The first days of Philadelphia Flyers training camp hint at coach Dave Hakstol’s early designs on the 3rd line, and they make sense to me
For much of last season, the Philadelphia Flyers were a team without a real third line. For significant stretches of last season, the Flyers ran a de facto third line of Chris VandeVelde, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and Ryan White. That trio was really a 4th line by most measures, but they got the ice time and matchups of a 3rd line.
This did the Flyers no favors. Even when this 4th line was playing a little better and scoring a few down the stretch, they never really moved out of 4th line territory.
Of course you can’t really blame 4th liners for playing like 4th liners. The real problem was the lack of a trusted 3rd line. The Flyers are still waiting on their defensive youth movement to occur naturally, and couldn’t play free agent games to bolster the top-6 forwards, but the 3rd line could be improved in the off-season.
Now that training camp is open, we have a big hint into that plan. Right form the start, Dave Hakstol had Scott Laughton, Nick Cousins, and new free agent Dale Weise together. For me, this has the bones of a good 3rd line.
Starting in the middle, Nick Cousins is probably the real key to this line. From what I saw, Cousins was a devil on skates in AHL, earning an allstar nod. Once called up to the big leagues, Cousins continued to be an effective player. Cousins put up very good shot differential numbers, and he worked with Matt Read and Scott Laughton down the stretch to be a much more effective 3rd line than anything the Flyers used previously.
Related Story: Nick Cousins Season Review
The second key piece to this line is newly-signed Dale Weise. Weise earned a sizeable contract from the Philadelphia Flyers for a depth player, but obviously Hextall likes the qualities he brings and the trending direction of Weise’s career. Weise is a tough fore-checker who will hope to hit the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career this season.
Related Story: Meet Dale Weise
Now the biggest question mark of this potential 3rd line crew is Scott Laughton. The former 1st round pick is now 22, so it’s about time he finds his footing in the NHL. Looking back at last season, Laughton struggled quite a bit in the first half.
Things got better later in the season when he moved to the wing, and in particular as a part of the aforementioned Cousins-Read-Laughton line. Despite being drafted as a center, it now appears Laughton’s NHL future would lie on the wing, using his speed and playing a simpler role game.
Related Story: Scott Laughton Season Review
If Laughton stumbles, look for Matt Read to be pressing for the spot. Read has been on thin ice after 2 straight seasons of low production, although his shot differential stats last season were actually very good. This may be the 30-year old Read’s last chance to reclaim his spot in the Flyers lineup, so he’ll have plenty of motivation.
The lack of 3rd line was a real problem for the Philadelphia Flyers last year. Hopefully with some growth from youngsters Cousins and Laughton, joined by a veteran grinder in Weise, the Flyers have a group they can count on game-in, game-out.
It’s still very early in the preseason, so things will almost surely change. For proof of that, consider the picture below from last preseason.
Whatever changes, there are some good reasons to believe Hakstol can put together a competent 3rd line this season. It’s an easy thing to overlook, but it really makes a difference over the long NHL season.