Philadelphia Flyers 2024-25 Player Preview: Nick Seeler

One of the major differences between Daniel Briere as general manager and some of his predecessors is that he is not hampering the team down with long contracts. Yes, Travis Konecny was recently re-signed to an eight-year deal, but that's different. He's a major impact player that the team is building around. Briere is not signing role players to long-term deals that will cripple the salary cap down the road.

If you look past the 2025-26 season, the Flyers are committed to just ten guys, one of whom is Ryan Ellis who will probably never skate again. However, one of those guys is blueliner Nick Seeler. Earlier this year, Briere locked Seeler into a four-year extension. With a crop of young defenders on the way, why would the Flyers re-sign Seeler? After all, Sean Walker brought the Flyers a first-round pick. Seeler just turned 31 and was set to be a free agent. Couldn't he have earned the Flyers at least a second-rounder, if not more?

Seeler is an interesting guy. He's not going to be on the scorecard a lot. He registered 13 points last year with just one goal. That is one off of his career high of 14 from the year before. That's not his specialty.

Nick Seeler adds a solid, dependable presence to the Flyers' defense

Seeler is dependable. He missed 11 games last year due to injury, however, most of those were right down the stretch after they traded away Walker, his linemate. He and Walker became, for a while, one of the best defensive pairings in the NHL. He is a steadying force that doesn't make a lot of errors. He led the team with 205 blocked shots, which was also good for fifth in the league. He also stole the puck 10 times while coughing it up only 30 times.

He has a hard work ethic that has caught the eye of his head coach, John Tortorella. Tortorella took a shine to him in his first season and gave him opportunities to play. Just before the trade deadline last year, Tortorella said this about Seeler.

"He's one of our better players [from the] blue line in. Everyone thinks he's a banger and blocks shots and he's not going to have a lot of great offensive numbers, but he's been one of our most effective players getting pucks to the net from the blue line in. He's got that mentality of just getting that shot through. He's just an easy guy to pull for. He is so important to our building of a standard and how you are as a pro. Anything that happens for him that's maybe a little bit out of the ordinary, you're happy for him."

Seeler could play anywhere on the top two defensive pairings. He could help steady Travis Sanheim, allowing the younger blueliner to post more offensive numbers. He could play alongside Cam York or Jamie Drysdale, allowing the speedy defenders a veteran presence to give them confidence. He could also play with Erik Johnson and form a solid defensive unit like he did with Walker last season.

Seeler is going to be donning orange and black for years to come. He is the sort of player Tortorella loves to have on the team because he is fundamentally sound. The Flyers are lucky to have him.