With the Flyers’ continued struggles offensively throughout this entire playoffs, one spot that will surely have a “help wanted” sign on it when this season ends is that of the third line center, which is currently being filled by the Scott Laughton. Derek Grant was supposed to take over the third line Center position, but couldn’t handle it. Grant, the Flyers’ trade deadline acquisition, came from the Anaheim Ducks for a fourth round pick and AHL player Kyle Criscuolo. This 30-year-old center looked to be a steal after the Flyers acquired him, scoring five points in just seven games played for the Flyers before the global pandemic stopped play in its tracks. Since play has resumed though, it has been a different story entirely. Grant went from being a sparkplug in the Flyers’ lineup to a name you may hear once or twice a game (most of the time now not for a good reason). Grant has just two assists in the playoffs thus far and that’s mostly because of Claude Giroux being placed on his line because of his own current struggles offensively. It’s not like the Flyers are short on the depth chart: Grant has been playing alongside some decent players, but for some reason that line in general can’t seem to get to going. With Grant’s current play and impending unrestricted free agent status, signs look like Grant could be finding a new place to hang his skates whenever the Flyers season ends.
So, if not Grant then who? The obvious choice would be the former 2017 number two overall draft pick center Nolan Patrick, right? Patrick, who once looked like a sure thing coming out of juniors, has missed this entire season with “migraines” or concussion-like symptoms. This forward has been unable to play a complete season without injuries since his 2015-2016 season with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League. Now, Nolan is still just 21-years-old and will hopefully heal and be able to play at a high level once again. But even when Nolan has been in the lineup for the Flyers, he has not impressed the way a second overall pick should! He has been averaging just thirteen goals and thirty points a season in the two he has played in thus far. That is far cry from the stats other current second overall selections- players in the league are producing like Patrik Laine, Jack Eichel, Aleksander Barkov, Gabriel Landeskog, Tyler Seguin, Evgeni Malkin, Eric Staal, Victor Hedman, and Drew Doughty to name a few.
The Flyers are now faced with making the crucial decision on just what to do with Patrick (who is a restricted free agent (RFA) at season end). It’s easy to say resign him right- but at what cost? As we’ve seen with Flyers’ greats Eric Lindros and Keith Primeau, previously a head injury could affect a player’s career. Once you have had one, you’re only a dirty hit away from yet another concussion, or worse- a career-ending head injury. What then should the Flyers be willing to pay Patrick knowing this? General Manger Chuck Fletcher didn’t seem to hesitate in the slightest when he offered winger Oskar Lindblom a hefty raise singing him to a three-year deal worth nine million dollars just days after Lindblom’s oncologists said he had won his battle with the aggressive cancer Ewing’s Sarcoma. The Flyers took it one step further and even had Lindblom now join them in Toronto’s playoff bubble, saying that Oskar could indeed suit up for the Flyers as early as September.
That wasn’t the case with Patrick who the Flyers had previously announced would not be attending the playoffs with them, even though Nolan is feeling better and practicing with the team. Sounds kind of fishy right? Is Patrick indeed healthy or might he still be dealing with the occasional symptoms?
With that in mind, how much should the Flyers invest in this still young but unreliable player? The team flourished without Patrick over the course of this season and even won the Round Robin portion of the tournament which seeded them in the number one overall spot in Eastern Conference for the playoffs. Should the Flyers risk giving a contract to Patrick like that
of Lindblom’s, a year before having to pay Carter Hart and defenseman Phillipe Myers (who are RFA’s after next season and are set for a significant raise)? Offering Patrick a contract would surely block those coming behind him with Courtier, Hayes, and potentially Patrick signed for years to come.
One of those players that Patrick’s contract would be sure to prevent from progressing is Center Morgan Frost (the team’s next man up) who was the Flyers other 2017 1 st round draft pick. Frost, who is also just 21-years-old, had some mighty impressive years in juniors as well- totaling over one hundred points twice in his time with the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario
Hockey League. The part of the season that Morgan spent with the Flyers was impressive, but he seemed snake bitten at times. While he was obviously in the right position most of the time to score a goal, Frost just couldn’t capitalize as much as he and the team would have liked this
season. Frost was later demoted back to the team’s American Hockey League affiliate the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, where he seemed to capitalize better with the extra ice time allotted to him.
Morgan’s name has been thrown out there recently by some fans when they have called for Frost to replace Flyers’ Center Derek Grant in the current Flyers lineup to try and regain a spark to the Flyers’ offense. This writer doesn’t know how well that would work given the sudden magnitude of the Flyers’ upcoming games, but it would be interesting to see if Frost has
advanced his skills any during the long break in play so that he might be better suited for the rigorous NHL style. If so, Frost would be the easy pick to take over the job if Patrick is still unfit for play next season. Which I remind you is set to commence just days after this season ends (thanks to COVID).
Another option the Flyers should at least be pondering right now is a possible trade that would bring in a current NHL center from another team, if for nothing else than insurance. The Flyers are one of the best teams in the league as we speak. They shouldn’t waste another year waiting for a prospect to develop or assume Patrick will remain healthy- only to have him not play again next season or get injured a few games into the season. Waiting would also cause veteran players like Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek to creep ever closer to retirement. The Flyers should cash in with the team they have now, because in the coming years more and more of the Flyers’ young players who are on entry level contracts currently (like Hart and Myers) will have to be resigned, allowing for less and less cap space for Fletcher to put a team together. Gifted with a bevy of talented prospects, Chuck should find a few players in the Flyers’ system from a position they have extreme depth in and offer them up in a package deal similar to that of the recent trade that saw the Leafs’ Kasperi Kapanen become a Pittsburgh Penguin (who share this same philosophy and have raised three cups since 2009).
One such player Philadelphia should look to trade for if they so choose this route is Montreal’s centerman (and former first round pick) Max Domi. Max, who we saw play in the series against the Canadiens, is being vastly misused by Head Coach Claude Julien. Julien played Domi on the third and fourth lines this year. Julien moved Domi who last season scored 28 goals
and had 72 points from his regular position as center and placed him on the wing at times this season. Even with Domi now having to play with ex-Flyers Dale Weise and Jordan Weal at times as linemates, Max still managed to post 17 goals and 44 points this season. Why Julien would mess with such a good thing is beyond me, but both Domi and the Canadiens seem set to file a divorce claiming irreconcilable differences. The Flyers might be wise to take Domi off Montreal’s hands seeing that he offers the Flyers everything they currently need. Speed up the middle, a scoring threat, the ability to defend his star players, and a sense of fearlessness that has not been matched since Max’s dad (Tie Domi) retired.
There’s no doubt that the Flyers’ General Manager Chuck Fletcher will be forced to face this tough decision head-on in coming weeks. There may be more questions than he has answers to, and he will have to use his gut instinct to determine what he thinks is the best decision for his team moving forward. With the uncertainty of Nolan Patrick’s health, and Morgan Frost still needing just a little more time to develop, it might be wise to overpay for a guy like Domi now in order to ensure another shot at the cup next season.
