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After Re-signing Nola, the Phillies’ Focus Should Now Shift to Upgrading the Bullpen
Seattle Mariners v San Diego Padres / Sean M. Haffey/GettyImages
Although the Phillies appear to be interested in inking another star pitcher like the 25-year-old Japanese international sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto despite having just closed on a deal to bring back Aaron Nola to the tune of $172 million over the next seven years, I would advise against it.
Hear me out! The Phills tried to do that last off-season when they paid SP Taijuan Walker $72 Million to leave the Mets. Still, I think most of us would agree that while he did win 15 games this past season, his production still wasn’t enough to warrant the team being stuck paying him $18 million until the end of the 2026 season. Besides, I don’t know about you, but Ranger Suarez impressed me a lot this postseason. So much so that if I were manager Rob Thompson, I would already have him slotted in as my number three guy for next season.
I think a better idea would be to wait and revisit upgrading the starting rotation until later in the season, like Dealing Dave Dombrowski did last year when he acquired the impending All-Star free agent SP Michael Lorenzen from the Tigers at the trade deadline.
This way, Philadelphia could instead go out in the coming days and throw money at a much more glaring hole right now: the bullpen! While the team managed to get great production from guys like Seranthony Dominguez, Matt Strahm, and Jose Alvarado last year. Others failed to live up to their expectations.
A key example of this was their free agent acquisition of closer Craig Kimbrel last offseason. But I’ll give Dombrowski some credit here: even though he tried to cheap out on a closer Kimbrel (who now has 417 career saves) did seem like a good idea at the time when the team was able to sign the now 35-year-old free agent to a one-year deal for the significantly discounted price of just $10 million. But the team should have known better because, just like when they brought in veteran closers Jonathan Papelbon and Billy Wagner, who were at the tail end of their careers. Craig, too, turned out to be a shell of his former 50-saves-a-year self.
In fact, he even ended the regular season well below his career average of 29.7 saves a year when he finished the 22-23 campaign with just 23 for the Phills. Kimbrel also saw his E.R.A. jump from a career 2.40 to a 3.26 last season. And we won’t even mention the beach balls he was tossing up in the postseason that easily cost the team a couple of games- if not the series- versus the Diamondbacks.
So, it should go without saying that Kimbrel won’t be back next season, but what about the production (or lack thereof) that the team received from lefty reliever Gregory Soto, whom they acquired from the Tigers last January? He, too, was not as lights-out as the team had hoped he would be this past season. Greg averaged a 4.62 E.R.A. during the regular season but ended up getting rocked in the postseason, where his E.R.A. proved to elevate about as fast as the balls that the opposition was able to hit off of him, with his postseason E.R.A. reaching an embarrassing 6.00.
Who, then, should their options be in free agency, you ask? Well, to start, I wouldn’t mess around anymore. I would go out and acquire an elite-level closer who is young enough that management could feel comfortable signing him for approximately five years. The reason behind this being so they won’t have to revisit this problem on an annual basis. And to me, that player would be none other than 29-year-old Josh Hader from the San Diego Padres. Hader, who finished last year with an E.R.A. of just 1.28, collected 33 saves and 85 strikeouts, which proved him to be one of the best at his position last year.
But signing him will not come cheap, considering his current market value is estimated to be around $17.5 million a year. However, with the Phillies’ payroll reaching new heights and their production beginning to level off, their window to win now is starting to close. That’s why I feel it’s high time Dombrowski tried solidifying this position for the first time since maybe Brad Lidge last grabbed a rosin bag and was still lining them up and sitting them down.
I know many teams out there are currently vying for Hader’s services. Still, one thing that may be on Philadelphia’s side is that signing with the Phillies may serve as a homecoming of sorts for this Millersville, MD native who has bounced around the country a lot over the last few years.
If the Phillies can get Hader, they will no doubt be in an excellent position to make a run yet again, but if they wish to compete for a World Series title, then I suggest they sign another relief pitcher in addition to Hader; one that can truly bring the heat. And for that, I would recommend 27-year-old right-hand reliever Jordan Hicks. Hicks, who came up throwing absolute gas that registered 105 m.p.h. on the gun with the St. Louis Cardinals some five years ago, has managed to develop over the years into a more complete pitcher. For example, Hicks finished the season with the Blue Jays last year where he was able to showcase his newfound ability of not just going up there trying to blow the hitter away every pitch (like he did in the past) but instead mix in a slider every now and again to keep the opposition guessing.
If acquired, this still relatively young pitcher who averaged a 3.29 E.R.A. last season might just be the piece that allows this team to reach the summit. What’s surprising, though, is that it may not cost the Phillies as much as you may think because his current market value is just $3.5 million a year.
Although some may view this article as nothing more than a blueprint for what I feel could lead this team to future success, let’s face it: while the Phillies could still use an upgraded multi-positional player to fill in when the occasional injury occurs, overall, the team already has the bats needed to drive in the runs; they just need the arms that will be able to prevent runs from being scored on them late in a game.
Some 2023 NHL Draft Picks who are Proving to be Steals
(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).
Now, with the 2023 NHL Draft only taking place four months ago on Jun 28th and 29th, this article may seem a little premature to some, given the fact that such a short amount of time has elapsed. But I assure you, after you read just what kind of production these prospects have been turning out this season, you, too, will be a believer.
To start, we could easily talk about a player like Matvei Michkov, who fell to the Flyers at seventh overall and is playing at almost a points-per-game pace in the KHL right now. Or perhaps Gabe Perreault, who is currently Boston College’s leading scorer despite them having multiple top ten picks on the roster like Will Smith, Cutter Gauthier, and Ryan Leonard. This, of course, came after Gabe had to wait until the Rangers practically ran to the podium to take him 23rd overall this summer. However, teams are supposed to hit on their first and second-round picks. Where you can begin to decipher the good from the great general managers is the talent they are able to acquire in the mid to later rounds.
Yegor Sidorov
Like the Anaheim Ducks did when they selected Yegor Sidorov (an 18-year-old from Belarus) in the third round this summer, 85th overall. Yegor, or as he is more commonly referred to as Egor, is a 6’0 183 pound winger who can play both sides of the center. The Ducks found Egor playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for the Saskatoon Blades. Where last season this elusively creative player somehow managed to score 40 goals and 36 assists for 76 points in just 53 games. Now, why so many teams chose to pass on a player operating at a rate of 1.43 points per game in his draft year is beyond me, but I’m sure Anaheim was elated to add this offensive threat to their arsenal.
But as good as Egor was last season, I wouldn’t mention him in this article if he wasn’t producing at a higher rate this year. Now, at 19 years old, Sidorov finds himself back with the Blades for perhaps his third and final season because so far this year, in 23 games played, Egor has managed to score in bunches totaling 21 goals (thanks to his excellent one-timer) and nine assists for 30 points to date. An average that, if he can maintain, projects him to finish the season with 60 goals and 26 assists for 86 points.
A player with this type of creativity and goal-scoring ability won’t remain unsigned for long. Expect the Ducks to be waiting in the Blades locker room after their final game this season so they can ink this player to his first of many professional contracts.
