Everyone throughout the Delaware Valley and beyond are wondering what’s the next Flyers move? Well, Flyers fans are hoping it’s a top tier defenseman or a third line Center. However, one missing element this team needs is some physicality with a player that can skate, and can pot big goals.
Nicolas Aubé-Kubel (NAK) cannot provide the muscle this team needs by himself, and that was made evident this past season. Moreover, Wade Allison can also only provide so much grit as he’s still young, and still figuring out the NHL. Everyone saw some Flyers players get pushed off the puck this past season, not to mention beaten and battered along the boards against the toughest teams in the East.
The Flyers were not only ousted of the 2020 Playoffs because of their lackluster power play, and for that matter they missed the playoffs in 2021. In most cases they could not forecheck effectively against both the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders in particular. As the playoffs wear on, ice becomes tougher and tighter. You need some players that are physical, not just skilled players. Look at the Stanley Cup Finalists in 2020: The Dallas Stars and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Both teams were physical, and they were the last one’s standing.
There is one person who can provide some physicality and one that gets underneath the skin of his opponents easily who will be a free agent once again this offseason and that is Corey Perry. Not the most well liked player by most fans, but a good physical player that can skate and pot a big goal if a team is need of such. Take for instance the 2020 playoffs against the Colorado Avalanche in a crucial Game 4. Perry slashed Colorado Avalanche’s Goalie Pavel Francouz, and that lead to Samuel Girard of Colorado to take a retaliatory penalty. Dallas really rallied behind Perry following this incident, and cashed in on the ensuing power play. These are the type of plays/players the Flyers lacked in the playoffs and this past season. This is one missing element to this team.
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Travis Konecny, NAK, and Scott Laughton can only do so much in terms of getting under the skins of the opponent. Enter Corey Perry, a player that will throw down the mitts, bang players against the boards, and pot some big key goals, like the world is witnessing in the 2021 playoffs. Perry has tallied three goals and three assists for a total of six points in 11 games in the playoffs. He seems to just take his game to another player in crunch time.
Perry stands at 6’3 and weighs 206 pounds. He signed a one-year $750,000 deal this past season with the Montreal Canadiens. Maybe Chuck Fletcher could sign him for $750,000-$1 million. I saw the Flyers get pushed around a lot this past season, and failing to stick up for their own. The addition of Perry would prevent this from happening even more.
