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.

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.