Time for a Switcheroo

Coburn Returns

So far this season the Philadelphia Flyers defense has been less than spectacular.  The lack of speed and lateral movement has been exposed in a league that is quickly moving in the direction of speed and athletic ability.

The return of Braydon Coburn will help the defense either tonight in Chicago or tomorrow in Pittsburgh.

Coburn may not be a sexy defenseman and will never be considered for a Norris trophy, but his skill set is desperately missed.

His penalty killing skills are missed along with his mobility and puck movement skills.  Having him in the lineup will stabilize a defensive corps that has been lit up over the past few games.

During the playoffs last year the New York Rangers took advantage of Ray Emery’s lack of lateral movement, allowing them to beat the Flyers in seven games.

Last weekend the Dallas Stars took advantage of the Philadelphia Flyers lack of mobility on the blue line and chased Steve Mason from the game.

The Flyers did come back and get their first win of the season coming from behind, but the lack of speed and movement on the blue line was exposed by a young, quick skating team.

Break up the top Lines

Last week I mentioned breaking up the top line of MichaelRaffl, Claude Giroux, and Jakub Voracek based on their even strength play so far this year.

The idea has gained traction elsewhere and as a further suggestion to that point I would swap Wayne Simmonds for Voracek on the right side of the top line dropping Voracek to the second line opposite Brayden Schenn and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.

The benefits would be adding Simmonds physical play to the top line, replacing the physical, dirty work done by Scott Hartnell, who was traded to Columbus Blue Jackets in the offseason.

The addition of Voracek to the second line would add some skating and playmaking ability to a second line that was a bit too physical with both Schenn and Simmonds on the wings.

In short the idea of swapping Voracek and Simmonds allows a better balance in the top two lines which appear to be leaning a bit too much on the skating and physical sides. 

Goaltending

Last season, Steve Mason appeared to have regained the Calder Trophy form and the Flyers gave him a short contract extension.

This season Mason appears to be reverting back to the form that caused Columbus to trade him. 

During the Dallas Stars game they did not just expose the Flyers lack of mobility on defense, they were able to chase Steve Mason from the game.

His 3.78 GAA and .865 save percentage is not enough to get the job done.

The Flyers have latched onto this small problem the last few years where they give up the early goals and are forced into a position of playing from behind for most of the game. 

When they play from behind it puts more pressure on the team; most of all the goaltender.  In order for the Flyers succeed, the Flyers need better play from Steve Mason, who needs to regain the form that has endured him to Flyers fans since being traded.

Trade Rumors

It is the back end of October and the annual Coburn and Couturier to Edmonton rumors have started.  I heard it will be a blockbuster 25 team deal with the Flyers getting Weber and Ryan.  Sarcasm mode off.

Time to Break up the Top Line

We may only be four games into the 2014-15 campaign, but the Philadelphia Flyers appear to have the same problems that plagued them last season.  Most notably, major problems at even strength.

The power play has been a strength with the team going five for seventeen, good enough for eighth in the league.

The penalty kill has been just as effective with the Flyers one for ten which puts them at tenth.

In terms of penalties the Flyers sit in a very strange position, having accrued the least penalty minutes per game in the league at 7.2 penalty minutes per game.

This has exposed the weakest part of the Flyers game, even strength, where they have given up thirteen even strength goals and scored only six.

The Flyers minus seven put them near the bottom of the league tied with both Buffalo and Colorado with Edmonton the worst even strength team in the NHL at a minus nine.

The problems can be traced specifically to one line and one defensive pairing.  The top line of Michael Raffl/Claude Giroux/Jakub Voracek has accounted for an outsized portion of these goals. 

Michael Raffl has been on the ice for eight even strength goals while Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek have been on the ice for seven each.  These numbers are greatly affected by their poor game against the New Jersey Devils but it does point to a larger problem.  The top line is not as effective at five on five than they should be. 