Denver Barkey
The next player worth mentioning is the Flyers’ 95th overall pick from this past summer, Denver Barkey. This diminutive center, who stands at just 5’9, must have reminded general manager Danny Briere a lot of himself, seeing that he was able to generate nearly a point per game last season while playing for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). This plus player has an innate ability to put defenders in some sort of state of hypnosis, as they all just seem to forget about the man they are supposed to be covering and focus on him. This allows Denver to create space for his teammates so they can set themselves up to put home a perfect pass that he somehow manages to place right on the blade of their stick. While Barkey finished last season with 59 points in 61 games, he is currently on pace to blow those totals right out of the water, seeing that he is projected to score 37 goals and 57 assists for 94 points this season. All of this, mind you, comes with him also maintaining a +14 rating right now that projects to him finishing the season a +40!
Denver’s game will prove to translate well at any level simply because when he is on the ice, he makes everyone on the line with him better! He even proved this recently when he made multiple highlight reel passes to current Flyers players in their preseason games. So please don’t sleep on this player, as I’m predicting many more great things will come from him soon enough.
Luca Pinelli
Moving on now to a player who was taken still later in the draft and is currently paying the team that drafted him dividends, we find Luca Pinelli. Another undersized center that the Columbus Blue Jackets took in the fourth round this summer with the 114th overall pick. Like Barkey, Pinelli never seems to take a shift off. Leaving it all out on the ice, Luca has become known as a duel threat. He is a player who is equally as dangerous in the offensive zone as in his defensive zone. So much so that he was able to finish last year a +30, but while being defensively responsible is great and will undoubtedly help you get to the next level. You have to be capable of a bit of offense, too. And Luca is proving this season that he can do just that. In 22 games played thus far, Pinelli has been able to drive the play to the toll of 17 goals and eight assists for 25 points. A feat that, if he continues along this pace, will see him end the season with 53 goals and 25 assists for 78 points.
While his lack of size may hinder or delay Pinelli’s quest to the NHL, his ability to make plays and put the puck in the back of the net will not.
Hampton Slukynsky
As we all know, building a team is not all about scoring goals. You also need someone who can prevent them. So, it was with this thought in mind that the Los Angeles Kings decided to draft USA-born goaltender Hampton Slukynsky in the 4th round with the 118th overall pick. Hampton is a 6’1 190, pound netminder who plays with some flair. He plays so aggressively that you rarely see him inside the blue paint when the opposition is in on a rush. Hampton is always out-challenging the shooter.
Nevertheless, once his team is pinned down inside their zone, Slukynsky manages to deny opponents with his lightning-quick reflexes and stretch arm strong like elasticity. Using these traits to his advantage, Hampton recently won a gold medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championships in 2022-2023 and is currently playing for the Fargo Force, where he is undefeated with a 9-0-0 record while more impressive yet maintaining a league-best 1.53 goals-against-average and stopping a league-leading .927% of the shots he has faced to this point. However, that’s not all. Slukynsky also leads the league with three shutouts to his credit.
Hampton has accomplished all this while equally splitting time in the net with his older goaltending partner, Anton Castro. So, you can just imagine what his numbers could be if he had the net all to himself. A chance (if he keeps up this kind of play) that he will have next season when he is due to play for the Northern Michigan University Wildcats.
Many teams and scouts over the years have slept on this guardian of the blue paint, but that’s ok. Because the Kings did not, now they can just sit back and watch their young netminder continue to develop. With any luck one day, they may just see Hampton turn pro and get a chance to don their classic black and silver jersey.
Aiden Fink
The last player we will discuss in this article is a former Prospect Watch guest that the Nashville Predators took in the seventh round 218 overall this past summer. Aiden, who now plays for the Penn State Nitty Lions, is having a fantastic freshman campaign, scoring nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points in just 15 games played thus far. To put his production to this point into some perspective, that’s a seventh round prospect who is currently just one point off the pace of Macklin Celebrini, who most NHL scouts have listed as the first player due off the board this summer. I know Fink is a year or so older than Celebrini, but to even be considered in the same company as a player like Macklin proves Aiden is on the right track.
I don’t know about you, but I think Nashville may have just put other teams on notice with this one. Many people have been sleeping on players coming out of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) for some time now. And honestly, I don’t know why, seeing that last season, all Aiden did was score 41 goals and 56 assists for 97 points in just 54 regular season games played for the Brooks Bandits and then managed to continue to win both back-to-back AJHL Championships and back to back Centennial Cups.
Fink is for sure a player to continue watch grow playing in the NCAA, for he can do it all offensively, especially in big games. Yes, I do believe Barry Trots and the Preds got some good value out of this pick, and he should continue to excel once he reaches Music City.
While these are a few of many promising prospects to come out of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, I believe these are the ones that have offered their respective teams the most bang for their buck. (I.E., draft stock used on them) to this point. Who knows, in a few years, if their early production since being drafted continues to pay off, they just may find themselves earning a chance to turn pro by signing an entry-level contract.
Like Father Like Son? Two 2024 Draft Eligible Prospects who are hoping to step out from their Father’s Shadow
Kelowna Rockets forward Tij Iginla (left) celebrates his second period goal with Andrew Cristall (middle) and Gabriel Szturc (right) in the team’s 6-3 win against Swift Current on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at Prospera Place. (@Kelowna_Rockets/X)
Every year, come draft day, you’ll notice a couple of prospects being taken by a team with some familiar surnames who turn out to be the offspring of hockey royalty. Sadly, despite having the same blood coursing through their veins, most fail to ever live up to their fathers’ accolades.
This year may be a different story, though. In the 2024 NHL Draft, there will be two prospects with profound NHL lineage that will be worth keeping an eye on.
The first goes by the name Tij Iginla, who you may have guessed is the son of the former Calgary Flames Hall of Fame winger Jarome Iginla. Over the course of his 20 year NHL career, Jarome was able to tally 625 goals and 675 assists for a total of 1,300 regular season points. Additionally, it was Jarome’s gritty style of play (that saw him come to be respected by everybody who did not live in Edmonton) that helped him collect every offensive award over the years that the NHL could dream up. Whether it be the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, the Art Ross Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award, the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, or the NHL Foundation Player Award, Jarome managed to collect them all. And that isn’t even mentioning the multiple Olympic Gold medals he won that are probably sitting on his mantle right now.
So it should go without saying that Tij will have some pretty big skates to fill once an NHL club selects him this summer. But, it is a task he seems up for, given that he has already won a Western Hockey League Championship with the Seattle Thunderbirds last year and is currently scoring at a rate of 1.15 points per game for the Kelowna Rockets this season. That’s right, through just 20 games played so far this year, Tij has totaled 15 goals and eight assists for 23 points. If that wasn’t impressive enough, I’ll have you know that if he continues on this pace, Tij is projected to finish this season with a very respectable 51 goals and 27 assists for 78 points!
Now, while you may see a lot of similarities to their games, make no mistake about it: Tij is his own man. And in saying that, I’m sure he is looking forward to being drafted to prove just that. Currently, most mock drafts have Tij going somewhere in the second round, but with his stock surging right now, the sky is the limit, so we will just have to wait and see where he ends up.
Next up is another player from a noble bloodline. And that is Aatos Koivu, the son of former NHL’er Saku Koivu. Like Jarome Iginla, Saku saw his career span much longer than most, playing in 18 NHL seasons and totaling over 1,100 games. During that time, Saku compiled 255 goals and 577 assists for 832 regular season points.
