When Mark Friedman was recalled on January 8, 2020, the Flyers were hoping he would be able to solidify the bottom Defense pairing until one of Justin Braun or Shayne Gostisbehere returned from injury. What did Friedman establish in his recall? Well, he has made a defenceman expendable if Chuck Fletcher needs trade bait.
Friedman, a Right-Handed defenceman, finally got a shot to make an imprint with the orange and black, and boy did he deliver. Drafted by the Flyers in 2014 at 86th overall. Friedman was one of the Phantoms best defencemen before his recall, after a really strong training camp with the big club. For the Phantoms, he registered two goals, to go along with eight apples in 28 games played this season. Moreover, Friedman may have received an earlier call-up, but seven, at times eight defensemen, blocked him from seeing time with the big club.
The fact is Friedman doesn’t make mistakes. He plays a solid, mistake free game. Friedman tallied first career NHL point on Connor Bunnaman’s first NHL goal during the recall. He also finished his recall with averaging 13:01 in ice time, 4 hits, 4 blocks, and 1 Takeaway with 0 Giveaways. Simply put, the young man doesn’t make mistakes.
Did Friedman showcase enough to make a defencemen expendable at the trade deadline? Absolutely. If Fletcher needs to obtain a Forward by the trade deadline, one of Justin Braun, Robert Hagg, or Shayne Gostisbehere could realistically be moved in order to do such. Moreover, Braun is a UFA at year’s end, so if the Flyers do not move a defenceman by the trade deadline, then it is not a must for Braun to be re-signed. The play of Friedman could allow Fletcher to use that cap space to obtain a top six Forward if need be, or to plug a hole elsewhere within the lineup.
Friedman can provide a much needed spark to this club when given the chance, and he can kill penalties, as well. All in all, this recall became a showcasing of the future make up of the back end for the Flyers either this season or next.
Photo Credit: Zack Hill
I think Justin Braun could be moved more so then Ghost. I think Chuck gave up a lot for him, but it was a great addition adding a much needed stable veteran that this team lacked on defense. I think Chuck at NO time looked to Braun to be resigned after this season. More simply Braun was meant to be more of a STOP gap until one or more of the likes of Friedman, Zamula, Wylie, York, or Kalynuk developed. I think Braun could be a good rental for someone even if the Flyers make the Playoffs. His departure would allow Freidman the chance to play, also the Flyers would regain a draft pick that they spent for Braun. This move would also give the Flyers the cap space to add a much needed scoring winger via trade. I like and would not trade Hagg, he is a poor man’s Braun. Who is more physical at the same time, which is a trait to have to wear down teams in a 7 game playoff series.
Braun cost the Flyers a 2nd and a 3rd round pick for one year year of play as a Flyer. What an awful trade. Those high picks were given away. That was a brutal cost to pay for an above average, but aging player.
Ron Hextall always stated, “A team never has enough defensemen”. Why? That’s easy to answer. Decent defensemen are hard to find and they have a tendency to get injured, but one of those picks could have gotten the Flyers a great young defensive prospect.
The Flyers can’t afford to trade a defensemen at this year’s trade deadline. They are not deep enough on defense. Since too many key Flyers are coming up for new contracts at the end of this year and next year, cap space is tight. Braun might bring an average forward in return, but let’s face it, Chuck Fletcher is a horrible GM when it comes to wheeling and dealing. He was fleeced by Nashville last year when he was raped in the Simmonds trade, getting little to nothing back for the Flyer’s future. So please, the less Fletcher negotiates with drooling opposing GMs, the better.
One final note. Next year, the Flyers will lose a player in the Seattle expansion draft. That player will most likely be a defenseman. My guess is that Shayne Gostisbehere, or Robert Hagg will be chosen by Seattle. Teams need a puck moving defenseman like Gostisbehere. They also need hard hitting defensive defenseman like an improving Robert Hagg. Since the Flyers will most likely protect seven forwards and three defensemen in the expansion draft, Ivan Provorov, Phillippe Myers and Travis Sanheim will fill those spots. Mark Friedman is probably here to stay for awhile.
