Braydon Coburn: Fixable Struggles

There is no denying it, Braydon Coburn has not played well at all this season, but his issues may be solvable.

Using Coburn as a scapegoat for the Flyers’ struggles is far too easy. It takes more effort to understand his struggles and notice that perhaps he can become a productive blue-liner again, if adjustments are made.

Over the course of his eight years in Philadelphia, Coburn has been at his best when paired with mobile defensemen, more than likely due to his utter lack of mobility.

Last season, Coburn played best when paired with the likes of Mark Streit or his usual partner, Kimmo Timonen (although Kimmo was beginning to lose mobility as well).

When Coburn was in his main pairing with Timonen, the two were on the ice for 31 goals for and 33 goals against, markedly better than many other Flyer defensive pairs. Additionally, when Coburn was paired with Streit, the two were on the ice for more goals for than goals against, a five to three ratio.

“when Coburn was paired with Streit, the two were on the ice for more goals for than goals against”

When paired with the not-so-fleet of foot Luke Schenn last season, Coburn was on the ice for three goals against and not a single goal for.

Perhaps the best indicator of Coburn’s struggles with fellow-immobile defensemen can be found by looking at his stats the season before last. In the 2012-13 season he was predominately paired with a second or third pair defenseman, Bruno Gervais and the only Flyer who might be slower than Coburn, Nicklas Grossmann. That season, Coburn recorded his worse plus/minus of his NHL career, at minus-10.

This season, when Coburn first returned from injury, in the Nov. 8 game against Colorado, he was paired with Schenn again. Coburn was a minus-2 in that game, took four minutes of penalties and only put a single shot on net. In his defense, he did have to play over 20 minutes of ice time in his first game back from an injury, which is no easy task, especially for a 29-year-old defenseman, who has been gobbling up minutes in his career.

Obviously, with Timonen out, Coburn cannot be reunited with his best defensive partner, but there are clearly some Flyers that Coburn could work well with.

Live Feed

Puck Prose

Three pairs that could work well for Coburn

1) Mark Streit- Streit may be the oldest active defenseman on the Flyers roster (because Chris Pronger is still “on the roster”), but he is still one of the most mobile and probably the most offensive-minded. Simply put, Streit has been the best Flyer defenseman this season.

2) Michael Del Zotto- The youthful energy of the 24-year-old Del Zotto could give Coburn a much needed boost. With the exception of one or two games, Del Zotto has been productive on the blue line and doesn’t appear to get caught flatfooted, like Coburn is prone to.

3) Shayne Gostisbehere- With the rookie injured, this pairing obviously wouldn’t occur this season. However, a mobile and productive Gostisbehere could be a good supplement to Coburn’s size in the future.