The Flyers are on a roll right now, after winning four in a row yesterday against the Montreal Canadiens. This young Flyers team finished the month of November with a record of 9-2-4, which tied a franchise record of 24 points in a single month, set back in 1990. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.
Mark Recchi, followed by Simon Gagne.
The team defense was playing so well together, that Alain Vigneault didn’t want to make a switch in favor of Shayne Gostisbehere. For good reason, as the Flyers defense was on quite the tear (In a good way). Ghost could very well be trade bait at the trade deadline, however.
Ghost being scratched doesn’t hurt his trade value at all. Teams throughout the league know exactly what he would provide defensively and offensively, and at this rate Chuck Fletcher wouldn’t get a haul if Ghost was traded.
Noah Cates and Tanner Laczynski both have bottom 9 Forwards written all over them. Cates at the very least could become a top 6 Forward for a team that is in desperation of such. Bobby Brink on the other hand, could very well turnout to be a top 6 Forward in the NHL.
Kirill Ustimenko is tearing up the ECHL, and has played much better than Felix Sandstrom. Ustimenko is 8-1-3 on the season, with a .915 Save Percentage. Sandstrom has only appeared in 7 games, and has a 3.63 GAA. He also has a .880 Save Percentage.
Given Chuck Fletcher’s comments that he made on 97.5 the Fanatic this past week, in regards to Nolan Patrick. There seems to be a possibility that he may play at some point this season. Fletcher said that Patrick is having more better days than bad here as of late. He also said that Patrick is making progress. This is very encouraging, as Patrick was seen at Flyers practice this past week without a tinted visor. I believe he will play at some point this season.
The team defense was playing so well together, that Alain Vigneault didn’t want to make a switch in favor of Shayne Gostisbehere. For good reason, as the Flyers defense was on quite the tear (In a good way). Ghost could very well be trade bait at the trade deadline, however. Personally, I have not heard of any trades involving Ghost or Hagg, but it’s great for Vigneault to be afforded this luxury of having seven quality defencemen at this time.
Hagg has played very well in his latest stint of being back in the lineup. It is a luxury of having seven defenceman that can all play well, when or if a defenceman needs to sit for a game or two. This is the Hagg everyone was hoping for when he was drafted. Ghost has played well, as well, since he has re-entered the lineup.
The team defense was playing so well together, that Alain Vigneault didn’t want to make a switch in favor of Shayne Gostisbehere. For good reason, as the Flyers defense was on quite the tear (In a good way). Ghost could very well be trade bait at the trade deadline, however. Personally, I have not heard of any trades involving Ghost, but it’s great for Vigneault to be afforded this luxury of having seven quality defencemen at this time. Ghost’s benching was a reset, per Vigneault.
Ghost has to stop pressing, as he admitted this himself this past week. He also said it was indeed a confidence problem, in which, he was making mistakes during game action because he was overthinking some plays at certain times throughout the course of a game. Fortunately, for Ghost he has looked better these past few games, since he has been reinserted back into the lineup. Let’s hope this is a sign of good things to come, and he can get back to the way he was playing during the 2017-18 season.
The team defense was playing so well together, that Alain Vigneault didn’t want to make a switch in favor of Shayne Gostisbehere. For good reason, as the Flyers defense was on quite the tear (In a good way). Ghost could very well be trade bait at the trade deadline, however. Personally, I have not heard of any trades involving Ghost or Hagg, but it’s great for Vigneault to be afforded this luxury of having seven quality defencemen at this time.
Hagg has played well since he recently has been inserted into the lineup. It’s great having seven defenceman that can all play well, when or if a defenceman needs to sit for a game or two. This is the Hagg everyone was hoping for when he was drafted.
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have four reliable Defencemen in their system in TJ Brennan, Mark Friedman, Andy Welinski, and Nate Prosser. Prosser would be my guess for a Flyers call-up, if and when that situation arises.
If and when Nolan Patrick returns this season for the Flyers. He will have a conditioning stint with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. When Patrick is able to play for the big club, then Morgan Frost will more than likely be sent back to the Phantoms. Frost will be a heck of a player in the NHL for years to come, so there is no need to rush him.
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.
Photo Credit: Zack Hill
Trade Patrick. Frost is already better
I think Darren is right.