The Flyers are not going to lose Ghost for nothing in the expansion draft. If they can’t, or choose not to protect him, they will certainly trade him to another team prior to the draft.
Simply yes! We should trade Braun and Ghost to assets witch we wasted on Braun”s signing or just Braun! And trade Ghost to get some forward depth witch we currently sadly lack, because of cases of Oskar and Nolan ! And we also have young talented defense-men coming in our prospect pool!
Gregg Lorenz i disagree with you that we are not deep enough in defense! Like past years has shown , team needs really good top-four in defense, witch we have in Provorov, Niskanen, Sanheim and Myers! So like Nashville and especially Chicago shown”d that a team can win a championship, with basically four great defense-men, while firth-pair is getting only utility minutes on ice! And we need cap-space, so assets wasted in Braun”s case should try be get back via trade! And Ghost has trade friendly contract, witch we can use or at least try to use to get some much needed forward depth to our system or assets witch we always need! While you think our new GM Chucky is really bad at everything, witch i agree to some point, he is still there in place to try to make our team better, so it is not an option to GM to do nothing! We should try even kick tires on dealing Ghost to Vegas, because they don”t have the best defensive corps at the moment! And before you respond that our top-four defense-men can suffer injuries, that is the risk at every sport!
Niskanen is a decent defenseman, BUT, because the Flyers are cap constrained, his contract will not be renewed after it expires in another year. Don’t forget, the Flyers have to sign many of their young players to new contracts over the next two years including Phillippe Myers, Carter Hart, Travis Sanheim, Scott Laughton, Nolan Patrick, Oskar Lindblom, Robert Hagg, Michael Raffl, German Rubtsov, Mikhail Vorobeyev, Morgan Frost, Brian Elliott and yes, even Matt Niskanen. Sadly, Chuck Fletcher wasted all the cap space Ron Hextall worked so hard to create.
Chuck Fletcher has little choice but to start trading away the youth Hextall accumulated. That youth is starting to blossom, but all those kids coming off of ELCs and other players wanting raises makes it impossible for Fletcher to sign them.
Dude s are you watching the same games as I am ? Philippe Myers sucks ! Dude turns the puck over constantly same as Ghost ! Trade both of them guys IMHO !!!!
Phillippe Myers is a damn good defenseman for a 22 year old. You need a high definition TV John. Analog is hard to see.
You guys are cracking me up. Gregg Lorenz I agree, the Flyers have many ELC ending. The Flyers will be forced to make some hard decisions soon enough. I do think the Flyers have the prospect depth in the system to sustain and replace players that need to be moved to make cap space. Another option would be to leave Jakub Voracek unprotected for the expansion draft. Seeing that he is aging and has a $8.25 Million cap hit without any movement clause or restrictions. This would give the Flyers a lot of cap space to sign these guys coming off of ELC’s.
There is always some kind of solution we can make, when Niskanen”s contract is up, because if we trade a some core player to prospect like Moritz Seider, our defense would be set for long term! Sadly i think Ycerman thinks Seider as an untouchable, but we should still try! Also Calgary”s right shooting defense-man Rasmus Andersson would be great fit, after Niskanen has gone! And there will be expansion draft soon when Seattle is joining the league, so Gregg Lorenz don”t be so negative, and Chucky can surprise you positively, witch i strongly do not expect, but if we can clear cap-space, there is Alex Pietangelo market in summer also! But i am starting to think our GM Chucky is afraid doll”s!
Where is my comment!
I really hope Ronnie Attard will become our version of Colton Parayko, sooner rather then later! Because that would be great and will solve our problems in defense, when Niskenen”s contract is up!
I hope Ronnie Attard plans out yhr wsy the Flyers hope too. He is well on his way