this team just may return to the perennial playoff contender they were for decades at a time, a lot sooner than expected.
Why a Little Nepotism this Off Season may Help a Suddenly Struggling Eagles Franchise
Although the Eagles got off to a fantastic start this year, their struggles of late can be attributed to a multitude of issues. These issues include, but are not limited to, their head coach’s inability and or unwillingness to change his play calling this year (which is an article for another day) to a much more deep-rooted problem that has been going on now for decades of which I would like to discuss in this article.
For far too long, the Philadelphia Eagles have been known to draft from a position of WANT rather than from a position of NEED. This, of course, has been the case since the days when both Andy Reid and Jim Johnson were patrolling the Eagles sidelines. When all the team ever seemed to want to do back then was draft offensive and defensive linemen.
To date, little has changed. The line here in Philly is still a position of extreme depth, while other areas on the field continue to be exploited by the opposition year after year. In saying that, I do feel the Eagles’ current General Manager, Howie Roseman, has done a better job than his predecessors in the way of acquiring offensive weapons, especially when it comes to making trades to aid his still young and developing quarterback.
However, recently, all Howie seems to be enamored by in the draft is those darn Georgia Bulldogs. Who could blame him, though, right? This fascination, of course, started when Howie decided to select Georgia’s 6’6, 336-pound defensive lineman Jordan Davis with the team’s first-round pick in 2022—a player who seems to possess herculean-like strength. Roseman then followed it up by taking Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean in the third round that same year, who had just won the NCAA’s Butkus Award for being the Nation’s best linebacker but who has struggled to stay healthy ever since.
With those two already in the nest, I guess it seemed almost like fate when Georgia’s defensive lineman Jalen Carter fell to them at ninth overall in 2023. Not to mention, fellow Bulldog Nolan Smith (the most athletic linebacker in the draft that year) somehow still being there at 30 when the team was due to make their second selection of the first round. But as if that wasn’t enough dogs to feed, Howie decided to go back to the pound again when he dialed that oh-so-familiar 706 area code in the fourth round when he took Georgia cornerback Kelee Ringo with the one hundred and fifth overall pick.
Now, I don’t know about you, but besides Jalen Carter being able to accumulate six sacks this year, no other Georgia Bulldog on the defensive side of the ball that the team has drafted has shown me anything besides a couple of flashes here and there to make me think they may be one day worth their inflated draft stock.
That’s why this off-season, I would urge Howie to choke down his impulses of drafting another player from Athens and instead focus on selecting players who could sure up some glaring holes on this team’s depth charts.
And to me, a large majority of those holes would be on the defensive side of the ball. As previously stated, the Eagles’ defensive line is one of the league’s best. Still, once you get beyond that, the only person in the Eagles’ secondary that remotely scares the opposition now is safety Reed Blankenship. Therefore, Philadelphia would be wise to try and go after a shutdown corner like Terrion Arnold from Alabama with their first-round selection. Terrion, who is 6’0 and 196 pounds, had 63 tackles, one sack, 12 pass deflections, five interceptions, and a forced fumble this season, would be welcomed attention to an ever-aging CB core that a 33-year-old Darius Slay and a 30-year-old James Bradberry are currently leading.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI2BS_c79eA
In the second round, it could all come together, though. For far too long, the Eagles have devalued the linebacker position as a whole, which baffles me, considering they are often the players that accumulate the most tackles during any given season because they are the next line of defense after the D-line breaks down.
Think about it: in the NFC East alone during the last decade, the Eagles have had to face elite running backs like Alfred Morris, DeMarco Murray, Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott, and Adrian Peterson each lining up across from them multiple times a year where the outcome, unfortunately almost always ended up being that these running backs were able to amass a 100-yard game on the Eagles.
Now, as good as Hassan Reddick is, his job as a strong-side linebacker is to get in the backfield and go after the quarterback the majority of the time. But we need a player up the middle with that DOG in him. A guy who will be able to spot a running back about to burst through the line and drive him so hard into the ground that when he gets up, he looks dazed and confused and asks did anybody happen to see the plate number of that bus that just hit me?
And the last guy I think the Eagles had like that was Jeremiah Trotter who last played for Philadelphia some 15 years ago.