The case can be made that the Flyers should replace Voracek with Wayne Simmonds on the right side of the top line and begin looking for a replacement on the left side with the possibility of moving Brayden Schenn back up to left wing on the top line.

Simmonds and Schenn can provide the muscle down low and create space for Giroux to work around faceoff circles.

But that is not the only major problem, the defensive pairing of Luke Schenn and Michael Del Zotto has been a problem as well with Luke on the ice for nine even strength goals and Del Zotto eight. 

Again, these numbers are a bit outsized due to the New Jersey Devils game where these five individuals happened to be on ice for a number of New Jersey goals.

I am not sure about a solution for the defense because the Flyers desperately need Del Zotto's speed and ability to push the puck up ice.  Without Del Zotto the Flyers defense is slow and immobile. 

The Flyers should consider a different partner, perhaps Braydon Coburn, when he returns from injury for Michael Del Zotto.

The final two areas of concern are singular players who may not be good fits overall or just looking for the right partner.

R.J.Umberger has been on the ice for six even strength goals against so far this year and Andrew MacDonald five.  No other player accounts for being on the ice for five or more goals.

This is not to say that the pairing of Claude Giroux, Michael Raffl, and Jakub Voracek cannot be effective as they can still anchor the top power play line but it appears that they are not an effective even strength line combination.

The Flyers are in the midst of a roster overhaul focusing on plus skaters with skill and their play has not been that bad.  The key, as they begin an important road trip, is to find effective line combinations at even strength for both the forwards and defense. 

While breaking up some combinations may be unpopular it is necessary if the Flyers expect to turn around the season after a slow start.

Philadelphia Flyers Week in Review – Not the Start we Expected

The first week of the 2014-15 NHL season started out on a difficult note for the Philadelphia Flyers.  They opened the season with a 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins where they played quite well against a team that is expected to contend for Lord Stanley’s Cup.

The next night saw the Flyers drop a 6-4 game to the New Jersey Devils where they fell behind early, came back, but were not able to pull out a victory.

The third game of the week saw the Flyers fall to the Montreal Canadiens in a 4-3 shootout loss which saw the Flyers collapse in the 3rd period after jumping out to a 3-0 lead.

Last night saw the Flyers fall behind early to the Anaheim Ducks, in what has become commonplace over the last few years, rally to tie the game before falling once again in the shootout.

I will take a quick look at the first two games and skip the third for the most part, since I chose to watch the Phantoms opener against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  A game that the Phantoms won convincingly 5-2.

Starting with the game against the Boston Bruins the Flyers played a solid game.  The fourth line of Zac Rinaldo, Jason Akeson, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare were the most impressive.  They used their plus skating ability to move the puck up ice and disrupt the Bruins offense with the exception being Zac Rinaldo penalty early on which led to a goal.

With the role of the slow, physical enforcer on the decline fourth lines across the league will be looked at to provide energy and grit without resorting to dropping the gloves and the fourth line did just that.

The effort was solid for the entire game and despite falling short the game gave fans hope coming into the season opener.

The second game saw the Flyers start slow falling behind 3-0 before clawing back to tie the game at 3 before ultimately falling 6-4. 

Much has been made of the play from the line of Luke Schenn and Michael Del Zotto, who were a minus five and minus four respectively, but not enough talk has been focused on the play of Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, and Michael Raffl who were all minus four each. 

Through the first four games the top line has not been effective enough.  The Brayden Schenn experiment was ended quite fast and they seem to be out of position at times.

On Saturday night, I missed most of the Montreal Canadiens game, choosing to catch the season opener for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms as they took on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. 

The Phantoms won the game easily 5-2 with a number of players filling the score sheet.  They looked like the sharper team from the drop of the puck and easily handled a Penguins team that appeared out of sync.

Of particular note Mark Alt and Robert Hagg were by far the best two players on the ice and the top defensive pairing.  Chris Vandevelde is an early favorite to be called up if GM Ron Hextall deems it necessary to call up a forward.

