Unless you are a Dynasty team like the New York Islanders of the early- 80’s (who won four straight Stanley Cups), the Edmonton Oilers of the mid- to late- 80’s (who won 5 Stanley Cups), or the Montreal Canadiens of the 70’s (who won 6 Stanley Cups in a single decade) you should never be satisfied with the state of your team! Even if you just won the cup last season, there is always going to be some team’s general manager out there trying to make that next big move that will advance his team to the next level, hence there will always be room for improvement. Not to mention that hockey is a contact sport, and the harsh reality of it is, in just one play, your franchise player’s career could be taken away forever. Not to bring up bad memories but (it’s needed to prove the point): I think we can all remember that time back in 2000 during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals when New Jersey Devils’ defenseman Scott Stevens laid the hit that will forever haunt our franchise- when he blind-sided our captain the great Eric Lindros. Which left Eric never quite the same.
Now I could name others that this tragedy has happened to, but I think you get my point and now that you see where I am coming from you can begin to understand my thirst for the hunt of the next great Flyers player. You should always have that next man up standing by, ready to take advantage of his opportunity once one is provided. The Flyers should never want to return to the state that they were in when Ron Hextall retired: They were left to search for his successor for over a decade before Ron himself drafted that very player in Carter Hart.
With that being said, the Flyers have an incredibly talented prospect (who is an undrafted free agent) who they should be taking a closer look at, that is playing not too far away from them in State College, PA. His name is Alex Limoges, he is 23 years old and stands at 6’1 and 201 pounds. He is the captain of this year’s Nittany Lions and is in his senior year at Penn State University (PSU).
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Why should the Flyers be looking at him you ask? Well to start out, he is a former Hobey Baker award nominee (an award given to the best player in college hockey)! Alex is just the type of two-way player that the Flyers’ head coach Alain Vigneault craves. He is a strong skater who is not afraid to get into the dirty areas to score goals or set up a teammate. Limoges has been known to be a net-front presence on the power play who possesses a powerful wrist shot and quick release.
In fact, he holds a school record for most goals scored in a single season with 23, which he achieved back in the ’18-’19 season when he posted 23 goals and 27 assists, for 50 points in just 39 games played. That averaged out to 1.28 points per game (PPG), and this season Limoges seems to be out to do much of the same already, netting 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points in just 8 games played.
Alex is the type of player who should have the Flyers’ figure heads salivating over his ability to score goals. He is what they call a finisher: The one guy his teammates look to when they need to net a goal when they are down late in a game.
Now, a player like Limoges has not gone unnoticed by the rest of the league: He has had the pleasure of attending multiple NHL teams’ camps in the past, but for one reason or another has yet to be signed by one of them. This however has not seemed to have any effect on Alex’s play. As teammates of his like the great Nittany Lion Nathan Sucese (now property of Arizona Coyotes) graduate and move on to the professional ranks, Limoges just keeps finding ways to tally up the points back at State College this year- even against power house schools like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona State, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Notre Dame.
Although there is no doubt that Alex’s ability to put the puck in the back of the net will one day see him play in the NHL, the question is: Will he be scoring goals for the Flyers or against the Flyers (while playing for one of their rivals)?
You can follow me on Twitter @lngbassist39
Any sports team should have at least a couple home grown players, whom the fans can identify! But this business side of things make that really difficult in USA! But in Canada it”s can be done pretty easily!