Nick Seeler is making his mark on the Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher has made several moves since his tenure started that have become head-scratchers and created a lot of discussion amongst the Flyers fandom community. One of the moves seemed pretty innocuous at the time. Fletcher signed a defender that he knew from his time in the Minnesota Wild organization in the summer of 2021. His name was Nick Seeler.

He was supposed to be a depth piece signing who would play, mostly, in the AHL in Lehigh Valley. Then Rasmus Ristolainen, along with a lot of other guys, got hurt. Seeler was called up In his first game, he got into a fight with 6’7″ Jaime Oleksiak (Seeler is 6’2″). The fight endeared him to his teammates and to Flyers fans.

Seeler was never going to be a star. He’s not someone you build a team around. However, he is someone that you want to have on your team in which to build a future. He is 29 years old and re-signed with the Flyers on a two-year deal worth $775,000 per season.

Nick Seeler is turning into a solid player for the Flyers

This year is the best of Seeler’s five years in the NHL. In 37 games, he has already set a career-high in points (8) and goals (3) and tied a career-high in assists (5). He is also on pace to shatter his career highs in blocks (116 in 2018-19…he has 60 currently) and hits (78 in 2018-19…currently he has 56).

What makes Seeler a great fit for this team is his energy. When he is out there, he is always seeming to be where to play is happening. He is gritty and battles for the pucks in the corner, but is wise enough not to make turnovers or other costly mistakes. As a result, he is one of three Flyers’ defenders on the positive side of the+/- scale with a +1. The other two are Justin Braun (1) and Cam York (8).

Seeler’s contract also makes him highly valuable as this team is strapped for cash and is looking for cheap solutions that work. Seeler is fitting in well with Coach John Tortorella’s system and it is paying off well for him.

Sometimes you don’t have to make a big splash, like Johnny Gaudreau, in free agency to make your team better. To be honest, superstars are great to have and the Flyers could use one to be sure. But what makes a team good is having good role players that you can plug in, fill a hole, and know they will do their job night in and night out. Seeler has done that this year and hopefully will do so for years to come. If anything, Seeler is showing that he belongs here in Philly.