Lucky for the Eagles, though, they have a chance to draft The Axe Man’s protégé Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Yes, a true NFL legacy, who, like his dad, plays the MLB position. So well, in fact, that over the last three seasons for the Clemson Tigers Jr. has been credited with 202 tackles, 29.5 of which were for loss, 13 sacks, 13 pass breakups, three forced fumbles, and four interceptions (including two that were returned for touchdowns).
Now, if you watched these highlight videos provided above, you would have noticed a lot of similarities between both father and son’s games. But where Trotter 2.0’s game differs a bit from his old man’s is that he is a little more agile, which makes sense considering that he weighs in at around 230, whereas his dad played closer to 260 pounds.
I assure you, though this does not hinder Jr’s abilities, it only helps. Where his dad may have needed the extra weight, seeing he played back in a more ground-and-pound time, Jr. benefits from being a bit sleeker because teams have become more pass-happy as of late. So, being that he is lighter, Jr. has shown the ability to run step for step with slot receivers and tight ends at the colligate ranks.
That’s why if the Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is somehow able to resist the urge to draft more Bulldogs this off-season and instead allow for a bit of nepotism by drafting the offspring of an Eagles legend, I think he could help restore a lot of confidence next year to a very talented team that has somehow seemed to lose their way during the second half of this season.
Suddenly, the Gauthier Trade Doesn’t Seem That Bad, Eh?
Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
So, like most Flyers fans, this writer was shocked when the news came out that the Flyers’ top prospect, Cutter Gauthier, had been traded because he no longer wanted to play for Philadelphia. The reason why this news caught so many off guard is because, as most any player that has suited up here in the past will tell you, this town has arguably the most passionate and knowledgeable fans of any city that garners a professional sports franchise. And, if you’re a player who gives it your all and leaves nothing out on the ice, court, field, etc., your efforts will never be forgotten (to prove this, just look at Bernie Parent and the rest of the Broad Street Bullies). That’s why so many retired players never end up moving away from the area.
Now I get it. Cutter may have his reasons, but he should have at least shown respect enough for the organization that drafted him to share with them why he didn’t want to play for them anymore. I mean, the team did their homework. He was the best player available at the time, as my mock draft from that year confirmed. And, in pre-draft interviews, Gauthier did tell the Flyers Brass that “He was born to be a Flyer” blah blah blah. Now, what changed his mind from the time of the draft to a few months later, when he then told the team he no longer wished to play for them, we may never know. But for him to outright refuse to have a conversation with Stanley Cup winners John LeClair and Patrick Sharp when they traveled all the way up to Boston to meet with him on campus. Not to mention refusing to talk to the Flyers’ President of Hockey OPS, Keith Jones, and General Manager Danny Briere after they traveled all the way to Sweden to sit down with him at World Juniors to try and iron this all out. WOW!!! This kid has SOME BALLS!
Regardless, the team did the right thing and moved on by trading Gauthier when his value could not be any higher. Cutter had just won a Gold Medal for Team USA and took home the honor of being named the tournament’s MVP. And with him still declining to speak to the Flyers, he all but forced their hand.
The Return
Now, as we all may have heard, and probably was the reason we made a point to tune in to watch last night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens just to see him play. The Flyers were able to bring back a pretty special player in return for Gauthier. His name is Jamie Drysdale, a 21-year-old right-hand shot defenseman who the team acquired from the Anaheim Ducks along with a 2025 second-round pick.
Jamie, who played junior hockey for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League, was taken sixth overall in the first round of the 2020 Draft. As you saw last night, he is a very agile defender who uses his skating ability to help him not only make great outlet passes but excel in the offensive zone as well.
Although he is predominantly thought of as a setup man who can cycle the puck along the blue line effortlessly, Jamie will not turn down the chance to jump up into the play when the opportunity presents itself in order to create his own scoring opportunities.
That’s why, with so few players presently playing in the NHL that possess an innate skill set such as his, he was able to come in with only one practice under his belt with the Flyers and immediately be placed on the top pairing alongside Travis Sanheim as well, as being trusted enough by Tortorella to be thrown out there on the team’s top power-play unit (which has been struggling this year, to say the least) and somehow instantaneously willed himself to become an impact player for them. As he was when he was able to set up Frost last night for a goal during what was just his first man advantage as a Flyer.
Of course, there must be a reason why the Ducks would be willing to part with such a young, coveted right-hand shot defender who has already proven himself capable of playing top-pairing minutes in the NHL for the likes of a promising prospect like Gauthier who apparently has a bit of a complex right?
