The Philadelphia Flyers are 1-1-0 in their first two games coming out of the Olympic break, making them 26-21-11 on the season and 3-4-3 in their last 10 games; they're currently holding down sixth in the Metropolitan Division with 63 standings points. The trade deadline's nearly here, and the Flyers are trending towards sellers before next Friday; Wednesday's loss to the Washington Capitals pretty much shut the door on the Flyers making the postseason.
It's no secret that the Flyers are lacking a true first-line center in the current lineup and, even with the sunniest outlook, probably in the prospect pipeline as well. Against the Capitals, head coach Rick Tocchet's centers were Christian Dvorak, Noah Cates, Sean Couturier, and...Carl Grundstrom? We've written before how Tocchet's lineup decisions get more baffling with each loss, but even with Grundstrom at center in Thursday's win over the Rangers, it still seems like a questionable choice.
Grundstrom is, at his best, a solid fourth-line winger; he has rarely been played down the middle, though. Sticking him between Garnet Hathaway (who's having an abysmal season) and Nikita Grebenkin, when Trevor Zegras is right there to move to center in the middle six, beggars belief. If Grundstrom was only filling the center role as an injury replacement for a game or two, that's one thing, but behind Couturier, Dvorak and Cates--none of whom could be described as offensively dynamic--it's a massive detriment to the team's wingers. The lack of high-end centers drags down the entire lineup.
Unfortunately, the Flyers will probably have to ride with a roster of stopgap center solutions for the remainder of the season, unless Tocchet decides to put Zegras back down the middle. With 24 games to go, the Flyers' weakness down the middle is going to continue to be a glaring roster issue--and it's been on display more than usual these last two games.