Since it’s been ten years since Saku last laced up the skates, his son, who is also a center, now finds himself of age to be drafted and is hoping for an NHL team to come calling, much like they did for his dad did back in the first round of the 1993 Entry Draft.
Only Aatos appears to be facing an uphill battle, seeing that he is currently being overlooked because of the immense amount of talent coming out of Finland this year. But, I assure you this is a gross oversight by the masses because Aatos has been gifted Saku’s handle and finishing ability. To prove this, all you have to do is look at the numbers he has been able to put up this season. While playing for the famed TPS’s U18 Team, Aatos did not appear challenged, scoring 15 points in 15 games. So, the franchise recently moved him up to their U20 Team, where in five games played, Aatos has improved upon his previous one-point-per-game average to the toll of him now netting five goals and three assists for eight points which brings his average to 1.6 points per game versus what was supposed to be more challenging competition.
If Aatos can continue with his recent success, I believe he will not only have his name called this summer by an NHL team but very well could be considered a steal of this draft class.
That’s why, with all this being said, I believe both Iginla and Koivu 2.0 will have all the means necessary to step out of their father’s shadow and embark on their own journey to greatness.
The Flyers Continue to Struggle on the PP, yet No Change is in Sight
Photo Credit NHL.com
This past off-season, the Philadelphia Flyers organization made many changes to their personnel. From the front office, we saw a new President of Hockey Ops be named in Keith Jones, a new General Manager in Danny Briere, and even a new Director of Player Development be named in Riley Armstrong. More importantly, though, came the actions taken behind the scenes once these three were in power. For far too long, the Flyers have given the clubs’ former head coaches and GMs the boot without any thought of replacing the lesser-known people behind the scenes who are actively working with their prospects on a daily basis.
That was until both Jones and Briere came to power. These two former players understood that it takes more than a king to build a castle. So, they set out to deconstruct this franchise down to the cornerstones that have been the foundation of this franchise for a long time. Yes, indeed, there were so many moves this off-season to personnel that it seemed like Grand Central Station around their practice facility in Voorhees, NJ. The team’s firings, promotions, and new hirings involved many aspects of the club, whether it be the Medical Staff, Pro Scouting department, or Player Development, all saw their fair share of changes this off-season.
And for good reason! Case in point, the firing of the underperforming former Flyer Kjell Samuelsson was long overdue. Kjell was gifted a job immediately after hanging up his skates for the last time some 23 years ago. He spent the last ten years running the teams’ player development program and the previous 13 years before that serving as a coach for the Phantoms. In my mind, Samuelsson was a major reason why the Flyers haven’t had an elite-level prospect come out of the organization’s farm system for some time. Think about it: the only successful prospects that have come out of the Flyers system have come directly from playing in the NCAA or CHL and made the jump to the Flyers immediately or shortly after their arrival. These players include Travis Konecny, Carter Hart, Joel Farabee, and Cam York. Meanwhile, high-level prospects like Morgan Frost, Isaac Ratcliffe, Kirill Ustimenko, German Rubtsov, Pascal Laberge, and Felix Sandstrom, who all had extended stays with the Phantoms, either developed at an extremely slow rate or not at all.
Some notable additions since the firing of others have been the likes of John LeClair and Patrick Sharp being named as special advisors to Hockey Operations and the former All-Star Dany Heatley being brought in as a pro scout.
But despite all these positive moves being made, it baffles me that the club has failed to address one of its biggest disappointments: its power play. Over the last few seasons, the Flyers power play unit has ranked amongst the league’s worst.
In the 2021-2022 season, the power play unit was run by NHL tough guy Ian Laperriere. He was an NHL veteran who played 1,083 NHL games throughout 16 seasons, where he only managed to amass just five power-play goals. Now, while Lappy is an amazing guy, and his determination and devotion to his team while playing (I.E., him sacrificing his body to block a shot with his face not once but twice in one season for the Flyers) will never be questioned, I think the decision to place a guy who made a career by being willing to drop the gloves to come to the aid of a teammate, to run the power play should be.
And here’s why! During the 2021-2022 season, when Ian was in charge of the 5 on 4. The Flyers finished the season ranked dead last on the man advantage. Scoring just 30 goals on the season while on the PP, the Flyers could only convert on their chances for a very laughable 12.6% of the time.
Seeing this problem, management demoted Lappy to being the head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. A role in which he proved to excel at, seeing that he took the Phantoms farther than the Flyers got last season, with the Phantoms losing in the qualifying round of the playoffs.
But while, this decision by the Flyers proved to be wise and provided them an opportunity to bring in a much more qualified person for the job. Their decision on who that person might be, was not! Back in July 2022, the Flyers decided to replace Lappy with a less talented career knuckle dragger in Rocky Thompson, a player who, during his short 25-NHL game career, never scored a single goal or an assist. Let alone see any kind of power play time. Hell, I don’t even think Rocky amassed that much ice time, given that most instances he was just put out there long enough for the puck to drop and for him to ask the guy standing across from him if he wanted to go.
Now, I’m not saying either one of these guys is a horrible coach. I’m merely raising the question, why might management think it wise to put multiple people in charge of running the power play unit that spent their careers rearranging people’s faces instead of scoring goals?
I’m serious; before joining the Flyers bench staff, Rocky’s coaching resume was as follows. He spent two seasons heading up the San Jose Sharks power play unit, where they finished 29th overall in the 20-21 season and 22nd in the 21-22 season. Not to mention that Thompson was rumored to be let go from his duties in San Jose after nearly getting into a fight with the Sharks star forward Evander Kane in the locker room. I mean, I guess old habits die hard, right?
To further prove that Rocky Thompson might not be the right man for the job here in Philly. Let us look at last season when the Flyers finished dead last in power play percentage with him behind the bench, drawing the X’s and O’s on the whiteboard. Under Rock’s tutelage, the Flyers only converted on their chances 15.56% of the time. In total, the team scored just 35 goals last year on the man advantage while the league’s best Edmonton Oilers managed to net 89 goals and were converting 32.36% of their chances.
This year is no different. With Thompson still somehow managing to keep his job here in Philadelphia, the Flyers find themselves currently tied with the St. Louis Blues for the league’s worst power play yet again. Having only scored four goals so far this season on the man advantage, the Flyers success rate while on the PP this year is a shockingly low 7.69%. To put that into perspective, the league’s best team on the man advantage this year, the New Jersey Devils, are currently finding the back of the net 38.46% of the time on the man advantage—scoring an impressive 20 power-play goals so far this season. Mind you, this is with the Flyers now having Couturier and Atkinson back from injury, as well as having the talented youngsters’ Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster directly being inserted into the lineup.
This recurring nightmare could have been avoided if the Flyers chose to relieve Thompson of his duties at the end of last season and, in turn, continue to fall back on their perpetual nepotism and hire someone much more qualified for the job like former Flyers great Mark Recchi, for example.
Mark is a three-time Stanley Cup-winning Hall of Famer who played 10 of his 22 seasons in the NHL with the Flyers. And, over the course of his illustrious career, he was able to score 577 goals and 956 assists for a total of 1,533 points. What’s even more noteworthy about his accomplishments in terms of this article, though, is the fact that 200 of those goals came while playing on the power play! A feat that ranks him only four goals behind “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky, who finished his career scoring 204 power-play goals.
