Does the Flyers reliance on a Staal-Ristolainen pairing hinder development?

Marc Staal and Rasmus Ristolainen have had long careers in the NHL. The two combine for 1,797 games, though Staal accounts for 1,111 of those games. The next closest veteran on the Flyers defense is Travis Sanheim is 441. Combine the rest of the regilar members of blue line to the two mentioned above and they equal out to 1,060 games.

Having a pairing like that gives the Flyers an option to throw out a duo that has handled plenty of high pressure situations. Development is still key, but trying to win games is also important as well. Sometimes throwing out a player that is still learning and is prone to making mistakes isn’t always the best idea in John Tortorella’s mind.

“We’re developing, right? We’re going to continue to develop,” Tortorella said after morning skate on Monday. “But when you’re in the heat of the action and you get down in the third period, eight, nine minutes left, maybe protecting the lead, whatever it may be, it’s nice to be able to lean on guys like that, especially with the length they have.”

Ristolainen has only played five games this season and has slowly been working his way back into the action. Staal missed time as well with a broken rib. With Egor Zamula waiting in the wings, this isn’t a pairing the Flyers will go to every night. It’s a limited sample size in terms of how the two have played together, but they are giving the team solid minutes when paired together. The two have an impressive 1.16 expected goals-against. The Flyers, while not by a large margin, are finding a way to outplay teams when those two are on the ice together.

It’s not as if the Flyers have a ton of choices to go to, either. While Zamula will come back in at some point, he has been widely inconsistent in his play. He only has 44 games under his belt in the NHL and certainly has the tools to be an effective defenseman. His length and size should allow him to disrupt shooting lanes and break up plays with his body. But often he doesn’t use that aggressiveness to his advantage. When he does, you can see the player he can be. That’s where the inconsistency comes in. And that’s why he has found himself as a healthy scratch in seven games so far this season.

Sean Walker and Nick Seeler have been a revelation together, though that has a lot to do with the play of Walker this season. Travis Sanheim is easily having a bounce back season and Cam York, who has also been up and down, has been commended for his athleticism and quick ability to move his body around to defend. So it doesn’t leave a lot of room to change what has been working thus far.

But going back to the importance of development, does the veteran pairing work in the long term? Staal won’t be here after this season and in fact, it wasn’t even expected for him to be an every night defenseman. He was thought of in a similar vein to what Justin Braun provided the team. Ristolainen, while still having three more years after this season, likely isn’t a part of the future either.

Leadership can play an important factor and it’s always good to have those kind of players within a young roster. It can help having those voices not only on the ice, but in the locker room as well.

One thing to look at, though is balancing the opportunities you are allowing your younger players to be in. They won’t learn anything if they aren’t put into those moments themselves on a consistent basis. They can learn from watching, but it won’t matter if they aren’t given the chance to do it themselves. At some point, a player like Zamula has to be allowed to sink or swim for more than just a few games at a time. It can be tough to have that mindset with the team sitting toward the top of the division standings.

“We’re going to be making these decisions all year long, whether it be older guys or the younger guys, as we continue,” Tortorella said back in November. “We want to grow them, but we’re trying to win hockey games, too, as we’re involved in the season.”

The plan isn’t to lose sight of the bigger picture. For now, the pairing between Staal and Ristolainen is working. We’ll see how long the Flyers let it ride.