PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 17: Shayne Gostisbehere #53 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his goal against the Florida Panthers during the second period at Wells Fargo Center on October 17, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
The Flyers are hoping the right to ship after a bad road trip. They beat a juggernaut in the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night on the back end of a back-to-back. Pretty impressive, but the Flyers have to start winning on the road in order to be considered a consistent hockey team. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions
At one point I honestly thought a defenceman would be on the move. However, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms are depleted on the defensive side of the puck. Mark Friedman at this point looks to be not only a wise call-up, but a no brainer in terms of a recall. One player that I keep going back to even still is Shayne Gostisbehere (aka Ghost).
Fletcher will keep in mind the upcoming expansion draft, so that will play a factor in his decision as well. Can the Flyers protect Ghost? At this time I honestly don’t see it. In my opinion Travis Sanheim, Philippe Myers, and Ivan Provorov would be the three to protect if Fletcher uses the 7-3-1 method.
If Friedman continues to play well in Ghost’s absence, then he could very well be on the move to free up some cap space. The Flyers would need some cap space to add a player. At one point I thought Michael Raffl could be on the move, but he’s too valuable at this point to move. It’s very unlikely JVR or Jakub Voracek can be moved given the cap hits of their contracts. Ghost seems like a good candidate for trade bait, given the reasons mentioned above.
Nolan Patrick remains week to week. There have not been any status updates since the last one about a month ago. He continues to practice (Non-Contact), and skate in Voorhees. It’s always been my thought that if he were to return it would be post All-Star break, so let’s see what happens.
If he does not return after the All-Star break concludes, I would then say it’s more than likely he will be shut down for the year. At this point Fletcher could then make a move for a versatile player like Chris Tierney, or simply call-up Morgan Frost. Frost in my opinion will come up sooner rather than later, but you are right in regards to Patrick, he may very well be shut down for the year if he does not return by around February 21st or so.
Whatever the decision Patrick and the Flyers come to, I will be okay with that. His health is far more important than the game of hockey, and this decision will be of the best interest in Patrick. If in fact he returns this season, Patrick will have to do a conditioning stint with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
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: Getty Images
JVR is a waste. He is so big but never hits anyone. He just skates. I thought he would come back to philly and be ferocious! Trade him for johnny hockey!