The big addition of the Flyers’ offseason, defenseman Ryan Ellis, has played only four games this season with a mysterious lower-body injury. Ellis was acquired from Nashville in exchange for Nolan Patrick (who was then flipped to Vegas) and Phillippe Myers. Myers has been loaned to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, after being waived by the Predators.
Ellis was supposed to be the steadying force on the Flyers’ defense this season. He should have been a lock on the right side next to Ivan Provorov on the top pair. Instead, Provorov has played with Justin Braun for most of the year until he was moved at the deadline to the New York Rangers.
In came 21-year-old rookie Cam York. York, the Flyers’ first-round pick in 2019, is naturally a left-side defenseman. With the Flyers in experiment mode (see Joel Farabee as the top-line center), they decided to see how York would do on the right side. What better place to start him out than on the top pair? If he is going to learn it, he might as well be thrown right into the fire, right? At least, that’s what the Flyers’ interim head coach, Mike Yeo said in March.
York has played well on the right side with Provorov. Provorov, who was having easily the worst season of his career has also turned it around recently. Have the Flyers found something in this Provorov-York pairing? It’s far too early to tell, but it is definitely encouraging that Provorov’s game has turned itself around and York is finding his way nicely in the NHL. York has three goals and six assists for nine points in 27 games this season, a 9-18-27 pace over a full season.
Provorov, in a down year, has a 7-16-23 line in 67 games. He missed a bit of time due to the NHL’s Covid protocol.
Back to the Ellis injury, there is reason to think the injury could cost him more than just this season. There has been nothing said by Chuck Fletcher that would indicate otherwise. We don’t know if he has undergone any surgery. We don’t even know what the injury is. There was some speculation it could be similar to Kevin Hayes’ groin injury. That could make sense since Hayes was injured during the 2021 shortened season and elected to play through it and undergo surgery in the offseason. Ellis, if the injury is similar, could have decided to do the same thing as Hayes. Remember, he played the first three games of the season before being shut down for almost a month. After that, he played, maybe against his own will, against Dallas. That wound up being the last game of his season.
If Ellis is ready to go for the start of the season, it will be interesting to see where the new head coach plays him. He will be on the right side, for sure. The Flyers seem to love the Sanheim-Ristoleinen pair too much to break up. That leaves the first and third pair. Whoever is not on the top pair, assumingly with Provorov, will likely be with Nick Seeler on the third pair. The Flyers like Seeler’s grittiness. The depth is pretty good, considering Attard, Zamula, Wylie, and more will still be in the AHL.
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The dilemma here is putting a young player, albeit good, on the third pair on his natural side or putting him on the top pair again but on his off-side. It’s a decision that will not be taken lightly as whatever they do with York, they have to do the other with Ellis. If I had to guess, I think if Ellis is ready to start the season, he plays with Provorov. York could very well end up on the third pair but see real powerplay time.
It’s a good problem to have, if you are the Flyers, who may not be in as bad a position as they look at the moment. They don’t have a bonafide #1, but Sanheim is a legit #2 now. We know what Provorov can do when he is playing well. Ristoleinen is here for the next five years, like it or not. Ellis, Provorov, Sanheim, Risto, York, and Seeler is not a bad defense corps going into 2022-2023. Hopefully, someone like Zamula can step up and be the seventh guy that rotates with Seeler.
It will be very interesting to see what direction the Flyers decide to go in. There are reasons for and against Ellis and for and against York. It will mostly be up to the new head coach. Either way, if Ellis is healthy, big if, the Flyers could be in a pretty decent spot.