But Mark did not only score goals while on the power play. He also was able to tally up 369 assists while on the man advantage as well. This feat brought him to an unfathomable career total of 569 power-play points. Folks, that’s more than Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Brett Hull, or Gordie Howe.
I’m not just pulling a name out of a hat here. Since Recchi has retired, he has spent time being a senior advisor to the Dallas Stars, a developmental coach, and an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins (where he added two more Stanley Cups rings as a coach), the New Jersey Devils, and most recently the Columbus Blue Jackets where he still holds a job with today running their power play after being brought on in late September of this year.
Obviously, Mark Recchi was but an example for this article, and he would not be an option if the Flyers were to act now to correct this issue. But this at least shows that there was a much more qualified candidate out there to be had. It’s sad that because of the Flyers’ unwillingness to act, they missed out on a fantastic opportunity to gain someone already in the franchise’s circle of trust that could have helped out this team moving forward.
With that being said, at this point, I think something still needs to be done. Thompson has become totally ineffective. He has lost the respect of the locker room. And I can’t blame the players for that. Again, I’m not saying that he is necessarily a bad coach, just that Rocky has never even stepped foot on the ice during a power play opportunity, let alone scored a goal during one. So how do you expect these young players who don’t even remember watching him play to respect him? At least with someone like Recchi, they would have been able to appreciate what he is saying and be willing to go out and try it because the man’s hands are loaded down with six rings. Five of them saying Stanley Cup Champion, and one of them saying Hockey Hall of Fame Member.
Prospect Watch: Critiquing the Top-Rated Goalies of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft
Terry Wilson / OHL Images
If you have read any of my work before, you know that I have been a goalie for well over 30 years, and I also enjoy giving back to my community by volunteering to coach young netminders. In saying that, though, I feel there’s a legitimate reason why goalies often take a little longer to develop. That reason is that a goaltender tends to be a rare breed. This job requires a person to be slightly off or even a bit deranged. Think about it: would you be willing to offer to stand in front of someone shooting a large piece of vulcanized rubber toward your head at a rate of over 100 m.p.h.? Most of you probably very quickly said NO to that last question. But for the few of you odd ducks that thought that sounded like fun and can honestly say you have no problem dealing with the extreme stress and pressure of being the last line of defense that often gets blamed for their team losing a game, not to mention having to put your body through the most strain of any other position out on the ice then this may be the job for you!
And since I have the gray hair, bad knees, and horrible posture to prove it. For all intense purposes here, I’ll just go ahead and consider myself more qualified than most so-called sports journalists (who have probably not ever stepped foot on the ice) to critique the next crop of guardians of the blue paint coming out of the 2024 Entry Draft.
Eric Olsson
For some time now, Eric Olsson from Sweden has been one of the highest rated goalies in this upcoming draft. This is for good reason, seeing that besides being arguably one of the most complete goalies out of this draft, he also has the size teams in the NHL tend to covet. Standing at 6’4 and 183 pounds, this 18-year-old netminder has recently decided to leave his native county where he had so much success to instead get a head start on learning the North American game when he agreed to play for the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League (USHL) this season. So far, that learning curve is proving to be rather steep because, through five games played, Eric is averaging an atrocious 4.97 goals against average (G.A.A.) and a .862 Save Percentage (SV%).
One thing I like about his game is that it is evident that he has been properly trained. Like most top-level goalies coming out of Sweden, Olsson shows good mobility and positioning. Something he needs to work on, though, is his ability to play the puck. Although I like his willingness to come out and play the puck, It doesn’t make him exactly good at it. Olsson has looked tentative at best when coming out to play the puck, resulting in a few missed handles. Overall, if the draft were to take place today, most mock drafts would still have him going in the late 2nd round.
Carter George
The next goaltender on our list is my favorite of this draft class, and his name is Carter George. This 17-year-old goalie plays for the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and unlike most guys featured in this article, Carter can win games all by himself. Being able to play much larger than his 6’0 frame should be physically capable of has allowed Carter to become unbelievably patient between the pipes. I believe this trait has most scouts drooling because it is George’s innate ability to wait until the opposing player makes a move before he decides to counter it that sees him being labeled a bit of a shootout prodigy. And we all know if a goalie does well in shootouts, then their team will most likely be able to acquire quite a few more points over the course of the season. This sometimes means the difference between a club making the playoffs and one destined to start working on their golf game a little earlier.
George has played in 12 games this season, averaging 2.65 G.A.A. and a .915 SV%, earning himself one shutout and a record of 5-4-1. Regarding international play, Carter recently backstopped Team Canada in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup to a Gold Medal, where he posted similar numbers in five games played. As it stands now, scouts have George being drafted by a team in the third round.
Eemil Vinni
Subsequently, the next goalie projected to be taken in the 3rd round is Eemil Vinni of Finland. Eemil is a 17-year-old goalie that currently stands at 6’2 and 187 pounds. Vinni has received high praise primarily for his efforts while wearing his nation’s colors. Take, for instance, Eemils’ performance in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last season, where through four games played, he was able to maintain a 1.75 G.A.A. and a .927 SV%.
But those stat lines were some time ago now, for he has struggled playing in the Finland’s junior ranks this season. For example, in the Mestis this season, he has barely been a .500 goalie with a record of 5-4-1. But I guess that’s what kind of production you get when you allow an average of 3.67 G.A.A. and only manage a .868 SV%.
What I like about Vinni’s game, though, is his hands. He has a solid glove and blocker that he uses to react quickly by swallowing up all rebounds into his chest.
But with Eemil still far from being perfect, there are a few things I still feel he needs to work on. First, Eemil likes to keep the puck in play a little too much. Doing this does not allow your team the chance to change personnel and can result in costly turnovers or rebound attempts. Next up is his inability to control rebounds down low. Vinni seems not to be able to control shots on the ice. Instead, he wildly kicks the puck, more often than not right back out into the danger zones, and when he does go down to make a play, his stick comes up off the ice too frequently, resulting in the puck sometimes rolling right up his stick and over his shoulder into the goal. Although still young, he has got to work on controlling the lower half of his body because, as we all know, ice level is where most shots come from.
As it stands now, mock drafts have Eemil being selected late in the third round, but there are a few other goalies I would rather draft if I were a GM before I took a chance on this still-raw prospect.
Ryerson Leenders
Here is a guy I feel will see his stock rise as the season progresses. 17-year-old Ryerson Leenders stands at 6’1 and 179 pounds and plays for the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL. Taking the league by storm with his lightning-quick glove hand, refined movements, and shutdown ice-level coverage has earned Leenders multiple goaltender of the week honors this season. Like George, I feel as though Ryerson could be the real deal. On any given night, Leenders has proven that he can will his team to victory by simply standing on his head. Through 12 games played this season, Leenders has recorded eight wins, two of which were shutouts. Currently, Ryerson holds a respectable 3.21 G.A.A. average and a .910 SV%. If he continues on this pace, there is no doubt in my mind that Leenders will see his name rise in the ranks and be taken much sooner than initially expected.