Well, in fact, there is. Although Jamie managed to impress many in Anaheim during his four seasons spent there, he only managed to play in 123 games during that time. This means that this 5’11, 185-pound blue liner has already managed to miss a combined 103 games due to him sustaining multiple injuries over the years.
Can he overcome this with a little more time spent with the Flyer’s strength and conditioning coach? Probably, but it is a bit concerning, nonetheless.
Still, given the unfortunate hand that the Flyers were dealt, I think the team’s newly appointed management was able to add a very impactful player to their already youthful core, who will now be able to continue to grow their game together in the coming years.
I mean, come on, I know losing a guy like Cutter hurts, but Drysdale could be that elusive top-pairing right-hand shot defender that the team has been trying to find for years now. He is still just 21 years of age and just signed a very team-friendly three-year deal that will pay him just $2.3 million annually until the end of the 2025-26 season. On top of that, Philadelphia also gained another second-round pick in the 2025 draft, which they could use to select one of many exciting players like Zachary Morin, Owen Griffith, Aiden Lane, or my personal favorite, Jordan Gavin, who all are currently predicted to still be on the board at that time.
Steel’s Corner: To Playoffs or Not to Playoffs, that is the question for the Steelers
To Playoffs or Not to Playoffs, that is the question for the Steelers!
The final two games of the regular season are upon the Pittsburgh Steelers. And they are potentially on the verge of a playoff berth, provided the stars,planets, and moon all align, but of course, that means that the Steelers need to win out!
Given that the Steelers are currently “In the Hunt” but basically on the outside looking into the playoffs. What with the two devastating losses to the Cardinals and then to the Patriots in successive weeks. The win last week to the rival Bengals only makes this cut a little deeper. Let me bend your eyes for a moment.
On the weekend of Thanksgiving, the Steelers had just defeated the Bengals for the first time this season and, at 7-4, had a good hold on not only a playoff berth but even potentially the division. It was the first game since Matt Canada had been fired, and the team put up 421 yards in that win against Cincinnati. Everything and everyone was riding that high of Victory Formation!
The next two games are against opponents that have a combined 4-20 record this season in the NFL. Kenny Pickett was to lead the team against two teams that had a suspect defense and could only muster four wins between the two teams all year to this point. There was confidence abounded in press conferences, and some help was returning on defense for these next two games, and that is when the tires came off.
The Arizona Cardinals came into Pittsburgh for a homecoming game for James Connor. That is just what happened, as James Conner put up over 100 yards rushing and scored a touchdown to cap off the fact that Kenny Pickett went down with an ankle injury, and Mitch Trubisky had to come in and mop up literally. Pittsburgh did what they could least afford to do: lose to a 2-10 team.
If that was not a bed of roses, how about if they go from bad to worse when the Patriots opened a can of whoop-ass on the Steelers in front of a home crowd. The Steelers have dropped another game to a 2-10 team this season in back-to-back weeks. Of all the things that the team could ill afford to do was lose two games in a row to two teams going the opposite direction this year. Can I put my finger on the facts as to what led to these losses today? Well, how about a defense that gave up considerable yardage and points?
Not only did they allow for a 100-yard rusher one week and a 240-yard passer the following week, but they also gave up 51 points to two of the lowest-rated offenses in the league. These two games, by far, were the worst performances by the Steelers this season, from special teams to coaching, to the offense or lack thereof.
Just when you thought, alright, there is no way that the Steelers could drop three in a row after losing to two 2-10 teams in back-to-back weeks, right? Well, that is precisely what happened as the Colts proceeded to dismantle the Steelers as they dropped their third game in a row to the Colts 13-30. In case you are counting, and I am, that is 81 points that this defense gave up in three weeks, and as far as I am concerned, it does not matter that your offense is impotent, but your defense is not even able to stop the lowest ranked offenses in the league.
Now, just a few days before kick-off of the final two games of the regular season for the Steelers, the team is not in control of their own destiny when they had it in their grasp only a few short weeks ago. Because of these losses, this team needs a lot of help even to get a chance at the playoffs this year. Not to mention that this team needs to find away to win the final two games against the Seahawks, who are also 8-7, and then finally, the Ravens, who are the number one seed in the AFC.
