The dog days of the offseason have arrived, but there are still some questions that surround the Flyers roster. Will they add physicality? Will they upgrade their defense even further? Will they add a 3C? All of which are valid questions. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.
It’s easy to say yes, especially with the City of Philadelphia allowing approximately 200 spectators indoors at the Wells Fargo Center (10% of 20,000), per the guidelines from the State Department of Health, as the Philadelphia Inquirer stated on October 6, 2020:
Indoor venues:
- Capacity of 0 to 2,000 people: 20% of maximum occupancy.
- Capacity of 2,001 to 10,000 people: 15% of maximum occupancy.
- Capacity over 10,000 people: 10% of maximum occupancy up to 3,750 people.
I will say the plan of the NHL as I last heard was to start the season with no fans, then have fans after about a month into the season, and increase from there. Let’s see how it plays out, but I do believe there will be some fans at games by the Spring of the NHL season. How many…now that’s the key question.
Since Nolan Patrick has re-signed with the Flyers they have approximately $4.7 million of cap space left. After Philippe Myers re-signs I figure the Flyers will have at least $1.2-1.5 million left of cap space, as I believe Myers will sign a bridge deal for $2.5-3 million.
One reason for lower a cap hit for Myers than Travis Sanheim is he did not get used in a top pairing role like Sanheim did in his contract year. Sanheim was paired with Ivan Provorov for a period of time in his contract year.
Myers and Sanheim are the future of the Flyers. I do not foresee Chuck Fletcher moving either Sanheim or Myers, especially since Matt Niskanen retired earlier than expected. It has taken the Flyers years and years to build a solid young homegrown defensive core primarily, I really can’t see Fletcher trading a young Defencemen like Sanheim or Myers.
Shayne Gostisbehere might be dealt sometime this week, and an ideal team to trade him to is the Florida Panthers. Ghost would be closer to home, so this would be a win-win for both teams in my opinion.
Anytime Nolan Patrick hits the ice for a scrimmage or practice it’s a good thing. It means he hasn’t suffered a setback, and that is one reason I continue to write favorable articles on him when he does scrimmage. I think Flyers fans should know he hasn’t suffered a setback, and Chuck Fletcher is absolutely correct when he says Nolan continues to get better and improve.
I can’t answer the first part of your question truthfully, as no one really knows. There are too many variables that could play in if Nolan is close to being cleared for contact or not. In addition, there should be no concerns at the moment as to why he hasn’t been cleared for contact yet. Patrick would have to ultimately get cleared by Flyers doctors for contact, so with no hockey currently being played at the moment, asides from Non-Contact scrimmages there really isn’t a need to clear him for contact yet.
All I can say is he is living his life as a 22-year-old by playing hockey and golfing. Anytime Patrick hits the ice it’s a good thing.
Yegor Zamula is a highly touted prospect for the Flyers, for good reason. Zamula will more than likely see some time with the big club at some point next season. Injuries will happen, they are inevitable, fortunately the Flyers have the depth within their system to sustain these type of injuries on the backend.
Zamula was part of the club in the bubble, and it really helped him get acclimated to the Professional level. The more a prospect is around the team it helps them become more familiar with the team and the game itself. It’s tough making the jump to the next level, success doesn’t happen overnight. Seeings that he already has experience at the Professional level sort of speak, it puts him ahead on the depth chart.
Ivan Provorov has taken this young man under his wing. With Provorov’s continued efforts, Zamula will be flying high at some point next season with the orange and black.
If you would like to see your questions submitted in our weekly mailbag. Just submit your question on our Twitter page @flyersknitty using #Flyersmail, or @JameyBaskow. Thanks to all the fans for another great mailbag, and Let’s go Flyers.
Click here to shop for our latest sporting apparel for Flyers Nitty Gritty
Jamey, great information and your reporting on key team issues was excellent.
I know Ghost is going to be leaving the Flyers. It is pretty much a foregone conclusion. If and when he is traded, I just want to say Shayne Gostisbehere was a joy to watch. He gave Flyer fans hope for the future and will be missed for sure. I know he will be a very good player when he gets a second chance in a new city. Ghost won our hearts when he led Union College to the NCAA National Championship at the Wells Fargo Center and also led theTeam USA U-20 World Juniors to the Gold Medal, when he was teamed on defense with Seth Jones, the outstanding NHL defenseman(now with Columbus). They were brilliant together.
I also agree with you on Yegor Zamula. Ron Hextall found a diamond in the rough with this young defenseman. Zamula is twenty pounds away from being an NHL All Star. He can skate, shoot the puck, play a great point on the power play and at five on five. He is also a vacuum cleaner with his amazing reach on defense and the PK. Penalty killing is his forte with that reach. What a great young defenseman and having Ivan Provorov to bring him along is a true bonus to get Zamula acclimated to the English language and understanding his teammates and coaches. I believe Zamula, Sanheim, Hagg, Provorov and Myers. This group will all be maturing on defense and will give the Flyers possibly one of the greatest group of defensemen in the last fifty years of NHL play. Once again, thank you, Ron Hextall for putting this group in Flyer Orange and Black.
Thank you for the article Jamey and please continue to keep Flyer fans in the loop.
-Gregg Lorenz Bucks County, Pa
Gregg,
Thank you very much for your continued support. Really means a lot, and makes me strive to be better
I agree with Gregg this will be a great d core some day because they are already good! I also would like to say Hextall deserves a ton of credit for this team even though he may not have been the right guy to take us to Lord Stanley!! Keep the Flyers article’s coming and Go Flyers!