Philadelphia Flyers: Tyler Pitlick Could Be An Underrated Addition

The newly-acquired 27-year-old forward could prove to be more than just a salary cap move from the Philadelphia Flyers.

General Manager Chuck Fletcher has been nothing short of aggressive since the Philadelphia Flyers 2018-19 season ended in early April. He’s hired a new Head Coach along with some assistants, traded for and subsequently signed Kevin Hayes to a seven-year contract before he could hit the free agent market, made deals to obtain Matt Niskanen and Justin Braun, re-signed Travis Sanheim and Brain Elliott, received Tyler Pitlick in a trade involving Ryan Hartman, and finally bought out Andrew MacDonald. That’s a lot of moves and free agency hasn’t even officially started yet. One of the transactions that may not look like a big deal is getting Pitlick from the Dallas Stars, but I’m here to tell you that Pitlick could be a solid depth piece for the Flyers this upcoming season.

Now, I’m not saying Pitlick will set the league on fire and post 50+ points for Philadelphia in 2019-20 because he more than likely won’t. He’s 27 as I noted above and is what he is at this stage of his NHL career. That doesn’t mean he can’t be a quality Bottom-6 forward for the Orange and Black, though. While Pitlick posted just twelve points in 47 games last year and 27 points in 80 games the before, he did so with high Defensive Zone Start Percentages (dZS%) at even-strength in both seasons. The Minneapolis, Minnesota native is more known for his work in his own zone but has the skill set to chip in on offense when needed. Even with the elevated dZS%, Pitlick was able to create slightly more High Danger and total Scoring Chances than his opponent at even strength last season. He also has never seen his shooting percentage drop below the 10% mark, and while he’s taken over 100 shots in just one of his five-year NHL tenure, that’s still an impressive feat to accomplish for a player who’s known as defensive-minded.

Pitlick’s high-energy, physical play style will also be a welcomed asset to this Flyers team, as they somewhat lacked guys who effectively lay the body at the forward positions with Wayne Simmonds and Hartman gone. It’ll be essential for Pitlick to stay healthy, though, since he missed a good chunk of the 2018-19 campaign due to a wrist injury.

At his best, Pitlick will be a fine addition to the Flyers fourth line and mesh well alongside Michael Raffl and Scott Laughton with his two-way abilities.