Only a few short weeks ago, these games looked winnable, or at least one of them did. Now, with Kenny Pickett coming back from injury and Mason Rudolph having been the best quarterback of the Steelers season by a long margin in the win against the Bengals, If it were up to me, I would run with the “Hot Hand” and start Mason. At this point, you have nothing to lose and only a playoff berth to gain! Let Kenny sit another week and be 100% healthy, and let’s see what Mason can do against the Seahawks this Sunday.
2024 NHL Draft Eligible Players to Watch at the WJC
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN – DECEMBER 25: USA’s Zeev Buium #28 – 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship at Frolundaborg on December 25, 2023 in Gothenburg, Sweden. (Photo by Chris Tanouye/IIHF)
With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas now behind us, if you find yourself not knowing what to do with some much-needed time off, I would suggest tunning into the NHL Network to watch the IIHF’s World Junior Championship U20 Tournament that is currently taking place in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is here where some of the most talented prospects in the game today from countries all around the globe commonly come together to see which nation will be able to skate away with the bragging rights and the hardware (Gold Medal) after winning it all.
To help you further enjoy these contests, in this article, I will break down some of the top 2024 NHL Draft Eligible Players available on each team. In this tournament, teams tend to fill their rosters with their country’s best players who are currently under the age of 21. This means that many of the prospects that you’ll find yourself enamored by have already been drafted by an NHL club and, therefore, are just fine-tuning some points to their games before signing their entry-level contracts. But this is not the case for all players involved. On every team’s roster, there are a few un-drafted players who were skilled enough to find a way to make it through their country’s final rounds of cuts to play in this tournament. So, let’s take a look.
Team USA
One of the favorites this year has to be Team USA, and for good reason: 21 of the 23 players on their roster have already been drafted by NHL Clubs. Many of them were good enough to be selected in the first or second round of their respected draft classes, such as Cutter Gauthier, Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, Gabe Perreault, Lane Hutson, Seamus Casey, and Frank Nazar, to name a few. But, despite the Red, White, and Blue having all these future NHL stars playing for them right now, there is still one undrafted player in their lineup whose play is already on par or better than his already claimed counterparts.
Zeev Buium
That player is Zeev Buium, the 6’0, 183-pound left-hand shot defender who is just 18 years old, that you can typically find playing in the NCAA for the University of Denver. While Buium was respected for his work with the U.S. National Development Program in previous years, no one expected that Zeev would come out this season and make the collegiate ranks look like child’s play. What do I mean by that? Well, in just his first year of college hockey, Buium has been able to score five goals and 20 assists for a total of 25 points in only 18 games played for the Pioneers thus far. It is this 1.38 point-per-game pace as a defenseman, mind you, that has allowed Zeev to see his name vault up the mock drafts as of late to the point where some even have him potentially being taken by a lottery team this summer.
So far in this tournament, Buium has scored just one goal and one assist in two games played, but look for his point totals to continue to climb as he gets more comfortable playing with his new teammates.
Team Canada
Now, as good as the USA looks, it would not be the WJC if we did not talk about the perennial favorites Team Canada. Like America, Canada’s roster is filled with talent that NHL clubs have previously drafted in prior drafts, but there are some names that you’ll most certainly see called this upcoming summer as well.
The easiest to pick out would be Macklin Celebrini, who not only leads the entire tournament in points right now but is all but typed in already as being the first overall draft pick taken in the 2024 draft. So, let’s pick another name you should look out for.
How about…
Mathis Rousseau
Mathis is a 19-year-old goaltender who can be found most nights in net for the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Rousseau, who is only 5’11 and 172 pounds, has astounded many this year with his play, so much so that he has managed to beat out fellow Canadian goalie Scott Razlaff, who was taken by the Buffalo Sabers last summer for Canada’s starting job. In two games played thus far in this tournament, Mathis has been able to post two victories and maintain an impressive 1.00 goals against average (G.A.A.) and a .958 save percentage (SV%).
As far as what got him the privilege to try out for Team Canada, Rousseau had to post a 2.07 G.A.A. and a .934 SV% through 21 games with the Mooseheads. But what might have given him the edge over others is the fact that if needed, he can evidently be counted on to provide some goal-scoring depth, as he proved capable of doing just that in a game a few months back against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
Team Finland
Having already been handed an unexpected 4-3 loss to Germany earlier in this tournament, Finland will obviously be looking to rebound quickly. And to do that, they might have to rely on one of their promising undrafted prospects.
