A Backup Plan For The Flyers’ If Nolan Patrick Can’t Go And Morgan Frost Isn’t Quite Ready

We all are hopeful that the Flyers’ 2017 second overall draft pick, center Nolan Patrick, can return from his nagging head injury that kept him out of the entire 2019-2020 season. Patrick has been spotted many times as of late participating in on-ice scrimmages. This is great to see, but the question remains: Will he be ready to dress for the team on opening night whenever play resumes? Patrick, who is no stranger to the injured reserve list (dating all the way back to his time in juniors), is still young at just 22 years old; Even if he is able to return, should his health be trusted? True, the Flyers should stay hopeful and not give up on this young center just yet, but shouldn’t they have a backup plan just in case he can’t remain healthy or isn’t deemed fit to play by the start of the season? 

The Flyers were on the brink of making an Eastern Conference Finals appearance last year without him. They made a 180^o turn with head coach Alain Vigneault now at the helm, who instilled a newfound work ethic into his players, replacing the congenial practices of old with a style that whipped his new team into shape with a nonstop, high-tempo mentality, which now forces his players to be held accountable for their poor play on the ice during a game or in practice. So, you have to think that the Flyers are not going to want to sit idly and wait/hope that Patrick will return to the lineup, but rather have a backup plan in place in case he cannot go on opening night. 

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Now most of us hope that Nolan’s fellow ’17 1^st round pick Morgan Frost will be able to step in and take the job if Patrick cannot play on opening night, but that is a lot of pressure to put on a guy who has only played in 20 NHL games to-date, and has only 7 points to show for it! Sure, Morgan has the skills necessary to one day do just that, but let’s not forget that he was sent back to Lehigh Valley last season because he wasn’t able to step up when the team needed him the most. Furthermore, instead of calling Frost back up later in the season, the Flyers chose to go out and trade for some help at the deadline in the form of centers Derek Grant from Anaheim and Nate Thompson from Montreal. Continuing on with this trend, Philadelphia chose to NOT replace Grant with (the black ace) Frost in the lineup- even though Derek was obviously struggling offensively having gone goalless in the 15 games he played for the Flyers this past post season. 

So, you have to wonder just how much faith coach Vigneault has in Frost at this point if Patrick can’t go? Surely a guy like the versatile Scott Laughton- who proved he could shift from center to wing and back again when needed- could slot in as the teams 3^rd line center for a time until Patrick is ready, but then who would you play as the teams’ 4^th line center? Frost? I think not! The organization is not going to be happy with Morgan getting less than 10 minutes a game. They would much rather see him get 1^st line minutes playing for the Phantoms (the teams American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate) in order to further his development. 

So that leaves the team with a glaring hole on their bottom line. This might not be as big a deal on other teams who overplay their top line to the point of exhaustion, but in a Vigneault-driven offense which demands a roster that he can trust to run a full four-line rotation, it is.

For this reason, this writer says why not have a back up option for the teams’ backup option? Enter in the former Toronto Maple Leaf’s center (and now unrestricted free agent) Frederik (the goat) Gauthier as his teammates call him. Gauthier, who was not offered a contract by the Leafs this off season, now finds himself a free agent for the first time in his career. This former Rimouski Oceanic stand-out star was a 2013 1^st round pick and is now 25 years old. Frederik, who has been a steady NHL player the past two seasons in the league, would bring some much-needed size and toughness to the Flyers’ lineup- standing at 6’5 and weighing in at 239 pounds. Gauthier may not blow you away if you look at his stats (with just 7 goals and 5 assists for 12 points last season), but he can be that cog-type player which is much needed to complete the Flyers’ offense unit. Frederik plays that terrific 2-way style of game that AV demands from his players. He is an extremely hard worker who can play tough both on- and off- the puck using his size to win puck battles. Gauthier is a defensive lock managing to get back and help his team in their own zone as well. But maybe his best attribute that the Flyers could capitalize on is his faceoff winning percentage. Frederik won an impressive 54.74% of his faceoffs last season (that topped both Kevin Hayes’ and Scott Laughton’s percentages from the same season) and was just a point behind that of Claude Giroux’s draw percentage. Gauthier was let go from the Leafs because they brought in some new/old blood in the form of longtime NHL star Joe Thornton. So, with Joe being added to the list of centers that already included Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Jason Spezza, it is easy to see why the Leafs did not retain Gauthier. 

The fact that the Leafs decided to let him walk does not diminish his play though! On the contrary: It only allows another team (hopefully the Flyers) to acquire his services; and while Gauthiers’ play may not be ostentatious in nature, it is rewarding! Frederik has won on every level he has played on. In the ’12-’13 season he won a U-18 Gold medal with team Canada at the World Junior Championships (WJC). He did so again in the’14-’15 season- this time playing in the U-20 WJC where he heard his country anthem play yet again as he was donned with his second gold medal for his efforts with team Canada. This did not stop when he turned pro either: Frederik got the chance to hoist the Calder Cup Trophy (award given to the AHL’s playoff champion) in the ’17-’18 season while playing for the Toronto Marlies. 

Gauthier is coming off of a 2-year deal with Toronto that paid him $1,350,000; that is an average annual salary of just $675,000! His proven ability to be a productive 4^th line center in the NHL will grant him a slight raise, but he could still be had for a very affordable price of perhaps just one million dollars for, say, a one-year deal; this short-term “prove-it” type deal will be just what Frederik will be out to obtain after the Leafs kicked him to the curb. But their loss could be the Flyers’ gain!  If Philadelphia were to bring this not-so-gentle giant into the fold on a short-term deal, it would allow the team to get a guy (Gauthier) who is out to show the Leafs they made a mistake by not re-signing him and thus getting a player who is willing to fight hard for a more lucrative and lengthy contract after next season.  The Flyers would also receive the ability to rest easy in knowing that, if Patrick can’t go and Frost doesn’t prove exactly ready, that they then have a viable option for a fill in until one or both of them are. 

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