Highly touted defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere played a good game, but he showed why he needs a year of seasoning at the AHL level.  Standing at only 5' 11" and 170 pounds Shayne Gostisbehere needs to adjust to a faster pace, playing against guys weighing 50 pounds heavier than him, and the mental aspects required to succeed at this level.

There is one small area that needs adjusting; playing until the end of his shift.  On one occasion Gostisbehere skated from end to end with the puck dumping it in deep to a forward.  Instead of taking a hard stride and turning around the face the play, he took three small strides with his back to the play.  If his deep forward lost the puck Gostisbehere would have his back to the play, giving the defense the chance to skate or push the puck past him for a break.

Notes:

A quick observation from watching the first two games is that the Flyers need to play less like a team on the ice and become more selfish.  Over the years when the team is not scoring they have a penchant for making that extra pass. 

The Flyers need to stop taking that extra pass and look to shoot more.  While they are getting a more than acceptable amount of shots the quality could be much better.  When the shot totals are tallied post-game how many quality chances do you remember? 

In terms of Braydon Schenn, it appears as though the LW experiment on the top line opposite Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek has come to a strange end during the New Jersey Devils game.

While it is odd that the experiment would be cut short so fast his replacement, Michael Raffl, was a disaster logging a -4 in only 8:28 of even strength ice time.

While it may appear that they are playing well; an elite player in Claude Giroux centering the top line they should be doing much more.  In short, the line should be dominating opponents.  Instead, when they are on the ice and they appear to be just playing acceptable hockey.

In terms of overall play the Flyers going into Tuesday night's game, the Flyers are the second least penalized team in the NHL.  An emphasis on discipline is shown with a faster skating team that continues to play physical yet understands the lines drawn on the ice.

Zac Rinaldo, in particular, is playing a more restrained game using his natural plus skating talent  to provide energy to the fourth line.

In fact the fourth line has been the best line this season without scoring many goals.  They are skating, hitting, and playing with discipline while not putting themselves in the penalty box proving that the Flyers do not need a pugilistic line to be effective.

Wayne Simmonds is the best player on the Flyers right now.  His hot start is making a strong case for him to be inserted alongside Claude Giroux instead of Jakub Voracek.

Mark Streit, on the other hand is clearly showing his age early on this season, moving slower, but still able to handle the responsibilities on the top defensive pairing.

Steve Mason appears to be reverting back to Columbus form.  He has let in a number of goals that should have been stopped.  A low start or mean reversion is disconcerting after last year’s breakout.

I think it would be for the best if the following changes were made to the lines.

1.  Michael Del Zotto needs a better partner than Luke Schenn on defense.  His speed is sorely needed on the back line and a better partner would strengthen the overall defense.

2.  The pairing of Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux should be broken up with Voracek pushed down off the top line.  Last night’s lack of effort from Voracek in the shootout when compared with the effort shown by Claude Girous is disconcerting.  Wayne Simmonds right now appears to be the best partner for Claude Giroux. 

The Flyers need a better goal song, again.

Your 2014-15 Philadelphia Flyers Forwards

The 2014-15 Philadelphia Flyers stand in start contrast to the team assembled just a year ago.  Gone are 20+ goal scorer Scott Harnell and fourth line stalwarts Adam Hall and Jay Rosehill. 

Added into the lineup are Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Jason Akeson, whose playoff call-up added some jump to the roster.

Enforcer Jay Rosehill has been sent down to the Phantoms as of the time this article was penned and posted, but may be recalled after some LTIR issues are dealt with.

The biggest change to the roster will be the promotion of Matt Read and Sean Couturier to the second line from last year’s third line, a move that will make many fans happy.  Already in preseason games they appear to have clicked with Wayne Simmonds making for a potentially strong second line to supplement the Schenn-Giroux-Voracek top line.

The third line will comprise Vinny Lecavalier, Michael Raffl, and R.J. Umberger back for a second tour with the Flyers.

