When Mark Friedman was recalled on January 8, 2020, the Flyers were hoping he would be able to solidify the bottom Defense pairing until one of Justin Braun or Shayne Gostisbehere returned from injury. What did Friedman establish in his recall? Well, he has made a defenceman expendable if Chuck Fletcher needs trade bait. That’s the key, Vignea said yesterday the defensive pairings for the start of playoffs are set:
Ivan Provorov-Matt Niskanen
Travis Sanheim-Philippe Myers
Robert Hagg-Justin Braun
Friedman, a Right-Handed defenceman, finally got a shot to make an imprint with the orange and black, and boy did he deliver. Drafted by the Flyers in 2014 at 86th overall. Friedman was one of the Phantoms best defencemen before his recall, after a really strong training camp with the big club. For the Phantoms, he registered three goals, to go along with 18 apples in 45 games played this season. Moreover, Friedman may have received an earlier call-up, but seven, at times eight defensemen, blocked him from seeing time with the big club. For his efforts, the Flyers have re-signed Friedman on the first day of training camp to a two-year one-way contract with an annual cap hit of $725,000, “It’s definitely a relief,” Friedman says, “In four months of me thinking about it, sitting in quarantine and not knowing what was going to happen next season, it’s definitely nice to get this out of the way.”
The fact is Friedman doesn’t make mistakes. He plays a solid, mistake free game, “I’ve had a lot of guys help me down there in the AHL with Huffer and Gordo and especially the older guys like Pross and Spoons,” Friedman says, “They have been helping me and I’ve been trying to follow their lead off the ice just as much on the ice. You’ve got to be a good teammate just as much as a good hockey player. I know when I get to the NHL, I’m not going to be a massive point guy. I’m not going to be on the first power play or anything like that. I’ve got to use my strengths, that’s my speed, my smarts and puck moving ability.” Friedman tallied first career NHL point on Connor Bunnaman’s first NHL goal during the recall. He also finished his recall with averaging 13:01 in ice time, 4 hits, 4 blocks, and 1 Takeaway with 0 Giveaways. Simply put, the young man doesn’t make mistakes.
A 5’10, 192 pound native of Toronto in Friedman turned pro in 2017. The play of Friedman could allow Fletcher to make a defencemen expendable, so that Fletcher could use that cap space to obtain a top six Forward if need be, or to plug a hole elsewhere within the lineup. Friedman came into this unusual training camp on the outside looking in. He was given a shot in the exhibition game to impress, and he did just that after another mistake free game. Was he flashy? No, he just gets the job done. Friedman is not the flashiest Defenceman, but he was a darn good one for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms this past season. Obviously, the Flyers are high on him to negotiate a contract before training camp expired.
Flyers fans Friedman’s chance will come in time, and he will not give up his dream of playing full-time in the NHL, he’s come too far. Friedman can provide a much needed spark to this club if he gets the chance in the playoffs, and he can kill penalties, as well. All in all, this signing is a good one, and Friedman could be part of the future makeup of the back end for the Flyers, “I’m just going out there and playing hockey, trying 150 percent every time I’m on the ice,” Friedman said, “If I play, I play. If I don’t, I don’t. Just got to sit there and learn. Take everything in and soak it up like a sponge. To me, it’d be awesome to play, especially in Toronto, but I’m here for the learning experience. That’s something that I can take away from this trip.” For Mark’s efforts, Assistant Coach Mike Yeo said today that he played good against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mark hang in there your time is coming.