Jackson Parsons
Sticking in the OHL, we now shall talk about an 18-year-old goaltender named Jackson Parsons. Jackson plays for the Kitchener Rangers, and I believe this Canadian goalie will be better than his current 4th Rd. Draft ranking would have you believe. What sets this 6’1, 203-pound puck stopper apart from the rest is that he’s fast enough to get across the crease to stop shots that he shouldn’t. Another skill that Parsons speed has him excel at is recovering from a butterfly position. After a shot occurs that requires Jackson to drop down to the ice, he doesn’t just stay and flop around on the ice; he quickly returns to his feet and reengages the play.
So far this season, these traits have looked to pay off for Parsons and the Rangers, as they currently find themselves in first place in the Midwest Division and the entire Western Conference. In doing so, Parsons has paired a 2.71 G.A.A. with a .907 SV%, acquiring two shutouts along the way.
Although it’s still early, these are just a few quality goaltenders I believe will hear their names called this upcoming summer. In what order will they go, and which team will they be drafted by? Unfortunately, these are all questions that will have to be answered another day, but right now, all we can do is sit back and watch how these young netminders progress.
Checking in with the Flyers Centers, Down on the Farm
Since we are a couple of weeks into the season, I thought it would be wise to see how our teams’ prospects are doing down on the farm. Like most teams, the Flyers have prospects they drafted currently playing in almost every league all over the world, and in saying that, it can be awfully hard and time-consuming to keep up with them all.
So, to save you the trouble, I picked out a few players who seem to be doing pretty well for themselves right about now.
Centers
Unlike previous years, the Flyers have depth at every position, and so I don’t make this article any longer than it has to be; I thought we should break it down to positions. So the first we’ll talk about is the center position. When Danny Briere took the job of General Manager of the Flyers, there was no doubt in anybody’s mind that the center position was a position of extreme need. This probably didn’t exactly sit well with this former All-Star center, so to change that in just a few short months, Danny has added depth to the NHL lineup by signing veteran center Ryan Poehling. He also made sure that his coaches would have no problem filling holes in future lineups at the position when he traded for a center prospect and selected multiple dot dwellers from this past draft.
Massimo Rizzo
The first player you should know about is Massimo Rizzo, a 22-year-old center that the Flyers acquired the rights to from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for David Kase. But we all know it was more of a thank you for having to go through the hassle of buying out Tony DeAngelo since the league blocked a trade between the two teams because it had been less than a year since the Flyers made the deal for the underperforming defenseman. Anyway, Rizzo has turned out to be more than just some consolation prize. Rizzo plays for the University of Denver (where he won a National Championship with the Flyers’ Bobby Brink in the 21-22 season). In this, his third year with the team, Massimo has seemed to pick up right where he left off last season when he scored 46 points in 38 games during the 22-23 campaign. Rizzo is currently tied for second in points this season in all the NCAA, netting five goals and ten assists for 15 points in just seven games played. With Rizzo playing so well right now, I don’t know about you, but if I were Danny Briere, I think I would make signing a center who is currently producing at a rate of 2.14 points per game and has totaled 97 points and has maintained a +54 average through just two and a quarter season in the NCAA a priority.
Denver Barkey
Another way Danny seemed to add depth to this position was when he decided to take center Denver Barkey in the third round of this past summer’s draft. As you might have seen from his pre-season success with the Flyers, this 5’9 diminutive faceoff man’s game began to draw close comparisons to the man who drafted him. And why wouldn’t it? They are the same height, similar stature, and play a similar style. But nothing lasts forever, and even though Barkey showed the team sparks of what may be to come, he eventually left camp without a contract and returned to the London Knights of the OHL. Since his return, though Barkey has not let off the gas pedal. In 13 games played so far, Denver has scored eight goals and nine assists for 17 points. Folks, if you’re doing the math, that means he is scoring at a rate of 1.30 points per game right now, and if he continues at this pace, Denver is due to record 42 goals and 47 assists for 89 points. Let’s not forget that he is a plus player and is projected to finish the season as a +47. For all these reasons and more, the Flyers look like they just may have stolen one here in the form of Barkey. For getting a guy who can perform at this level at such a young age, you would think the Flyers would have had to utilize a 1st or an early 2nd round pick on him not a third. Time will tell just what his ceiling may be, but as of right now, it appears that Denver could find himself with an entry-level contract real soon.
Ryan MacPherson
The last guy we will discuss in this article is Ryan MacPherson, Philly’s 6th-round pick from 2023. Ryan is currently playing for the Penticton Vees of the BCHL and is operating at a 1.38-point-per-game pace. Through 14 games, he has scored seven goals and 12 assists for a total of 19 points. But Ryan can do more than score; he is defensively responsible, too. MacPherson is commonly the last forward out of the defensive zone because he frequently is the only one willing to help out deep in his defensive zone to create a breakout. While Ryan is currently a top-five scorer in his league, maintaining a 1.35 points per game right now, it usually is not as competitive as some others, so he might have to stay there longer until he can materialize into a player whose stats management just can’t deny.
For far too long, the Flyers have drafted a player they liked at the time and then turned around with the intention of making them learn a new position out of need. For example, take Claude Giroux and Scott Laughton being forced in the past to play wing. With these three above-mentioned players now in the system, there should be no need for the likes of Cutter Gauthier and or Alexis Gendron to feel obligated to learn to play center. Hopefully, now that the team has people in place (Briere at GM, and Jones at President of Hockey Ops) with some common sense and actual knowledge of how to play the game, we will see this trend come to an end and rather than wishing and hoping a guy can learn a new position they will just draft with that position of need in mind.
Prospect Watch: Daxon Rudolph
Photo Credit: Nathan Reiter/Daily Herald.
While the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League may be managing to pilfer themselves a couple more wins than usual this year, with the highly talented Ryder Ritchie leading the way, it should be known that they may have just landed themselves one of the next great defenders of our time. This player is so good that, statically, when his time in Prince Albert is all said and done, he may not only find himself having surpassed the likes of former Raiders blueliners Kaiden Guhle and Josh Morrissey but one day could see his number raised to the rafters of the Art Hauser Centre alongside Dave Mason’s number four, Mike Modano’s number nine, and Dan Hodgson’s number sixteen.
Who is this player, and why do I feel so confident in his future success, you might be asking? Well, his name is Daxon Rudolph, and he is a 15-year-old right-hand shot, offensive defenseman who was recently taken by the Raiders number one overall in the 2023 WHL Prospect Draft.
While some may question why a team would ever take a defenseman with the first overall pick, I assure you this one was no mistake, for Daxon is a human highlight reel. Whether he is launching water bottle rockets with one of his twisted wristers coming in from the point, feathering a pass through an opponent’s legs to an awaiting teammate’s stick blade, or simply annihilating an oblivious adversary who chose so foolishly to try to cross over his blueline with their head down, Rudolph can simply do it all. This was made evident by his efforts last season while playing for the Northern Alberta Xtreme U15 Prep Team of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL), wherein the regular season, Daxon was able to finish with 17 goals and 33 assists for 50 points in only 30 games played. But, although that 1.66 points per game average from a defender may have seemed impressive, Rudolph showed that he must have ice coursing through his veins because he somehow was able to elevate his game come playoff time, scoring five goals and seven assists for 12 points in only five games played; which mind you included Daxon scoring the overtime game-winner that bested the likes of Jarome Iginla’s son Joe and the rest of the RHA Kelowna to win them the CSSHL U15 Western Championship. But that’s not all. While you are still sitting there and trying to comprehend how a defender can average 2.40 points per game in the playoffs, let me also inform you that Rudolph was named an Alberta Cup All-Star and the CSSHL’s Top Defender last season.
