Philadelphia Flyers Season Review: F RJ Umberger
By Marc Naples
Philadelphia Flyers forward RJ Umberger didn’t have the bounceback season he was hoping for, and he may be bought out this offseason.
One of the first trades Ron Hextall made as GM of the Philadelphia Flyers was trading Scott Hartnell to the Columbus Blue Jackets for RJ Umberger. Hextall explained that he made the deal because he was looking for cap space, although this swap actually brought him very little space.
Perhaps the trade was about a culture change of the Flyers roster. Whatever the real reason that Hextall made the trade, it remains one of the most inexplicable moves Hextall has made. Many would also say it’s the only real false step he’s taken as GM here.
Umberger’s first season with the Philadelphia Flyers didn’t go very well. To put it most plainly, 67 games, 9 goals, 6 assists, -9. He was invisible most nights. The only reason for hope with Umberger after that poor season is that he eventually admitted he was playing through an injury for most the season that hampered his mobility.
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Umberger came into this season with high hopes of getting back to being a reliable 20-goal player as he had been in the past. Simply put, it didn’t work out that way. It took Umberger 33 games to score a single goal, which carrying over from last season, formed an epic goal-less streak of 50 games.
Despite this offensive impotence, Umberger held down a spot in Hakstol’s lineup for most of the season. Sometimes, Hakstol’s faith was hard to understand, but if Umberger was healthy, he was in the lineup. Finally, the numbers caught up to him, and Umberger was removed from the Flyers lineup near the end of February. He did not return save for B-team duty in a meaningless regular season finale.
It is hard to find many positives in Umberger’s performance this season. His final stat line was 2 goals, 9 assists, and +1 in 39 games. Nor does Umberger find reassurance in advanced possession numbers:
As that chart above shows, Umberger’s possession percentage was at the bottom of the team, as was his even strength ice time per game.
Most of the indicators point in a negative direction for Umberger. He did not produce points. His possession was mediocre. He is not an important special teams contributor. Even allowing that he may have had some tough luck with an unusually low shooting percentage of 4.2% this season, it would be unrealistically optimistic to expect significant contributions from Umberger.
Umberger will be 34 years old this season. It has been 5 years since he hit the 40 point mark, yet he is still on a contract that carries a cap hit of $4.6 million. That is…not ideal.
For obvious reasons, Umberger’s future with the Philadelphia Flyers, and in the NHL for that matter, is hanging by a thread. Umberger sees the writing on the wall, as well. As the season concluded, he told the media that he is expecting to be bought out.
Buying out Umberger would save the Flyers $3 million off their cap next season, but would cost them $1.5 million in cap space the following season. Perhaps the best Umberger can hope for is that Flyers management decide that they can eat that $3 million in 2016-17 in order to save a little money in 2017-18. Most likely, RJ Umberger may not be a Flyer much longer.