Photo Courtesy of Yong Kim, The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Flyers have re-signed Rasmus Ristolainen to a 5 year, 25.5 million dollar contract with a 5.1 million dollar average annual cap hit. As a result, they now have a top 4 defence that is locked in at a significant amount of dollars going into next season. When combined, Ryan Ellis, Ivan Provorov, Rasmus Ristolainen and Travis Sanheim’s contracts for next season are taking up a fair amount of the salary cap. The four defenseman in total will be taking up 22.775 million dollars out of next season’s projected salary cap of 83.5 million dollars. That means 4 defenseman would actively be taking up 27.275% of the Flyers cap space going into next season.
Due to the large portion of the Flyers salary cap being taken up by 4 defenseman going into 2022-2023, there has been rumblings about the team potentially moving on from one of their top 4 defensemen. Specifically, one of these defenseman that has recently been rumored as no longer an untouchable player by the Flyers is Ivan Provorov.Â
When looking at the play of Provorov both this season and last season, it’s clear the defenseman has not been at his best. Despite this neither has the team in general. One also should factor in that through Provorov’s high ice time and deployment he is usually starting his shifts in the defensive zone. On a bad team such deployment is only going to make a defenseman who plays that many minutes with a partner who is likely a 3rd pair player at this point in his career have less than ideal statistics.
The concerning thing regarding Provorov’s play this season is that it has been a continuance from last season. For 2 season’s turnover issues, a difficulty breaking the puck out of his own zone and decision making regarding positioning has not been up to its usual standard. Though comparatively most defenseman on the Flyers and the team’s structure generally and puck making decisions have been underwhelming. As a defenseman when your forwards are not providing much backchecking support or getting in open lanes for breakout passes, turnovers and bad stats are likely to occur.
We’ve seen Provorov have very good season’s before and be a stout defender. The talent is there. However, the circumstances the young defender has been put into has allowed some bad habits to form and his play to dip as compared to previous seasons. The reality is young players have up and down season’s, especially defenseman.
Provorov is only 25 years old and his past successes show that with the correct usage and an actual top pair defender next to him he can play a very large amount of minutes and be a positive on the ice in all zones. Moving on from a defender with those abilities when Provorov has yet to play more than 4 games with Ryan Ellis who was specifically acquired to be paired with him is not very logical asset management.
An example of a player who did not fully reach his potential until he was 26 years old is Mackenzie Weegar, in terms of consistently playing at a top pair level on a nightly basis. This also did not occur until the defenseman began playing with Aaron Ekblad who is also another 1st pairing defenseman. Essentially, the above points to the fact that with young defenseman up and down seasons should be expected.
Not being put in the most ideal position for success as Provorov has been unable to play with Ryan Ellis has certainly affected his overall game. It’s burdened the defenseman with an exorbitant amount of minutes and crucial defensive duties. Young defenseman need support and a partner that can compliment their style of play. Provorov is a more defensive minded player similar to Justin Braun and it’s no surprise the pairing can struggle at times especially with their breakouts. Stylistically, the pairing is not very suited to one another, so Provorov’s struggles seem to be related to this. Though, the defender should not be let off the hook for his below average play of late as a top defenseman who is paid as he is should be held accountable for his poor play and mistakes on the ice. Nonetheless, trading Provorov while his value is likely at his lowest after one of the worst seasons in franchise history wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense. Considering the defensemen has not been given the chance to show how he would perform with a healthy top pairing defensive partner in Ryan Ellis by his side, trading him without seeing how that pairing may play isn’t the most strategic move.
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The Flyers need to allow Provorov to work through his struggles and see if he can bounce back to his prior form next season while paired with Ryan Ellis. If the poor play still continues with Ellis by his side then these concerns can be taken more seriously. In relation to moving on from Ivan Provorov even if a trade is potentially being considered after another underperforming season the Flyers need to be careful with the way they handle the situation and the return received. Typically, players who’ve shown they can perform at a high level in the NHL at one point in their career and at a young age in Provorov’s case have the tendency to return to similar heights with their play. Just look at Patrik Laine in Columbus. Overall, trading Ivan Provorov this off-season and not affording the defenseman who is dedicated and has an extremely high work ethic the chance to return to form alongside Ryan Ellis next season would be a trade based out of panic and irrationality.
