Photo Credit: hockeyfights.com
Let’s face it, the Flyers, as a whole, are a lot farther away from actual contention than their organization’s management leads their fans to believe. To prove this, all you have to do is tune into any current Stanley Cup Playoff series that is going on right now, and you will be left in awe of what a real team looks and plays like. Some of these true contenders rely heavily on their star forwards to put the puck in the back of the net to win games: as Toronto does with Auston Matthews or Edmonton with their dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Some teams choose to put stock in their top defenders like Colorado does with their young prodigy Cale Makar, or Nashville does with their veteran defenseman Roman Josi. Others still believe in their guardians of the blue paint like Tampa Bay does with Andrei Vasilevskiy or Minnesota with their recently acquired 3-time Stanley Cup Champion Marc-Andre Fleury. What they all have in common, though, is the ability to play with the type of snarl and grit for them to endure the rigors of playing in the multiple 7-game series it takes to be able to hoist the Stanley Cup.
This doesn’t mean this writer thinks that the team should be chalked full of a bunch of no-talent knuckle draggers who really can’t contribute to their team’s success on a nightly basis. Still, it would be nice to have more than just Zack MacEwen, who only averaged nine minutes a game of ice time this season, to be able to defend his teammates’ honor in a fight. Or, for that matter, more than just Rasmus Ristolainen to be counted on to finish a check during a game.
If you tune into any NHL Playoff series right now, you will see highlights of mind erasing hits and massive brawls evolving with everyone on the ice. These types of plays are not only being found when the teams’ 4th lines are out on the ice. This physical play is coming from players throughout these teams’ lineups. Tampa Bay may have tough guys like Pat Maroon and Zach Bogosian on their roster, but they also have Corey Perry (a player who has scored over 400 goals in the NHL), who is more than willing to get down and dirty when needed. Minnesota, a team that already had plenty of grit in their lineup with players like Ryan Hartman (a 34-goal scorer this year), Marcus Foligno, Jordan Greenway, and Brandon Duhaime suiting up for them on a nightly basis, still chose to go out and get one of the most feared men in the league when they acquired Nicolas Deslauriers at the deadline. Then there’s Nashville, who led the league this year in fighting majors with 59. Practically everyone in their lineup is willing to hurl themselves at an opposing player trying to dig the puck out of the boards, not to mention flatten someone’s nose when they lay a dirty hit on one of their teammates.
As Cam Atkinson so eloquently put it (during the team’s exit interviews), Philadelphia needs to gain a little more “F-You” to their game. For decades, the Flyers were one of the most feared teams in the league because of their relentless physicality. This dates back to the days of the Bullies making the Russians leave the ice and refusing to come back out. This is something that, until recently, the team made it a point to keep up, with such players as Rick Tocchet, Dave Brown, Derain Hatcher, Chris Pronger, etc., on their roster. Why the Flyers have managed to go away from this brand of hockey over the years is beyond me. But now they find themselves being too easily pushed around in both their zone (where the opposing teams’ offense are allowed to stand freely in front of the Flyers’ net without repercussions for their trespassing’s. As well as in the offensive zone where the Flyers commonly lose out on board battles and are being rightfully forced out of vital rebounding or deflection type areas either in or around the opposition’s net.
So how might the Flyers regain their once rough and rugged reputation, you might be asking? I’m here to tell you it shouldn’t be from the unrestricted free agent market. The Flyers both don’t have the capital to make that happen this offseason, nor should they want to after another failed season where they filled their roster with a bunch of long in the tooth veterans who were well past their prime. Instead, this writer would suggest targeting other teams’ restricted free agents to sign qualifying offers. This would most certainly be the road less traveled, but I think the Flyers should be willing to do so, given their need to make drastic changes before next season.
Yes, the Flyers would need to give up some draft pick compensation (if they did this) depending on what they elected to sign said player/players for. I’ll let you google all the specifics if you so choose to hurry things along. Still, in this writer’s mind, it might be worth trying this considering the type of proven young talent they would be gaining, especially considering their recent failures over the years when drafting in the early rounds. So, the question then becomes: Who might the Flyers management target that plays with the same kind of piss and vinegar that the Flyers teams of old did over the next couple of years? Well, I’m glad you asked.
