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Philadelphia Flyers: Just play the prospects, Hakstol

By Benjamin Gabrych

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 22: Head coach Dave Hakstol of the Philadelphia Flyers handles bench duties against the Colorado Avalanche at the Wells Fargo Center on October 22, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 22: Head coach Dave Hakstol of the Philadelphia Flyers handles bench duties against the Colorado Avalanche at the Wells Fargo Center on October 22, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia Flyers Head coach is overvaluing veteran leadership and defensive effort for yet another season

Dave Hakstol is at it again. With news breaking Tuesday afternoon that Philadelphia Flyers  forward Michael Raffl with be out for about 4-6 weeks with a lower-body injury, Hakstol had a spot in the lineup to fill.

Based on the line rushes in Wednesday morning’s practice, it seems that Corban Knight will take Raffl’s position on the foruth line and Mikhail Vorobyev will enter the lineup for either Oskar Lindblom or Jordan Weal. It’s good to see Vorobyev back in the lineup, but not at the expense of Weal or especially Lindblom.

Just to make things clear, Knight is not a “prospect”. He’s 28 years old, well in his prime, and has spent most of his professional hockey career in the AHL. I don’t understand the sudden interest in Knight’s game from Hakstol and General manager Ron Hextall. The team has long known what they have in him as a player, as Knight spent the last three years in the Flyers organization playing for the Phantoms. He wasn’t overly effective in his return to NHL action earlier this season either, posting a 41.7 Corsi-For percentage at even-strength and one shot-on-goal in the game against Columbus.

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It’s also worth noting that Weal isn’t a prospect anymore, either, but he is still two years younger than Knight and has out-produced him at the NHL level in terms of scoring and puck possession.

Lindblom or Weal will likely sit tomorrow because Hakstol favors Knight, not Vorobyev, over them on the fourth line. This is absolutely baffling. In a league that has grown its’ goal totals the past four years, the coach has decided to ice three players that barely contribute on offense. Jori Lehtera, Dale Weise, and Knight have a combined three points together on the season. Weal has produced those numbers by himself alone this year. The fourth line doesn’t see a lot of game time, sure, but as a coach you’re supposed to ice the very best players on the roster. For the third straight year, Hakstol has refused to do so.

The days of having a physical, hit happy fourth line are basically over. You must have speed and skill throughout the lineup in today’s NHL. I have come around to just accepting Weise and Lehtera being staples on the fourth line. They haven’t been astoundingly horrible this year, and adding a player like Lindblom or Weal would give the line an offensive-minded player it desperately needs without Raffl’s puck possession talents.

However, Hakstol just loves his “two-way” hockey players. It seems nobody can break the love he has for obvious below-average talent and University of North Dakota alma mater (see VandeVelde, Chris. Knight, Corban). There are plenty of forwards in Lehigh Valley that could perform the same as Lehtera, Weise, or Knight at a younger age and then some. They’ll make their mistakes, as rookies do, but will eventually learn from them.

Next. Laughton improving this season for the Flyers. dark

The fourth line players are what they are and won’t magically turn into useful players. Just play the prospects, Hakstol. It’ll benefit the team in the long run.

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