With the trade deadline passed, the Philadelphia Flyers are still a longshot for the playoffs. That doesn’t mean, though, that there aren’t things the team can work toward.
By trading Wayne Simmonds at the trade deadline, the Philadelphia Flyers have effectively admitted that the postseason is out of reach. Sitting seven points out of the playoffs, that’s the right assessment.
But that doesn’t mean the season is over. There are still a few things the team can focus on heading into March.
1. Testing Talbot
The Flyers acquired Cam Talbot from the Edmonton Oilers for a reason — to see if he can be a backup / 1B goalie behind Carter Hart. So far, the team has been hesitant to put the former Ranger in net.
Since Talbot was acquired on Feb. 15, the Flyers have played six games and the 31-year-old has yet to appear in any action. He has been a backup, but visa issues, Brian Elliott’s return and adjusting to a new team are reasons that coach Scott Gordon has kept Talbot from the starting crease.
At this point, it’s past time to get him into a game and see if Talbot’s struggles in Edmonton remained there or if they’ve followed him to Philly. If that proves untrue, then general manager Chuck Fletcher can explore signing the veteran to an extension.
Doing so would eliminate one of the items on Fletcher’s shopping list. You can probably include a top-four defenseman and a top-six forward on that too.
2. Figuring Out the Defense
The Flyers have six defensemen signed for next season (Gostisbehere, Gudas, Hagg, MacDonald, Morin, Myers) and two restricted free agents (Provorov, Sanheim) for a total of eight NHL defensemen. Mix that with the fact that Fletcher reportedly wants to add another blueliner and the jam becomes more of a complete blockade.
Logically, that means that some of the defensemen playing for the Flyers right now won’t be here next year.
To finish 2018-19, Sam Morin should get a chance to play again after missing a full calendar year and Philippe Myers will have a few more contests to prepare himself to win a full-time role in next year’s training camp. Fellow youngster Robert Hagg could be the odd-man out should Morin and Myers impress. The Swede is a solid defensive defenseman but doesn’t do too much else.
Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim are RFAs but it’s hard to imagine them in a different sweater right now, especially the former.
For the veterans, Shayne Gostisbehere has struggled this season and fans have started contemplating trading him, but when he’s on his game, he’s one of the team’s best players. Radko Gudas was drawing interest at the trade deadline according to Fox Sports’ Andy Strickland, but Fletcher held onto him:
Teams kicking tires on Radko Gudas, appears GM Chuck Fletcher wants to hang on to him #Flyers
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) February 25, 2019
Buying out Andrew MacDonald or pairing him with a draft pick in a trade is one of the easiest and smartest way to shed one blueliner. From there, these last couple of months could make the biggest difference between who is moved and who stays.
3. Continuing Improved Play from Youngsters
Earlier in the season, there was definitely a contingent of Flyers fans that wanted the team to just be bad to get the highest draft pick possible in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. It was an understandable option given the team’s terrible performance in the first half, but things have turned around.
Hart has a lot to do with that, but so does the improved play of some of the youngsters. Among them, Nolan Patrick has 14 points in his last 18, Travis Konecny has 17 in his last 24 and Oskar Lindblom sits with 13 in his last 17. Off the scoresheet, Provorov has looked better of late while Sanheim continues to improve steadily in his sophomore season.
Playoffs seem unlikely, but continuing that improved play from the younger players and earning some wins is better than getting a high draft pick.
Specifically, getting better play from Gostisbehere would be heartening and seeing newcomer Ryan Hartman get off to a strong start and quell any fears from his Nashville days would be exciting to see. The Flyers may have ruined their 2018-19 season in the first half of the season but they can start building toward next season now.