Why Moving Flyers’ Samuel Morin To Wing May Be Genius!

It is no secret that the Philadelphia Flyers last season lacked size, strength, and physicality in their lineup. This past postseason fans were forced to watch as their team was not only pushed around by the competition but were straight bullied! Certain east coast thugs saw the Flyers’ unwillingness to stand up for themselves as a sign of weakness and proceeded to take runs on their players that could have resulted in major injury.  Some of the Flyers that were on the receiving end of some of these hits during the playoffs were star defenseman Ivan Provorov, first-line center Sean Couturier, and penalty-killing specialist Michael Raffl. These plays were all dirty and deliberately done with the intent to injure. With that being said, there was also no justice handed out by Philadelphia for these uncalled-for actions by their adversaries. 

This club showed that they were unable to deliver any sort of vengeance or retribution to their opponents when these type plays happened, and this shameful and obvious issue needed to be fixed before the start of the next season. But this would prove easier said than done: The Flyers were able to re-sign all their restricted free agents and had little cap space left after doing so. Pair that with an already picked-over free-agent crop, and their choices were proving to be limited. So, management had to get creative. 

Over the course of the off season, head coach Alain Vigneault (AV) came up with a resourceful but innovative idea that he did not have to look too far to come up with. In fact, he might have conjured it up while just sitting at his desk at the Flyers’ practice facility in Voorhees, NJ. The reason why (as most know who have ever had the pleasure to meet the 6’7 227-pound Flyer) is that Sam Morin is quite hard to miss! While other team members departed the Philadelphia area for destinations all over the world when their season was done, Morin choose to stay and work endlessly on his craft. Throughout this off-season Sam spent a lot of his time at the rink. Whether he’s in the gym getting stronger, pushing himself on the ice, or just studying game tape of players he strives to emulate, Sam continues to put in the time. His efforts did not go unnoticed by Vigneault, and this got AV to thinking. With the thoughts of the Flyers’ defeat in the playoffs- and why that happened- still on his mind, Vigneault began to ponder how he could use Morin’s attributes to his advantage. Since Morin has been drafted way back in the 1^st round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, the Flyers’ depth at the defensive position has cultivated nicely, leaving this towering blueliner likely the team’s 8^th or 9^th defenseman on the depth chart; with still many more talented defensive prospects on the way. But Morin’s brand of size and toughness cannot be found on any free-agent list or on most any NHL teams’ roster for that matter, so Vigneault decided to sit Sam down and ask him if he could play wing. 

Now you may think this move is a bit of a stretch (pun intended), but it might be quite genius, and here’s why: Morin formerly played offense before switching to defense. Incidentally, it’s a not-so-well known fact that, before being drafted, Sam’s game while playing for the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) tended to be on the offensive side. Sam frequently brought the puck up out of his own zone and was thought to be quite the playmaker. Scoring 5 goals, and 27 assists for 32 points in 38 games played in his last season with the Oceanic, Sam saw totals that were good enough to see him reach an average of .842 point per game. 

In true Philadelphia fashion, it was not until after he was drafted (like the Eagles did when they drafted mobile quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Carson Wentz) that the Flyers decided to change Sam’s game. No, not to a pocket-passer, but rather a stay-at-home defenseman. This effort by the once-great Flyers’ defenseman (now turned player development coach) Kjell Samuelsson took a long time and might have been part of the reason (besides the injuries) why Morin has taken so long to develop.  

This discussion between Morin and AV hit Sam with a hard dose of reality: Knowing that he was buried by the depth in his position and coming off not one, but two ACL injuries, Morin knew that this might be his last chance here in Philly. So instead of being irritated by this talk with his coach, and asking for a trade like other players around the league might have done, Sam decided to tackle this challenge and began to grind even harder during his time at the rink in an effort to try a transform himself to the player (left wing) his team needs him to be! 

Just think: The Flyers lacked size and physicality, right? Well, that could be a thing of the past if Morin is able to make this transition happen quickly and effectively. Think of it this way: with Morin’s height it may take him one stride to match the three it takes a smaller player to achieve, and would you want to be the opposing teams’ defensemen who have to go fish the puck out of the boards during a dump-and-chase by the Flyers when you have a 6’7 227-pound freight train bearing down on you? I think not! If you have ever been so lucky to hear the boards rattle and see them sway after one of Sam’s devasting hits from way up in the nose-bleed section, then you can only imagine what that impact might have done to that player when they just crumpled to the ice afterwards. What about the possibility of having Morin stand in front of the opposition’s netminder while his team cycles the puck in the offensive zone? Besides the Dallas Stars’ 6’7 goaltender Ben Bishop, most others around the league would not even stand the chance of seeing the puck until it hit the back of their net. Sam has been practicing taking up real estate in front of the blue paint as of late; and from what I hear, it seems to be going rather well! 

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Above all, this will give Morin the opportunity to do what he does best, and that’s police the ice! Sam’s willingness to finish each and every checking opportunity that presents itself (and then some) is exactly what had Flyers fans pouring into Phantoms games in droves in years past for their chance to see this colossal talent. But let us be honest: They were not there just to see him lay hits; They were there to see him absolutely pulverize anyone that was “brave” enough to drop the gloves with him. Now, some of you may say that there is no room for that in hockey anymore, but I would ask you to go back and think of what players like Tom Wilson (of the Washington Capitals) and others like him have done to the Flyers over the years.  

That is why- for those of you that say the game has changed- this proves it has not changed completely. There is still a need for a player that possesses Morin’s abilities when players like Wilson decide to lay knee-to-knee hits when his victim is not looking. Or when Wilson takes four and five strides, charging in to hit a vulnerable player who has his back to him and is facing the boards. When Wilson sees these players in such compromising positions, he thinks of them as prey: Instead of stopping he decides to leave his feet to go flying into them. Tom sadly is just one example of the dirty players that still exist in this league and play with reckless abandon. These players fear no punishment handed out by the referees or suspensions from the league. This is why the Flyers must have a player dressed and on the ice that can give Tom Wilson (and players like him) a taste of their own medicine while protecting Philadelphia’s star players in the process. 

AV should consider the switch to offense for Sam a high priority for the Flyers, and therefore Morin should receive some extra tutelage from, say, Flyers’ coach Ian Laperrière (who played a very similar role for a long time in the NHL for several clubs around the league) in order to get him up to speed very quickly. Who knows if this brilliant idea by AV will ever really come to fruition, but it is definitely worth a shot for all parties involved.   

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