Konsta Helenius
And for me, while they have a few to choose from in that regard, I think the player they will be counting on the most throughout the rest of this tournament will be Konsta Helenius. The consensus on this 17-year-old forward, who already finds himself competing in his country’s highest professional league, the Liiga, is that he has the type of talent that will see him selected as one of the top ten players in the 2024 draft class. With that being said, I would have to agree. From an early age, Konsta has proved that he can hang while playing with older players. No other example of this would be more evident than this year while playing in the Liiga, where through 28 games playing for Jukurit, he has been able to tally eight goals and twelve assists for 20 points.
But while that success has not yet translated in this tournament as Helenius has been held scoreless through two games played (when last year he was averaging well over a point per game in both the WJC-U17 and U18 competitions), look for him to step up and will his country to a couple of victories in the coming days.
Team Sweden
Another strong team in this tournament, as always, is Sweden. Like Canada and Team USA, Sweden’s roster is full of players who already find themselves residing in NHL systems.
Hugo Havelid
But perhaps the player whose name surprises me the most that does not find his name on that list is goalie Hugo Havelid.
Hugo is a netminder who I had a team certainly taking at some point this past summer because of his phenomenal play. But sadly, that wasn’t the case. My guess as to why that didn’t happen would have to be his height. Havelid stands at just 5’10 tall but manages to circumvent any shortcoming (pun intended) by shooting out of the crease to challenge the shooter.
And while he has not yet managed to play a game in the SHL (Sweden’s top professional league), he did manage to not only secure the crease in Sweden’s first game against Latvia, over both Melker Thelin and Kevin Reidler, who were lucky enough to be drafted by an NHL team already but also earned himself a shutout for his efforts in the team’s 6-0 victory as well.
While I don’t expect Hugo to get the majority of the starts, moving forward, if he somehow can continue to make the most out of the starts that he does receive in this tournament, you can expect an NHL team to call his name come draft day this summer.
Team Czechia
Well, while this country may have gone through a lot of changes over the years, especially involving its name- Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic, to now being known as Czechia, one thing that hasn’t changed is that prospects born in this country can flat out play.
And while defenseman Adam Jiricek should have been the talk of the town for Czechia this year at the world juniors, the knee injury he sustained in their first game against Slovakia has left Czechia desperate for someone to step up and help lead in his absence.
Dominik Rymon
For me, that player should be Dominik Rymon. This 19-year-old undrafted forward possesses the kind of quick stick work that allows him to collect points in bunches. If you need proof of this, look no further than what he has been able to do this year while playing for the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League. Through 32 games played thus far, Dominik has been able to score 18 goals and 25 assists for 43 points. Rymon is quick to rush to a puck, and once he has retrieved it, he makes sure that it doesn’t stay on his stick blade for long because it doesn’t matter where he is on the ice; Rymon is going to let it fly.
Besides his scoring ability (which he has used to average a points-per-game so far in this tournament), NHL clubs are also sure to be captivated by his defensibility as well, seeing that he is currently ranked among the WHL’s league leaders in plus-minus with an average of +19.
Any and all of these undrafted prospects could potentially earn themselves the honor of being drafted by an NHL club this summer simply by having a good showing at this tournament. For although it is just a week or two long, it is held in high regard because it is one of the only places where all the best and brightest prospects from around the world can come together to face off against each other. So, if you can prove to the masses that you can play well on this stage, the sky is the limit.
The Phillies Should Consider adding a Couple of Cubans to the Pen
Gene Wang/GettyImages
Now that the Los Angeles Dodgers have seemingly managed to corner the market in Japanese pitching for the next decade by shelling out well over a BILLON dollars to ink both Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The rest of the league can finally stop dreaming about the possibility of acquiring one of them and begin to focus on filling out the rest of their roster.
This goes for the Phillies as well, as their most glaring hole this off-season continues to be their Bull Pen. While relief pitchers like Jose Alvarado and Matt Strahm looked strong for the fighting Phills last year, other additions, like Gregory Soto and Craig Kimbrel, undoubtedly cost Philadelphia multiple wins in the postseason, where both saw their earned run average (E.R.A.) skyrocket to an embarrassing 6.00.
Thankfully, the team’s President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski, decided it was NOT in the team’s best interests to bring back their now 35-year-old closer whose play is on the decline after he has been able to post an incredible 417 saves through the last 14 grueling MLB seasons. But one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, as the Baltimore Orioles proved to be more than happy to swoop in and sign him for next season.