That takes us to this year, where Daxon has been able to elevate his game once again, this time by dressing for Northern Alberta’s U18 Team. Through just five games played versus older and tougher competition this season, Rudolph has averaged 2.00 points per game, netting six goals and four assists for ten points.
With all this being said, while Daxon may not be due to be drafted by an NHL team until the 2026 Entry Draft, it should go without saying that you guys should keep a close on this young man, seeing that he will only get better from here.
Thanks to a “Series of Unfortunate Events,” the Flyers have Found a Lineup that Works
Though the Flyers have played only seven games thus far, management and the teams’ Head Coach, John Tortorella, have had to make some major decisions regarding this lineup.
To start. The first test was when the injury bug hit the Flyers blueline. This came in the way of Ramus Ristolainen and the newly acquired Marc Staal. The only difference between the two is while Staal’s veteran presence and insightful on-ice coaching tips to the team’s youth in between the whistles will be missed after he suffered an upper-body injury during last week’s game against the Oilers, sadly the same cannot be said for Ristolainen who currently holds a career -176 average. Rasmus, who recently suffered a setback after being thought to be nearing a return to the lineup, has been pleasantly replaced by some of the team’s top budding defensive prospects. That’s right, guys like Egor Zamula (who is a +5 right now) and rookie Emil Andre have made the most out of their increased roles with the Flyers, and it has resulted in the team being not only able to pull out some impressive wins but compete to the final minutes of a game against even the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights.
In fact, without Ristolainen in the lineup, the team has looked more defensively responsible than they have in years. Collectively working together as a solid unit now, the Flyers defense this season has been able to create far fewer turnovers, has taken fewer penalties, and is managing to drastically lower the shot attempts a night that Carter Hart has had to face. Furthermore, as a direct result of that, this season, Hart has been able to recently record a shutout against the Canucks and bring down his overall goals-against average to a very respectable 2.19 as well as increase his save percentage to .924. Need more proof? How about we check on how Ristolainens’ old defensive partner, Travis Sanheim, has been doing? Since being freed of the burden of having to double back to cover for Rasmus’s mistakes, Sanheim has been able to turn it up a notch offensively, netting eight points in seven games played this season and is currently a +2 on the year instead of the -5, he finished with last season while playing with Ristolainen.
But that’s not the only recent event contributing to this team’s success. Tortorella’s decision to bench Morgan Frost in lieu of hungrier, less experienced players like Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster has allowed the Flyers to be able to dress possibly the best group of shut-down dot dwellers (centers) of any team in the NHL this season. Combined, Sean Couturier, Scott Laughton, Noah Cates, and Ryan Poehling are a +8 this year. To top that off, we all were witnesses to them each playing a significant role in the Flyers being able to recently hold the likes of both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (who scored a combined 281 points last season), scoreless in their recent game against them on the 19th.
It just so happens that this writer suggested this very switcheroo with the centers weeks ago in an article I provided a link to below.
While the Frost faithful are still up in arms here in Philly about Morgan being left out in the cold by Tortorella, they fail to realize that his stats from last year were inflated. Yes, we all know he scored 19 goals and 46 points last season, but what his super fans won’t admit to is those point totals were mainly derived from his increased playing time due to Couturier being out for the season because of injury). But with Coots’ injuries now being hopefully a thing of the past, the question now becomes, would Frost be able to offer the same kind of point production playing on a lesser line? Probably not! Plus, despite Morgan finishing the season with 46 points, he still ended up being a -12 last season and is now a -27 for his career, which means, in theory, everything he did last season offensively was for not because when he was on the ice, he couldn’t prevent the other team from scoring more goals than his.
So, when you pair those “series of unfortunate events” with the Flyers’ decision to trade away Ivan Provorov, who ranked ninth in the league in turnovers last year, as well as buying out Tony DeAngelo this past off-season, who was a team worse -27 during the 22-23 campaign, you can start to see that this new regime of President of Hockey Ops. Keith Jones, General Manager Danny Briere, and Head Coach John Tortorella may just know what they’re doing when it comes to constructing a roster.
Torts has the Flyers off to a Good Start, but the True Test May be Right Around the Corner
Let’s face it: with how the Flyers have finished over the course of the last couple of seasons, I think it would be safe to say that most fans were cautiously optimistic at best about the start of this season, from deciding to draft the impressive Matvei Michkov (who is signed for three more years in the KHL) instead of taking a safer pick like Ryan Leonard or Zach Benson, to trading away Ivan Provorov, and settling for signing some underrated veterans in Marc Staal, Garnet Hathaway, and Ryan Poehling. To the team relying heavily on the return of the injured Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson, it was clear that the newly hired Flyers’ brass was not afraid to roll the dice and take risks when reconstructing this roster. But as proved evident by the Flyers’ first couple of games, these choices, combined with a few of the Flyers ready prospects Bobby Brink, Tyson Foerster, and Egor Zamula, have somehow surprised even their biggest skeptic, yours truly!
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. While I’ll admit I like the addition of a calming veteran presence such as Staal to a relatively youthful and inexperienced blue line, as well as the creation of what I believe to be one of the most formidable 4th lines in the entire NHL right now. I think for the time being, I will just save my overwhelming excitement for when I tune into the next Phillies postseason game, and here’s why.
While the Flyers were able to win two out of the first three games they played this season, they did so against less-than-formable opponents. Let’s start with game one versus the Columbus Blue Jackets. Philadelphia was able to win the game 4-2, and the players that should have been expected to lead the way did, with Konecny scoring two goals and Atkinson netting one. All the while, players like Coots, Laughton, and Farabee were able to get in on the action as well. But while we should be happy, they won, let’s not get too excited. The Blue Jackets finished dead last in the Eastern Conference last season, not to mention that they finished the year tied for second to last in the entire league, with them only managing to obtain 59 points for the year. In comparison, while our team was terrible, the Flyers at least managed to pile up 75 points on the season.
Moving on, as we begin to analyze the Flyers’ second game of the year against the Ottawa Senators, you can see why I am a little apprehensive about signing up to help plan for the Flyers Stanley Cup parade route this year after just one game played. In this contest last Saturday, Philadelphia found themselves having to line up against a little better opponent in the form of the Ottawa Senators. A team that, while trending in the right direction, still managed to find themselves being eliminated from any hopes of the playoffs last year after finishing the season in the eleventh spot in the Eastern Conference with only 86 points to their credit. Despite all that, the Senators still came out on top this past weekend, besting the Flyers by a score of 5-2. And if that wasn’t bad enough to add insult to injury, long-time Flyer Claude Giroux and the rest of his cronies wearing the red and black were able to do so with their backup goaltender Anton Forsberg in net.
https://www.nhl.com/stories/150482-20231014-Ottawa-Senators-vs-Philadelphia-Flyers.html
Now, for their latest game against the Vancouver Canucks that took place just yesterday on the 17th. I have to admit; after watching this game, I have to give this team some credit because it has been a very long time since I have seen the Flyers play such an up-tempo game. That second period especially, because they were relentless in their efforts. With the offense recording shot after shot and the defense playing so well, I swear Carter Hart could have taken a mid-game nap and still wound up with a shutout. This was the case because the Flyers had players like the elusive Bobby Brink busy on the other end, creating chance after chance in and around the net like he was able to do so quite frequently when attending college at the University of Denver, where he led the nation back in the 2021-2022 season scoring 57 points in 41 games played. But even though they were able to dominate the Canucks 2-0 yesterday, I worry that even though the great John Tortorella seems to have his team whipped into shape so early into the season, the likelihood of them being able to maintain this level of play against any real competition without having any true superstar of their own on the roster right now is slim to none. Case in point, like the two previous teams we discussed in this article, Vancouver was not a playoff team last season. Like the Senators, they finished in the eleventh seed in their respective conference last season.