Lawson Crouse
If it was up to this writer this offseason, one person, the Flyers, should look to go after is Arizona’s RFA Lawson Crouse. He’s a 24-year-old 6’4 215-pound left-winger who made just $1.5 million this season and managed to score 20 goals and 14 assists for 34 points this year for the Coyotes. In saying that Crouse (a former 2015 1st round pick of the Panthers) has become known as a player you don’t want to piss off. Lawson compiled 188 hits this year and has been involved in 17 fights in his now six-years in the NHL, to which he has decisively won most of them. There’s no doubt that Crouse’s physical brand of hockey would be a great addition to the Flyers, but the cost it would take to get him maybe more than the Flyers are willing to give up (hence that draft pick compensation).Â
Yakov Trenin
With that being said, Philadelphia may want to target a lesser-known but still very effective forward named Yakov Trenin from the Nashville Predators, who is currently making significantly less money this season. Trenin is a gritty Russian-born player who is still a very spry 25 years of age and is continuing his breakout season this year with him scoring a goal already in the playoffs. During the regular season, Yakov embodied the Predators newfound toughness by finishing the year with 191 checks and four fights. But keeping true to the thought process of the Flyers trying to obtain physical players who can contribute on the scoreboard as well, Trenin was able to score 17 goals and seven assists for 24 points this year during the regular season, all while making only $725,000. All the more reason why the Flyers should take their shot, right? Trenin should be an affordable resigning for the Predators. Still, if challenged, they may be forced to let him walk because he is one of many free agents, both unrestricted and restricted, that the Preds. have to resign this off-season, and we all know that playoff success means high price tags come the off-season. Some of the players that Nashville has to resign are their star forward, Filip Forsberg, Luke Kunin, Cody Glass, and Jeremy Lauzon, to name a few. If the Flyers were able to pry Trenin from the Predators, they would be getting an unyielding player who never gives up on a play and never backs down from anyone.
Jeremey Lauzon
Hey, since we brought up Jeremey Lauzon, he too would be a welcomed addition to the Flyers’ less than intimidating blue line. Think about it: With Justin Braun being dealt at the deadline, Ryan Ellis’ health still in question moving forward, and both Keith Yandle and Kevin Connauton’s services no longer being needed or wanted anymore, there are spots to be had on the Flyers blueline. Yes, Cam York will fill one of those spots, but will Egor Zamula (another Sanheim/Myers clone) be ready for a full-time role by next season? I don’t know. With that being said, Lauzon is a very physical 25-year-old player who would bring five years of NHL experience to the team if signed. Standing at 6’1 and 204 pounds, Jeremy is a solid defensive defenseman whose 224 hits this season proves that he loves to clear not only guys off the puck but off their feet as well when making a check. Selected from Boston in Seattle’s expansion draft Lauzon was recently traded to the Nashville Predators at the deadline for a 2nd round pick and is due to become a restricted free agent at this season’s end. He currently makes just $850,000, and although he’s not the coveted right-hand shot defender Philadelphia so desperately needs, he would be a vast improvement over Yandle on the left side of the Flyers’ third defensive pairing next season.  Â
To sum it up, the pouching of other teams’ restricted free agents can be tricky and complicated, but it’s not impossible. However, it is a way to piss other teams’ general managers (GM) off and negate any further trades with that team in the future. Let’s be honest, though; the Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher had already done so previously when he claimed multiple teams’ waiver wire players this past season, so the gloves are already off. However, Philadelphia has to make intelligent decisions if they choose to go this route. These players mentioned above will/should not cost the Flyers the type of draft pick compensation that defenseman Shea Weber would have if Nashville didn’t step up and match the Flyers 14-year 110 million dollar offer they signed him to. We’re talking about maybe giving up a second (which the Flyers don’t have) or third-round pick here with these players listed above. In theory, then it would all come down to the agreed-upon annual average value of the contract. In the end, the Flyers would have to weigh risk versus reward, and in this writer’s mind, if there’s a chance, the Flyers could add any of these gritty young players without giving up their top-five pick in the first round. Then they should do so for the good of the team moving forward.
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How about we start going after skilled players. Nice to someone score in the 90 pt range instead of handing out contracts for millions of dollars to a player who produces in the 30 pt range
So true. Let’s get the top line talent that has been missing since lindros. That is the stuff that is hard to find and what you build off of. You need to start with the 5 or so player core and right now I am not sure the flyers have 1 player I would consider core other than hart and he may not be either. Between age on some of the players and the lack of talent there is really not a core here. Let’s build this first, then fill in the holes with the 3 second and third lines they have now. Dump the trash and fill the rest. The first line needs to be the primary concern and hard to get and I do not see how they can buy one player let alone 5. The draft helps but not today, this team is 5 years away from being 3 years away. They are setup for mediocre play for the next 5 years with no way out.
Barry fn trotz
Johnny G he wants to be a flyer
The Flyers Front Office is Incompetent to the max. Piss poor Drafts and Trades are the norm in Flyer land. I’ll be shocked if they pick a legitimate NHL Player that turns out well in this years Draft. Fletcher has made some reall questionable calls since arrivong here in 2018.