So, what should be the team’s next move, you may be asking? Well, as nice as signing an elite closer like Josh Hader or a flame-throwing inning eater like Jordan Hicks, both of which I proposed in an earlier article
the teams’ executives have come out and said they will not be looking to break the bank to solidify the back end. So, I would now suggest they allow Alvarado to try his hand at closing games for them and sign a couple of setup men.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t wish to see the Phillies go into next season having to hope that Orion Kerkering (who started last season playing Single-A ball) does not have a sophomore slump after opposing teams are able to gather more than his current 3.0 MLB regular season innings of game tape to watch.
With that being said, I now suggest that Philadelphia take a nice long look at a couple of Cubans who can throw absolute missiles!
(RHP) Yariel Rodriguez
The first of which is a relevantly unknown player in 26-year-old Yariel Rodríguez. Yariel, who last played in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League for the Chunichi Dragons back in 2022, averaged a very impressive 1.15 E.R.A. through 54.2 innings pitched.
In addition to that, here’s what many teams may find intriguing: while Yariel was used predominantly in relief in Japan and is projected to play in a similar role once signed here in the States, Rodriguez has recently shown the ability to start a game as well. In fact, he showcased this skill set during the most recent World Baseball Classic, where he started two games striking out ten batters while managing to maintain a 2.45 E.R.A.
Taking some time off to train in the Dominican Republic, Rodríguez recently completed a showcase where no less than 15 MLB clubs were in attendance. As far as his stuff goes, Yariel is able to average around 96-97 M.P.H. on his fastball but has been known to put a little extra on it when needed so that it then tops out in the triple digits. As far as his other pitches go, we can expect to see him throw a very reliable curveball and a decent slider now and again.
With Yariel’s ability to throw multiple innings (if signed), expect the Phillies to utilize him like they did Ranger Suarez when he first came up, as a long reliever who could be trusted with a start on occasion when injuries occur.
To try and accurately estimate just how much Rodriguez could fetch on the open market now that he has been released from his deal with the Dragons of the NPB would be foolish if you ask me—seeing that so many teams now appear to be willing to shell out big bucks for players that have yet to play a single inning on the world’s largest stage. So, I won’t even try to attempt to guess the final numbers. However, what I do know is that Yariel just hired Edgar Mercedes to be his agent. A man who previously was accused of helping multiple Cuban baseball stars flee their home country to try to find asylum on the isle of the Dominican Republic so that they could then seek employment in the MLB. This is the same man, mind you, that represented fellow Cuban star Yoenis Cespedes when he landed his first contract with the Oakland Athletics, which paid him $36 Million!
So, seeing that times have changed a bit, and it is now easier to sign Cuban players. Philadelphia should act fast, as there are sure to be many teams clamoring about trying to be the one to ink Rodriguez, who many feel may be the best arm to come out of Cuba since the “Cuban Missile” himself, Aroldis Chapman.
Aroldis Chapman
And since we brought him up, let us discuss why he, too, should be an option for the Phillies next season. Now, before you start, I know he is 35, and the Phillies just got burnt when taking a shot last year on veteran closer Craig Kimbrel, but unlike Kimbrel, Chapman has shown no sign of falling off anytime soon.
In what was his 14th MLB season last year, Aroldis amassed both the largest number of pitches thrown and threw for the most innings since his efforts in 2015, when he was still with the Cincinnati Reds. Also, for the first time since 2015, Chapman was able to amass over 100 strikeouts in a single season. And for those efforts, this seven-time All-Star was able to collect his second World Series Title.
Now, Aroldis may not be still throwing over 105 M.P.H. like he did back in his days with the Reds. But the fact that this nearly 36-year-old can still consistently place a ball where he wants it at 102-103 M.P.H. is impressive! Still, at this point in his career, Chapman should no longer be expected to be “THE GUY” to close out games. He is now best utilized as a setup man like he was in Kansas City last year, with whom he initially signed a one-year deal with for a very affordable $3.7 million before being dealt to the Texas Rangers.
If Philadelphia could manage to add both the up-and-coming Yariel Rodriguez (to be a long reliever) and the legendary “Cuban Flamer Thrower” Aroldis Chapman (to be the setup man), they might struggle at first to find a decent local Cuban restaurant to cater pregame meals of Ropa Vieja, and Mojo Criollo. But one thing they will not struggle at anymore is closing out games! And if they can do that, then this team might just find themselves planning a massive parade at the end of next season.