PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 23: Kevin Hayes #13 of the Philadelphia Flyers reacts after scoring a goal against the New York Rangers in the third period at the Wells Fargo Center on December 23, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Flyers defeated the Rangers 5-1. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Date Published: 12-17-2022
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
A lot of things took place on Thursday night during the Flyers’ 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. Carter Hart was fantastic in net, stopping 48 shots. Travis Konecny looked like Brad Marchand stirring up the pot before he scored the game winner. Perhaps the most notable, in a tie game going into the third period, head coach John Tortorella decided to bench arguably his best skater in Kevin Hayes. That was the second time he had been benched for a period this season, and now, with Tortorella announcing he will be a healthy scratch tonight, one cannot help but wonder–what is the current level of concern around No. 13?
Looking at stats, Hayes is off to the best start of his career. His 9-20-29 line through 31 games is the best start to his career. His 82-game pace is 23-53-76. The last time the Flyers had a player score at least 70 points in a season was Claude Giroux (85) and Sean Couturier (76) in 2018-2019.
Hayes’ 29 points lead the Flyers. His .94 points-per-game is especially impressive considering the Flyers have scored the fewest goals in the NHL this season. Behind him sits Travis Konecny, who has regained his sniper status from years prior.
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Beyond Hayes, what do the Flyers have offensively other than Konecny? Tony DeAngelo will return to the lineup tonight after being healthy scratched and missing games due to personal reasons. Joel Farabee has struggled to produce with only five goals and 15 points in 31 games, good for third on the team. Travis Sanheim has been a bit more active offensively now than he was early in the year, but is still inconsistent. Owen Tippett’s eight goals in 26 games has been a nice sign, but he has just two in the last 13 games.
Scratching Hayes does send a message to the team. Up to now, it had been sitting for a period. Now, not playing responsible defensive hockey can get you out of the lineup for an entire game. Credit Tortorella here for sticking to his guns and keeping his promise of “if you don’t play the right way, you won’t play at all.” This is a division rival game against one of Hayes’ former teams. Tonight, with the Rangers winners of their last four and starting to get their act together, is probably not the best night to scratch one of the team’s top forwards. Tortorella’s attitude toward this season has been consistent in wanting to win. Keeping Kevin Hayes out of the lineup is not a win-now move.
Overall, the concern on the Flyers’ end is probably more moderate. They realistically do not have a chance at winning much this year other than the draft lottery. Tortorella may not want Hayes back with the team next year. That’s a very possible scenario. The Flyers won’t get much for him in a trade other than a mid-round pick and salary relief because of Hayes’ no-movement clause. They are essentially stuck in the Giroux bind from March because teams do not have to bid against each other. Hayes would control where he goes.
Finally, it’s not like reinforcements are coming to the forward group either. Lukas Sedlak was waived with the purpose of terminating his contract so he could go back to the Czech Republic. Cam Atkinson was also placed on injured-reserve yesterday with no backdate. Atkinson, who seemed to be making a lot of progress in his rehab, is now weeks away from joining the team. His situation, which went from day-to-day at the opening of camp in September, to week-to-week shortly after, to Atkinson saying he had been cleared to play, to now being placed on IR is extremely puzzling to say the least. The long-term health of Cam Atkinson is the most important thing here but the last thing the Flyers want is for him to miss the entire year and not be ready for 2023-2024. After what has been going on with the injuries over the last two years, nothing should be surprising anymore.
