What Does Matt Niskanen Bring To The Philadelphia Flyers?

The newly acquired Philadelphia Flyers defenseman brings more than just veteran leadership to a young defensive core.

General Manager Chuck Fletcher continued to make aggressive moves on Friday morning as he obtained the services of defenseman Matt Niskanen from the Washington Capitals for Radko Gudas. There’s a decent amount of risk involved in this deal as Niskanen is coming off a down season with the Caps, especially when considering that Gudas was arguably the most consistent Philadelphia Flyers blue-liner during the 2018-19 campaign. Niskanen is also the older of the two but does bring a different amount of skills to the city of Brotherly Love, though, which is likely why Fletcher brought him to the team.

Getting the obvious ones out of the way first, Niskanen has five more years of NHL experience than Gudas. While I personally don’t value expertise over skill like previous Flyers Head Coaches have, *cough, cough, Dave Hakstol* it gives the youthful blue-line a prominent voice to listen to in the locker room who has had success in the league. The success he brings to the table is a 2018 Stanley Cup. Not one player currently on the Flyers roster has the accomplishment to their name and getting a guy that does, who also played a significant role in doing so, definitely doesn’t hurt.

A prominent presence off of the ice isn’t all that Niskanen brings to this Flyers team. The 2005 First Round pick does have two-way talents even though he netted a mere 25 and 29 points in the last two years. He’s scored over 30 points five times during his career, and part of the reason as to why his point total and possession metrics at even strength were lower than usual was due to his high Defensive Zone Start percentages (dZS%) at even strength, which was at 57.4% in 2018-19 and 56.0 2017-18. A defenseman can only produce so much on offense when they’re constantly starting in their own zone. Hopefully, Alain Vigneault utilizes Niskanen’s offensive talents a little more and not just as a stay-at-home d-man.

Lastly, Niskanen is still a pretty good skater at his age and uses that to carry the puck out of his own zone. According to data collected by Corey Sznajder and visuals created by CJ Turtoro, Niskanen is a tremendous upgrade over Gudas in terms of Defensive Zone Exits with Possession per 60 minutes (PossExitsts60) at 5-on-5 and Percent of Zone Exists that were with Possession (PossExits%) over the last three years. A team can never have too many puck movers in their defensive group, and the fact that Niskanen can still do it at a high level is a positive for the Flyers.

With Wayne Simmonds likely not coming back to the team, the Flyers need new leaders to go alongside Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, and Jakub Voracek. Niskanen can do that while being a beneficial player on the ice.