This is far off the pace of the likes of the teams the Flyers will be forced to face over the next few weeks. Yes, over the next 14 days, I believe we will begin to get a more accurate depiction of what kind of team we are dealing with here. Because during that time, the Flyers will have to line up against playoff-caliber teams like Connor McDavids’ Edmonton Oilers, the Dallas Stars, the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Las Vegas Golden Knights, the Minnesota Wild, and the Carolina Hurricanes.
In closing, will these next few weeks really prove to make or break the Flyers season? No, but it should allow us to view just how far this team has come from last year and how far they still have to go to be considered a real contender in this ultra-competitive league again. There’s no doubt that guys like Cutter Gauthier and Matvei Michkov will be nice additions to this team’s offense whenever they arrive, but I believe there is still so much more the team can do while they are forced to wait. So, in saying that, don’t be surprised or discouraged when this team goes through all sorts of trials and tribulations again this season, including possibly having to do some more subtraction to obtain more future assets while they are still rebuilding. Help is on the way; it will just take time. The only difference from the previous times we have heard this type of propaganda from ownership is now that this team is under the direction of Keith Jones and Danny Briere. I finally believe this to be true.
Prospect Watch: Henry Major
Photo Credit: Major Skills (Facebook)
With my focus continuously on the future, I may have just found a young man of only 16 years of age who you may want to watch out for. His name is Henry Major, and he is projected to be one of the next great talents to come out of New York State. And that’s saying something, considering New York has given us players such as Dustin Brown, Patrick Kane, Adam Fox, Charlie McAvoy, Joel Farabee, Trevor Zegras, and so many more.
What is interesting about Henry is that he recently won the NY. State High School Championship while playing for his dad, Mitch Major, serving as the team’s Head Coach. And what a season it was; while playing in a combined 65 games last season split between Skaneateles High School and the Rochester Coalition 15U AAA team, he was able to net 67 goals and 98 assists for an unbelievable 165 points! Folks, if you’re doing the math, that means Henry averaged over 2.5 points per game during the 2022-2023 campaign.
It was that kind of production that undoubtedly caught the eye of the prospect powerhouse, Bishop Kearney Selects, who were lucky enough to convince Henry to join them this season. And my oh my, what a great decision that is turning out to be, seeing that already this year Henry has shown the ability to maintain his over two plus points a game average, scoring 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points in only 13 games played so far for the Selects!
With that all being said, it should come as no surprise when I tell you that even though the people who make up the 2025 NHL Mock Drafts have yet to find out about Henry’s elite offensive talents’ the United States Hockey Leagues Chicago Steel sure have. This is evident by Chicago already staking claim to Major (via selecting him with their 5th round pick this year in the USHL Futures Draft) in hopes that one day, he will decide to join them and help the Steel to raise what would be their third Clarke Cup Championship Banner.
But wherever this young prospect decides to take his game in the future, one thing is for certain: the sky is the limit! Henry has more talent and potential than most prospects I’ve seen at this age. Therefore, it will be up to him to decide how hard he is willing to work to hone those skills over the next few seasons in order for him to be able to reach the heights (or rather the level of play) that he wishes to obtain.
Why the Best Offense for the Flyers this Yr. may be a Good Defense
Let’s face it: the Philadelphia Flyers have lacked an elite offensive talent for some time now. Think back. When was the last time the Flyers had a 50-goal scorer? I’ll give you a hint: the team just hired him as a special advisor to Hockey Operations. If you guessed John LeClair, you were right. It was over 25 years ago that LeClair last reached that plateau (in three consecutive seasons, mind you) when he posted 51 goals during the ’97-’98 season. And, for that matter, it has been over five years since they last had a player total 100 points or more in a single season; Claude Giroux last did it when he finished the ’17-’18 campaign with 102 tallies on the score sheet.
Now, as nice as the Flyers farm system may look on paper, with first-round picks like Tyson Foerster, Cutter Gauthier, and Matvei Michkov all being taken over the last couple of years. The reality is the Flyers are still at least a year or two away before any of them truly becomes a dominant force in the NHL. I mean, Foerster is the only one even signed by the Flyers currently.
This leaves us, the fans, forced to endure yet another season where the Flyers will be hard-pressed to score goals. Disagree? Well, ponder this. Last season, the Flyers finished the year having only scored 220 goals. That’s an average of only 2.68 goals per game, ranking them 29th in the league. In comparison, the league leading Edmonton Oilers, scored 325 regular season goals. That equates to them netting, on average, 3.96 goals per game last year, which, if you do the math, means the Flyers were something like 105 goals off the pace.
And to further prove my point, we here in the tri-state area think Travis Konecny did big things last year by setting a new career high in goals with 31. But when you compare his goal totals to the rest of the league, they fail in comparison, as 45 other players from around the NHL were able to net more goals than him. In fact, to add insult to injury, the league leader, Connor McDavid, finished with an incredible 64 lamp lighters. This means that even if TK could match his career high of 31 goals again this upcoming season, the sum of both last year and this season would still not add up to what McDavid was able to produce in the ’22-’23 campaign.
Still not convinced our offense needs work? Let us look at point totals. Konecny finished last season on top of anyone else wearing the orange and black jersey in that category, as well. He tied his previous career best of 61 points (a feat he first achieved back in 2020). But those 61 points Travis managed to accrue last season only amounted to him being ranked a messily 91st in the league. To compare. McDavid was once again the league leader in this category last year, with him compiling 153 points. This means Konecny finished last year a staggering 92 points off of the league leader’s pace!
Now, none of the above was meant to be a rip on Konecny. After all, he did set new career highs last year. So, of course, I don’t expect him to stack up to one of the best players of our lifetime. Instead, this was meant to be a way to show you just how bad collectively this team’s offense really was last year compared to the rest of the league, where even our best offensive player couldn’t even manage to come close to the kind of point production most other teams have in their arsenals.
And, if you’re reading this and planning to put all your faith into the return of a 12-year veteran like Sean Couturier, who has had multiple back surgeries since he last played a game on Dec. 18th of 2021, some 644 days ago. Or a 34-year-old Cam Atkinson, who did not play at all last season because he had to undergo a serious neck surgery to turn this team around. You, sir or ma’am, have more trust than me. Of course, I hope they come back 100% and do well, but let me remind you that even if both of those players stay healthy all season long, the team also chose not to sign back unrestricted free agent James van Riemsdyk (who led the team in scoring in the ’21-’22 season with 24 goals), as well as them trading away their lone All-Star selection from last season, Kevin Hayes to the St. Louis Blues this past offseason. So, while I consider both of those decisions to be wise, given the direction of the team, if either Coots or Atkinson sustains even a minor setback, the team very well could be worse off offensively than they were last season.
