2012-13 Flyers Projected Line-Up
By John LaMarra
NHL.com has put in their two cents about the Flyers possible line-up on opening night. Given the pending lockout we’ll see if there is any opening night this season. Regardless of that though I think they have put together a pretty accurate assesment of where the Flyers stand right now as far as their forward lines and defensive pairings go. NHL.com released the following as their projected lines:
Forwards
Scott Hartnell – Claude Giroux – Jakub Voracek
Wayne Simmonds – Brayden Schenn – Danny Briere
Ruslan Fedotenko – Sean Couturier – Matt Read
Eric Wellwood – Maxime Talbot – Zac Rinaldo
Defensemen
Kimmo Timonen – Nicklas Grossmann
Erik Gustafsson – Bruno Gervais
Goaltenders
I don’t fully agree with Jody Shelley as the 13th forward as I see at least one Phantom that deserves the spot more. That Phantom is Harry Z. He is a grinder, but has some scoring punch too and could easily slip onto one of either the 3rd of 4th line and give them a boost if an injury to a starter were to occur. As far as the goaltenders go I think Leights is a great addition. He is exactly what we need behind Bryz – a veteran career back-up goaltender. He is a solid veteran back-up goalie too. He can give Bryz a rest when needed and can perform pretty well still at his age. I think the 2010 run he had here was about as high as he will ever get in his career so I don’t see him challenging anybody for a starter spot again, but he he does his job as a back-up well. Defensively Bourdon’s health will be the key factor on how much ice time he receives this season. I think the Flyers management and coaching staff really liked what they saw out of the youngster and if it were not for his concussion issues last season he would of been considered a lock to break the starting 6. When he gets his shot in the line-up this season, due to injury or otherwise, he will have to show that he has not lost a step and he will of course have to prove he can stay healthy. Rusty Fedotenko was another solid add this offseason although his presence will be more felt in the playoffs if his history tells us anything. He is an adaptable forward though as he can moved all around the line-up. We will probably see him on every line between the 2nd and 4th this season. The most intersesting thing to me about this projection is that they have Danny moving back to the wing to start this season. Danny has always played better at center and if the Flyers do indeed start him on the wing I don’t think it will be too long before he is shifted into the middle again.
-John LaMarra
@popesnipes77