Philadelphia Flyers Should Move Voracek Off the Point

The Philadelphia Flyers should start thinking very hard about moving forward Jakub Voracek off the point on the top power play unit

There was a time when it made sense to play Jake Voracek on the point on the Philadelphia Flyers power play unit. The Flyers were bereft of puck moving defensemen. There was no Michael Del Zotto, there was no Shayne Gostisbehere, there was no Ivan Provorov. Even Mark Streit was signed only three years ago.

With this being the case, it made sense to move a forward of speed and skill like Jake Voracek back to the point on the power play. He would be able to rush the puck out of the defensive zone and to be a play maker on the back end once the Flyers gained possession of the puck in the offensive zone.

Now that the Flyers have puck movers like the players mentioned above, it might be time to think about moving Jake Voracek off of the point and and back down low on his off wing. There are several reasons for this, both positive and negative.

The Negatives

Jake Voracek is a left handed shot playing on the right point. This means that any time he has to try and stop a clearing attempt along the boards out of the offensive zone, or when taking a pass from a forward passing it to him off of the boards, he has to try and do that on his backhand. There is a greater chance of a turnover when this is the case because there is a greater likelihood the puck will either be mishandled or will bounce over his stick because you’re handling the puck with the curve of your stick faced in the opposite direction. These are things that are hard to do even for a seasoned defenseman who is used to doing this, let alone a forward who doesn’t do these things on a regular basis.

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Second, there is Voracek’s unwillingness to shoot the puck. Jake is great at generating speed out of his own end and backing the other team’s defense off of their blue line to get the Flyers power play set up in the offensive zone. He also sees the ice well and is good at setting up other players for scoring chances. But, when you play the point on the power play, not only do you have to carry the puck and be the quarterback in the offensive zone, but you also have to shoot the puck with at least some type of regularity.

If there isn’t at least some type of threat to shoot the puck from the point, teams will just collapse down low thus making it harder for the Flyers forwards to operate. In Saturday night’s game in Arizona, Voracek once again showed his unwillingness to pull the trigger on the power play. He had a clear shot to the net with a decent screen in front. Instead he tried a high risk diagonal pass that was broken up by Arizona and the result was a rush the other way in to the Flyers zone. The Flyers need someone who is willing to pull the trigger and get the puck on net.

The Positives

Now that the Philadelphia Flyers have puck movers like Michael Del Zotto, Mark Streit, Shayne Gostisbehere, Andrew MacDonald and Ivan Provorov on their defensive corps , they now have the luxury of moving Voracek back to the forward position on the power play. This will give the Flyers more balance on their two power play units.

As it stands now, the Flyers first power play unit is Nick Cousins, Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds up front, and Ghost and Voracek on the points. Once Braydon Schenn returns from his three game suspension on Thursday, he will take Nick Cousin’s spot on the top power play unit.

The second power play unit consists of Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier and Dale Weise up front with Ivan Provorov and Mark Streit on the points. Dale Weise is a player who has the ability to contribute offensively but he isn’t someone who should be playing on the second power play unit on a team expected to make the playoffs. If Voracek is moved to that spot, that gives you much better balance between your two power play units. Andrew MacDonald could take over Voracek’s spot on the point of the first power play unit until Michael Del Zotto returns from injury.

Second, Voracek’s game is lot better suited to playing the half wall on the power play. He can still be a quarterback on the power play on his off wing. It will just be from up front instead of from the point. And playing up front he can better utilize his size. At 6’2 214 pounds, Voracek is a tough player to move out from the net.

He can stand in front of the net and screen the goalie. He can score some ugly goals off of rebounds. He can take the puck and power it to the net, like he did on the game winning goal against the Rangers this preseason.

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There was a time when playing Jake Voracek on the point on the Philadelphia Flyers first power play unit made sense. That time has passed. It is time to move him up front on the power play to give the Flyers more balance on their two power play units. We shall see if coach Dave Hakstol makes the move.

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