10 random thoughts: Flyers’ MVP, next season’s lineup, Hart, Brink, Giroux and much more (+)
For the Philadelphia Flyers, there are just 11 games remaining in this Lost Season. What can they accomplish from now until their final game April 29 against the visiting Ottawa Senators? What does the future look like?
Here are some random thoughts:
1. Keep playing the kids.
The Flyers have done a nice job incorporating Morgan Frost, Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, Cam York and Ronnie Attard into their lineup, giving them experience and finding out if they belong here next season.
Of that group, all but Attard look like they are ready to stay in the NHL for the 2022-23 season.
2. While on the subject, am I the only one puzzled as to why Hayden Hodgson, who recently turned 26, was sent to the minors?
Don’t you want to see what he can do and if he fits into the future?
Move Patrick Brown from right wing back to center, play Hodgson as the fourth-line right winger, and bench 37-year-old center Nate Thompson.
3. Does Carter Hart’s play lately concern you?
The Flyers need to sign 6-foot-6 Russian goaltender Ivan Fedotov — they drafted him in 2015 and he has excelled in the KHL — and get him here to give Hart some competition next season.
Hart, 23, has the talent and is the No. 1 goalie until someone else proves otherwise, but from here, he needs somebody pushing him because he has
had too many lapses in recent games. His play at the posts has been shaky for a while, and he has allowed 19 goals over his last four games.
4. The Flyers’ 2022-23 season will hinge on the health of Ryan Ellis and Sean Couturier.
That’s a HUGE question mark.
The last time GM Chuck Fletcher spoke about Ellis, he wasn’t sure about whether he needed surgery for a hip, groin or whatever the Flyers are afraid to tell us is injured.
As for Couturier, he is coming off back surgery, so it would be surprising if he was able to jump right into the action and be the same player who was the team’s MVP for three straight seasons before this year. In other words, Fletcher needs to build depth as a contingency plan.
5. What would be the ideal lineup for the Flyers in 2022-23?
Well, let’s assume Couturier, Ellis, and often-injured Wade Allison are healthy, here is how it might look:
Top line: Kevin Hayes centering Johnny Gaudreau (signed as a free agent) and Cam Atkinson. Call it the Boston College Line.
Second line: Sean Couturier centering Joel Farabee and Travis Konecny. That’s assuming Couturier won’t get top-line minutes right away because the Flyers don’t want to overdo his surgically repaired back.
Third line: Morgan Frost centering Scott Laughton and Owen Tippett. To me, Laughton is better-suited at wing, though he also plays solidly at center, so he and Frost could flip-flop positions.
Fourth line: Cates centering Oskar Lindblom and Allison. This is a good enough line to play more minutes than a traditional fourth unit. (I’m assuming James van Riemsdyk is bought out of the final year of his contract, which carries a $7 million cap hit.)
The above lines aren’t exactly comparable to the Florida Panthers’, but there is a lot of potential if the Flyers can find someone to bring it out of the young players.
There is also a chance the Flyers deal Konecny as part of a blockbuster trade.
As for the defense, remember Fletcher said everything is in play, and there are a lot of teams that would be interested in Ivan Provorov, especially St. Louis and Craig Berube.
But if no one is dealt, the defense might look like this:
Top pairing: Provorov and Ellis.
Second pairing: Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Third pairing: Cam York and Egor Zamula/Wyatte Wylie.
Goalies: Hart and Felix Sandstrom or Fedotov.
Coach: Joel Quenneville.
6. Good on the Flyers to honor legendary public-address announcer Lou Nolan before Saturday night’s 7:30 game against Anaheim.
The Ducks have a pair of former Flyers, Gerry Mayhew (eight goals in 32 games) and backup goalie Anthony Stolarz, who is quietly have a strong season — a 10-7-2 record with a 2.55 GAA and a .920 save percentage).
As for Nolan, how is he not in the Flyers’ Hall of Fame?
7, Speaking of Nolan, what are the odds he and Phillies PA announcer Dan Baker would both reach 50 years at the mic in the same season?
But that’s what has happened.
Both are among the classiest people you will ever met. Both are Philadelphia treasures.
8. It’s all on the line for Flyers prospect Bobby Brink and the University of Denver on Saturday night.
Denver will face Minnesota State in the NCAA championship game at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
Brink, the nation’s leading point producer, and Minnesota forward Ben Meyers lost out to Minnesota State goalie Dryden McKay Friday for the Hobey Baker Award as the nation’s best player.
I have a feeling Brink would rather beat McKay and win the Frozen Four championship.
By the way, Meyers and McKay went undrafted. Myers is a free agent — the Flyers have shown interest — and McKay will be a free agent after the title game.
9. Claude Giroux keeps rolling along.
The former long-time Flyers captain had a goal and an assist in Florida’s 4-3 win Friday over Buffalo. He has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in nine games with the Panthers, who are 8-1 with Giroux in the lineup.
10. Giroux played just 57 games before being traded, but he still might win the Bobby Clarke Trophy as the Flyers’ MVP.
The winger/center was the Philadelphia Flyers’ lone All-Star this season, and he had 18 goals and 42 points when he was dealt.
From here, the Flyers’ other MVP candidates are Cam Atkinson (23 goals, 50 points in 70 games) and Hart, who is 13-23-7, with a 3.11 GAA, and .906 save percentage.
Travis Sanheim should win the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the team’s best defenseman.
