Why Zack MacEwen Was A Solid Pickup By The Flyers

Photo Credit: USA Today

Flyers Fans were treated with more waiver wire action as the Flyers announced yesterday they claimed 6’3, 205 pound right-winger Zack MacEwen from the Vancouver Canucks. Shortly after, they ultimately placed Kevin Hayes on Long Term injury Reserve (LTIR).

MacEwen, 25, recorded one goal, one assist, and 44 penalty minutes in 34 games with the Canucks last season. A lot of fans are left wondering if this was a good choice by General Manager Chuck Fletcher or not to pluck MacEwen off waivers, and I’m here to tell you why this was a solid pickup.

To Start off, the Flyers have lacked in the toughness and physicality category for quite some time now. This has certainly been addressed now with the addition of MacEwen, as well as, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Patrick Brown. As mentioned, MacEwen is a 6’3 Right Winger, not only does he have great size, he’s a solid skater, battles hard, gets to the dirty areas, fights, and isn’t scared of anybody. While he may not bring the best offensive game only putting up two points in 34 games in 2021. For Vancouver, he brought much needed toughness and physicality to the team. As we saw last season, the Flyers didn’t really stick up for one another.

With the addition of MacEwen, this shouldn’t be the case anymore. MacEwen is one of those players that will force his way to the net, shove you in the corners, and wins hard battles. Zack will most definitely stick up for our Captain, our young studs, anybody for that matter. Upon being claimed, Canucks Fans immediately reacted to this and were not pleased what so ever to lose MacEwen. Which means, he must have been a fan favorite over there and I predict it wont take long before he becomes one here in Philly.

The 25-year-old Winger surely will be an extra forward in the meantime, but he’s a bottom six grinder who is going to fit well here in Philly. If you are still wondering why MacEwen is a good pickup, let me dive deeper. Zack will have a specific role here when he plays, maybe he will, maybe he won’t, but perhaps he is going to be a guy that goes to the corners and wins puck battles to feed the puck to the slot. The addition of the 205 pound winger will make sure the Flyers are a harder team to play against, as we all know that was an issue last season. Moreover, the Canucks will surely miss his toughness and the fans in Philly will certainly love it. MacEwen dropped the gloves six times last season, and twice in the pre-season. He recently dropped the gloves with Zack Kassian of the Edmonton Oilers, who is a tough customer himself. Both got some really good punches in, but MacEwen got the take down. To end things off, General Manager Chuck Fletcher knew this team lacked toughness and he addressed it in a very good way.

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