Philadelphia Flyers: 2019-20 Season Crucial For Samuel Morin

Next season will be a critical one for the 6’6 Philadelphia Flyers defenseman.

The 2019-20 campaign will be an important one for the Philadelphia Flyers for a variety of reasons. They’ll hope to avoid missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight year, relying on new Head Coach Alain Vigneault to right the ship while looking for the goaltending group to stay healthy, Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere bouncing back, and the young talent to take steps forward in their respective developments. This upcoming season will also be crucial for a guy like Samuel Morin, who will likely have to battle to see consistent time in the Flyers lineup.

Once Provorov signs a new contract, the Flyers will have a total of eight defensemen on the roster.  I’ve already written about which blue-liner should be the odd man out when the time comes to make a move and expressed my desire for Morin to stay in Philadelphia. That leaves the Flyers with seven after somebody gets traded and with all of the talents that are in front of him, I doubt the 2013 First Round Pick starts the year on the first, second or third pair. Could he potentially beat out a guy like Justin Braun if the veteran defenseman looks horrid during training camp and preseason? Sure, anything’s possible, but taking into account that General Manager Chuck Fletcher traded two draft picks for his services, Braun would have to put on some awful performances for that to happen.

That would leave Morin in the press box when the season begins, which is a slight problem given his need for playing time. Coaches move players in and out of the lineup all of the time, though, and injuries are tough to avoid in hockey, so Morin will eventually get his chance to showcase his skill set to the Flyers. This year is especially vital for the massive defenseman because he’s still somewhat of an unknown on the ice at the NHL level, playing in just eight career games. It’s safe to say that Morin will see more action than that even as the seventh d-man, meaning fans and the Flyers brass will finally get a real look at what he can bring. Morin has to show some sort of on-ice value not only to remain in Philadelphia for the near future but to keep a job in the NHL as well.

Morin will surely get his opportunity one way or another, and it’ll be up to him to capitalize on it to show he can hang in the NHL.