Is Toughness At A Premium Value For The Flyers and The NHL?

Photo Courtesy of Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports

When assessing the Philadelphia Flyers off-season moves to date it’s quite clear the team believed they needed to get tougher in all facets. First off hiring Coach John Tortorella was the initial move prioritizing toughness. As he is the epitome of a tough coach that works his players hard while also being very fair in terms of his methods and how he treats players. Primarily though, Tortorella coached teams are notoriously tough to play against. Evidently, the Flyers seemed to have all of these attributes in mind when hiring Tortorella. Especially, when looking at the other off-season moves made that also lean towards establishing a tougher to play against mentality.

Another acquisition centered around the theme of becoming tougher to play against was the organization trading for defenseman Tony DeAngelo. The defenseman is tough to defend while he’s in the offensive zone. He also plays with an edge and can walk the line in terms of being an agitator on the ice who attempts to get under the other teams skin.

Lastly, the signing of notorious fighter throughout the NHL Nicolas Deslauriers is one that clearly outlined the franchises intentions going forward. By adding arguably one of the toughest fighters in the league to their roster the Flyers are certainly envisioning they will not get pushed around on the ice without consequences having to be met. Their hope seems to be that Deslauriers will assist in that area. Allowing some of the younger players on the team to not have to worry about the extracurriculars of the game.

League wide with the blockbuster Matthew Tkachuk trade that just took place it only cements that players who are tough to play against are thought of as premium assets to an extent. Based on the package Florida gave up for Tkachuck that notion had definitely been outlined. It’s no surprise contending teams typically look for players who can contribute on the ice with their play surrounding the puck but still bring physical and intimidating elements to their games.

Such acquisitions that point towards this method would be the Avalanche acquiring Josh Manson at this past season’s trade deadline. Additionally, the Calgary Flames signed Blake Coleman last off-season who is a player that can both produce on the ice and add toughness. The New York Rangers also signed Barclay Goodrow last off season. He is a forward that fits a similar style and brings aspects of toughness to his play while being an asset in other areas of the game. What the above exhibits is the value of this specific mold of player around the NHL currently.

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Though the important aspect to note here is that all of these teams made these types of acquisitions to fill out their roster. The Panthers, Avalanche, Flames and Rangers already had the high end talent needed to make the playoffs and move beyond the first round. Such additions of toughness in these teams’ minds were or are moves to get them over the hump in the Playoffs and closer to the goal of a Stanley Cup.

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That’s where the discrepancy lies here in terms of the Flyers following this path. Due to the fact that they do not have the similar types of high end talent these other teams are fortunate enough to have. Not to mention, that they aren’t in a similar situation looking to get over the playoff hump like these other teams who made these types of off-season maneuvers.

Realistically the Flyers trajectory performance wise for next season is one that can be labeled as a team that likely does not have enough talent to consistently challenge for a playoff spot. With the way the off-season played out and the moves made by the team it’s almost as though Chuck Fletcher was just doing some tinkering to a Flyers team that needed to get over the playoff hump. However, such a mindset is so far from the truth and reality that it is essentially mind boggling.

The additions made by Fletcher are ones typically used by other organizations to round out a roster. Despite that for the Flyers such acquisitions seemed to be the focal point of their off-season which is essentially the primary concern. Ultimately, in regards to team building and roster construction the Philadelphia Flyers seemingly have no plan or consistent idea of what type of team they are trying to build.

Gettin Gritty Wit It:

On this week’s episode of the Gettin Gritty Wit It podcast we welcomed Dan Silver to the show. Dan is a member of the O&B Puckcast that is also a part of the Flyers Nitty Gritty network. These are the topics we discussed below: