The undrafted defenseman has looked impressive in his first few games with the Philadelphia Flyers this year.
While he wasn’t able to make the opening night roster due to a less than stellar performance during Training Camp and preseason, it didn’t take long for Philippe Myers to make his way back onto the Philadelphia Flyers roster. The 6’5 blueliner made his 2019-20 regular-season debut to begin the month of November after posting four assists in six games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and is making a positive impact in Philadelphia early on.
Myers has already reached his point total from last season in 17 fewer games, posting two points (1 Goal, 1 Assist) in four games with the Orange and Black this year. It’s safe to assume he’ll surpass that mark in the coming days or, at worst, weeks, especially when considering how much he’s out-generating the opposition in several statistical categories.
The former Rouyn-Noranda Huskie, at the time this was written, ranks first in Shots For (54.24%), second in Expected Goals For (56.02%), third in Fenwick (52.50%) and Scoring Chances For (53.66%), and fourth in Corsi For (52.08%) percentages among all Flyers defensemen that have played this year at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick. These statistics, outside of Corsi, are night and day better than what he posted in 2018-19 in the same amount of games, showing how much improvement the 22-year-old has shown from his first stint in the NHL.
Defensively, Myers has been just as effective. He’s meshed well alongside Travis Sanheim, and the two have yet to allow a goal while taking shifts together in about 55 minutes of ice-time at 5-on-5. Gearing more towards Myers himself, the right-handed defenseman made several solid plays while defending his own zone against the Habs. He made a great read to break up a potential scoring opportunity for Brendan Gallagher late in the second period and was more than willing to engage in net-front battles throughout the entire contest, coming out on top on most of them. Myers also hasn’t made a whole lot of glaring mistakes defensively, either, which was one of the reasons he was sent back to Lehigh Valley prior to the year starting.
Myers is still a young d-man with minimal experience in the NHL, so he’ll still make mistakes here and there, but the fact of the matter is he looks vastly improved from the player we saw in September so far. If he can continue to develop, the Flyers are staring at a potential Top-4 defenseman on their hands.