It took a little longer for Robert Hagg to return to the Flyers ice as he came from his native Sweden.
Robert Hagg has been back in the Philadelphia area for a view weeks now. However, the Flyers defenseman had to immediately self quarantine before returning to the ice. Thus, his return to the ice didn’t happen until today.
He was fortunate to be in a country where he was able to train and skate. That was a step up from what most players were able to do. So he had a bit of advantage in Sweden.
But being back in the area allows him to jump on the ice with his teammates. Hagg makes 12 Flyers who have returned to practice. And this is the number of players teams are now allowed to have on the ice at the same time.
"“We had something going, and hopefully it doesn’t take too long before we get back to where we finished off…When the guys start coming in and working out, and we start playing one game or two games, I’m pretty sure we’ll find a way.”"
The way they were playing including having wins in nine of their last 10 games. And having one of the best records in the league since January 8th.
For Hagg, he was in and out of the lineup throughout the season. He was mostly seen on the third pairing with Justin Braun. With Shayne Gostisbehere dealing with issues with his knee, it seemed Hagg has secured a spot heading into the playoffs. Especially when Philippe Myers went down as well.
Everyone has now had time to rest and recover. However, Hagg will likely still be in the lineup when the season returns. Training camp is set to begin around July 10th where we’ll likely see who will be battling it out for a spot on defense.
It’s certain to be between Hagg and Gostisbehere. There is a small chance Friedman could blow away the competition as well. But that’s less likely due to his lack of experience. He has handled himself well in the NHL, though.
In 49 games this season, Hagg posted three goals and 14 points. Despite the limited time, he actually posted the worst on-ice metrics of his career. So there is reason to lean another direction. But he wasn’t a total liability on the ice.
He posted one of the best goal-for percentages on the team at 62.26%. That was above a player like Sean Couturier. He was also extremely lucky on the ice, posting a PDO of over 106%. So he was actually overachieving on the ice.
But the Flyers have trusted him for this long and there’s not much doubt to believe they won’t continue to feel that way. So for now, expect him to return to the third pairing until further notice.