So, how can this team endure the onslaught of offensive juggernauts like the Oilers until the likes of Gauthier and Michkov arrive to carry this offense? Easy, they can focus on solidifying their defense. The Flyers last season were among the worst in a lot of categories, but possibly their biggest downfall was their penalty-killing unit. That was ranked 26th in the league last year because they only managed to stop the opposition 74.68% of the time.
Since then, the Flyers’ new General Manager Danny Briere has been working hard to strengthen this defensive core. He, of course, traded minute eater Ivan Provorov (and his career -28 average), who may have been a little overrated during his time here because we had no one better. He bought out Tony DeAngelo, who finished the season a -27, and chose to let the aging 36-year-old Justin Braun ride off into the sunset that is retirement by not offering him a contract extension.
Briere chose to replace them by trading for veteran Sean Walker and signing NHL journeyman Marc Staal, who helped the Florida Panthers reach the Stanley Cup Finals. But just bringing in a pair of wisely old veterans to stand on the blueline won’t be enough to help this team’s goaltenders put forth the kind of numbers they are capable of.
Carter Hart and the newly acquired Cal Petersen have each shown, at times, the makings of what could be a franchise goaltender, but the supporting cast in front of them has often left them high and dry.
Both have career goals against averages that are coming in just shy of three goals a game and save percentages that are barely hovering above .900, but when wearing their country’s colors while playing in the world championships when they have a defense core in front of them worth a shit, they both went undefeated and posted a goals-against-average under a goal a game while managing to maintain a save percentage at or above .955%
So, in saying that, the man who is currently cracking the whip at training camp, John Tortorella, has to be willing to at least give a long look at guys like Emil Andrae, Adam Ginning, Helge Grans, Ronnie Attard, and Yegor Zamula to potentially make the team out of camp over guys like Nick Seeler who while he may not do anything to hurt the team while out on the ice, he certainly does not do much to help it either. For you never know, one of these young players could join the likes of York and Bonk as future staples on the backend for this team. But you’ll never be able to find that out if you keep blocking their development by bringing back roster fillers like Seeler.
Lastly, what the Flyers should look to do to help them become more defensively sound like the Boston Bruins, the Carolina Hurricanes, or the Dallas Stars is to revisit switching Morgan Frost to wing and allow Scott Laughton to play his rightful position of center. While I can appreciate Frost’s growth last year, I think he benefited from playing top-line minutes because of Coots’ injury and Hayes being in Torts’ doghouse for much of the season. Now that the Selke Trophy-winning Sean Couturier is back, Morgan’s ice time and chance to play on the Power Play will decrease significantly. Leaving Frost most likely unable to achieve the same kind of point production he was able to last season. Plus, Laughton not only has a much better career faceoff win percentage but also commits fewer turnovers, is more defensive-minded, and excels in the art of forechecking.
I don’t know about you, but when you look around the league, I think you would be hard-pressed to find an opening night roster with a better group of shutdown centers than Sean Couturier, Scott Laughton, Noah Cates, and Ryan Poehling.
Under the direction of President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones and General Manager Danny Briere, there’s no doubt things are moving in the right direction here in Philly. But even with all the trades, signings, and behind-the-scenes staffing changes, this team is still a few years away from actual contention. That’s why, given what the Flyers have currently, I think it best they make these moves, that is, until the reinforcements arrive, and the Flyers can then reascend to their rightful place atop the Eastern Division.
Austen Swankler: An Undrafted Free Agent the Flyers Should Keep an Eye On
Photo Credit: Bowling Green State University Athletics, 02/06/2023
We all know and have finally accepted that the Philadelphia Flyers are in the midst of a rebuild. And as hard as that pill was to swallow initially, I think the vast majority of us (the fans) have even come to find a sense of peace and solidary in the fact that the franchise we all know and love has wisely appointed Danny Briere to be the man to see us out of these dark times.
Now, that being said, this rebuild may not take as long as you may think, and here’s why. In a short amount of time, Briere has been able to come in and help drastically change the landscape of this team via his choice to seek out and dispose of volatile players and their inflated cap hits from last year’s roster, him compiling a solid first draft haul, and his recent choice of additions of key veteran free agents, and retirees (John LeClair, and Patrick Sharp) for that matter that have been brought into instill a renewed focus on player development.
Sadly, this writer feels that there is still one more thing that Danny could do to ensure all his hard work this off season wasn’t for nothing.
That one stone Briere has left unturned is the eventual signing of an NCAA undrafted free agent. Now, here me out: while signing one of these players was once viewed as a long shot by most GMs, the NCAA is vastly becoming a league again where quality talent is being cultivated daily. So much so that some would even consider it one of the world’s most competitive leagues right now, with so many recent high-end draft picks choosing to play in the collegiate ranks before turning Pro. Be that the case, with prospects that were formerly passed on now knowing that there are so many NHL teams with their scouts in the rafters to oversee their own drafted talents’ progressions, there has been a recent influx of gifted, overlooked players flocking to their nearest University’s for chance at redemption.
Now, I’m not saying that if Briere chooses to do this, he will be able to find a future Hall of Famer like teams did when they inked former NCAA undrafted free agents Ed Belfour, Curtis Joseph, Adam Oates, Joe Mullen, and Martin St. Louis. Still, he could find a solid addition to the depth chart, much like most current perennial playoff contenders are forced to try and do every year to counteract them not having a preferred draft position.
One of these such players who I feel could have a real shot at turning pro after this upcoming season would be Bowling Green State University’s 22-year-old center, Austen Swankler. This Pennsylvania-born prospect, who was a Hobey Baker Award Nominee this past season, is coming off a year in which he scored 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points in only 35 games played! And now that I have your attention, let me tell you there is much to like about this 1.25 point per game player.
The Breakdown
After going undrafted after having only moderate success in the USHL and having his OHL career cut short by the Coronavirus, Austen was somehow granted his NCAA eligibility back. Once reacquired, he decided to take his talents to Bowling Green, Ohio for the 2021-2022 season to play for the Falcons. Here, Swankler grew to his current height of 6’0 and 185 pounds and would eventually learn to be a 200ft player.
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After missing a complete season thanks to a worldwide pandemic, Austen seemingly struggled in his first season, with the Falcons only scoring 26 points in 36 games. But after gaining a complete year back on his skates, Swankler gathered all the accolades (mentioned above and more) that a player of his offensive caliber truly deserves. But surprisingly, after having such a great season and even attending the reigning Stanley Cup Champions (Las Vegas Golden Knights) Development Camp this summer, Austen surprised the masses by choosing not to turn pro but instead deciding to stay true to the promise he made to his mother about staying to finish up his degree at BGSU.
That’s why when you factor in Austen’s innate scoring ability, his mesmerizing maneuvering of the puck in tight to his body, and the continued work he has put into improving upon his skating ability over the years, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him score 25 goals and 50 points this season.
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Will Swankler be able to achieve the kind of point production I suggested he would? We will just have to wait and see, but regardless of whether he does or not, I predict he will finish this upcoming season as one of the best undrafted free agents available. And therefore, he should be kept a close eye on by Flyers management if they wish to add another experienced offensive talent to their ever-growing group of prospering prospects.