The Flyers will stand in stark contrast to last year's team in a number of areas and it is in these areas where Ron Hextall has already put his stamp on the roster. 

In the offseason, Hextall spoke a bit about roster construction and the difficulties in finding a perfect three man line.  He talked about finding two player combinations and then inserting a third player to complement the first two. 

That said, Brayden Schenn will be called upon to complement Flyers Captain Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek on the left wing.

Fans have been expecting more from Brayden and the promotion to top line left wing should do the trick.  Last season’s 20 goals were only 3 goals behind Voracek and 8 goals behind Giroux, not that much of a drop-off considering he centered the second line.  His six game winning goals was second on the team to Giroux’s seven. 

Fans need to keep in mind that this will be Brayden’s second full 82 game season with the team and only 23 years old.  He is still growing into his role and maturing as a player, but another 20+ goal season is not out of the question.

The second line will now be manned by Sean Couturier and Matt Read, a strong combination that has clicked since they were paired together.  The complementary piece, if you can call him that, is Wayne Simmonds the Flyers leading goal scorer with 29. 

Simmonds will have an interesting role as Couturier and Read are well known around the league for their strong defensive play, but not as well known for their offensive prowess. 

Read was able to tally 22 goals and Sean Couturier just 13 but do not let Couturier’s numbers mislead you.  Couturier logged 3:25 seconds of shorthanded ice time per game, leading not just the Flyers but the NHL for forwards as well.  Word around the NHL was that a number of teams held Couturier in high regard and were surprised when the Flyers did not push for him to be included in the candidates for the Selke trophy.

At 21 years of age Sean Couturier has shown a level of play on par with the top ranked players in his draft class.  More will be expected of him offensively centering the second line, but as fans we have to remember how far Couturier has come in a short period of time and his age.

The third line appears to be a work in progress as RJ Umberger replaces Scott Hartnell and Michael Raffl returns for his sophomore season with Vinny Lecavalier centering the third line. 

Time will tell how they work together, but for now the third line appears to have a nice mix of skills that may work out best in the end.

Finishing out the forward corps is a fourth line of Zac Rinaldo, Pierre-Edouard Bellemere, and Jason Akeson.  The three will be asked to provide a bit of grit along with some push to give the top lines a bit of rest.  One key here that is a huge difference from previous years is the plus skating ability of all three players. 

It should be noted that in not having Scott Hartnell, Jay Rosehill, and Steve Downie not on the roster the Flyers lose 263 penalty minutes, not a trivial amount when one considers the Flyers led the NHL in penalty minutes last season with 1180 minutes of penalty time. 

Broken down further the Flyers accumulated 14 minutes and 23 seconds of penalty time per game and 357 minor penalties.  The loss of Scott Hartnell, Jay Rosehill, and Steve Downie amounted to 68 minor penalties or almost 20% of the total.

If Zac Rinaldo can play more restrained hockey and bring down his total from 150 penalty minutes and 29 minor penalties then the team will be much more disciplined allowing for more opportunities for the top line players. 

Why do I mention more restrained play?

One of the complaints about the Flyers has been about their poor puck possession statistics.  Part of the may be due to a number of poor skating players who moved on in the offseason along with the high number of penalty minutes.

The high number of penalty minutes led to some problems last season where an ineffective fourth line would be trotted out on the ice to rest the top three lines which were constantly juggling time between the power play and penalty kill.

A more effective fourth line combined with fewer penalty minutes should provide additional shifts for Sean Couturier and Matt Read to capture more power play and even strength ice time leading to better puck possession statistics overall.

A point that Hextall has made with his draft picks is their ability to be plus skaters.  In the past the Flyers fourth line consisted of many slow afoot forwards whose sole goal was to provide the muscle.  The addition of a plus skating fourth line will mean more effective play from the top to the bottom as the fourth line could be trusted with more responsibility.

Later today the defense, goaltending, and my thoughts about this season.