The first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals have shown the value of having defensemen who not only cover their own zone well, but also start breakouts with speed and precision. Detroit as a team plays outstanding two-way hockey, but the Red Wings single biggest edge on Pittsburgh so far is the quality of the Wings' blueline.

In all honesty, I don't think the Penguins' defense corps is better than the Flyers when a healthy Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn are in the Philadelphia lineup. The Penguins
had superior forwards and better team defense. They also received better goaltending.
Individually, there was nothing wrong with the way any of the Flyers defensemen performed throughout the Eastern Conference Finals.

The problem was that, without the top pairing available, the Flyers mostly featured a collection of defensive D-men. Two of the starters (Derian Hatcher and Jason Smith) were playing through serious injuries and are not mobile or particularly strong puckhandlers in the best of time. Without Timonen or Coburn, the Flyers were forced to press veteran Jaroslav Modry and rookie Ryan Parent into service.

On sheer guile and guts, the group hung tough but the Penguins just had too many weapons. Once Pittsburgh grabbed leads, they were able to drop back in their 1-4 and take away everything down low in their own zone because they had no fear of the Flyers' defensemen burning them.

There is good news for Flyers' fans: The organization, which had never been particularly strong at drafting and developing NHL defensemen from within, has a decent crop of prospects in the pipeline, The bad news is that none are likely to make an NHL impact in the short-term future.

Derian Hatcher

Contract status: Signed through 2008-09
Salary cap hit: $3.5 million

There's no questioning Derian Hatcher's competitiveness or his pain tolerance. When reasonably healthy, he remains the team's most punishing bodychecker and a key penalty killer. But he's not a healthy player. Hatcher's knees are a mess, and it's hard to be optimistic that he'll be physically able to play even three quarters of the season next year.

Hatcher has said that he's not ready yet to retire, and the Flyers will not rush him into a decision. He's earned the right to make his own call, although the club needs to plan for free agency and trades from both cap-management and on-ice planning perspectives.

There has been speculation that the Flyers might go slightly over the cap this summer and then put Hatcher on Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) at the start of the season, being able to replace up to his prorated salary for the duration of his stint on the injured list.

To me, it's one thing if you use LTIR to give Hatcher as much time as he needs to see if he can physically withstand the grind of the stretch drive and playoffs. That's legitimate. If he's able to contribute at some point in what's likely to be his final NHL season, give him every opportunity to do so. In the meantime, the club would have some flexibility to seek help elsewhere.

But in and of itself, LTIR is far from an ideal strategy for cap management. Hatcher's ability or inability to play next season will affect other roster decisions over the summer (e.g., trying to re-sign Jason Smith) and during the season (trades, cap flexibility, etc).

Key stat: Prior to the All-Star break, Hatcher missed nine games because of knee surgery. But he was effective while in the lineup (plus-10 in 32 games, 76 hits, 19 giveaways). After the break, continued knee problems and a fractured tibia limited him to 12 games, in which he often struggled to keep up with the play (minus-six, 13 giveaways).

In the playoffs, Hatcher was credited with over two a half hits per game (38 hits in 15 games despite playing in obvious pain. His lack of mobility contributed to the 18 giveaways he was charged with during the postseason.


Jason Smith

Contract status: Unrestricted free agent
Salary cap hit: TBD ($1.97 million in 2007-08)

Like Hatcher, team captain Smith plays without fear and without making excuses. He's still on the NHL's top shot blockers and concedes nothing to injury. "Gator" played much of the year with a nagging deep shin bone bruise, back spasms and other ailments. In the playoffs, he played with two separated shoulders and still delivered a team-high 56 hits.

Unfortunately, one thing Smith did not do very well as this year progressed was help keep the puck out of his own net. Even as his ice time decreased, he was out for a disproportionate number of goals against as he struggled with frequent failed clearing attempts. The team also spent too much time hemmed in its own end of the ice.

In the playoffs, he was out for 11 of the first 12 goals against in the Washington series (partner Jaroslav Modry was out for all 12). He was more effective in some of the games against Montreal and battled admirably against Pittsburgh.

Between Hatcher and Smith, it's Smith who seems the more likely to be able to withstand the pounding an NHL defenseman takes. But as of now, it does not look like the Flyers will be able to keep their captain.

Whether he'll end up signing with the Devils (as rumored earlier this year) remains to be seen. But In the right defensive system, Smith can still be an effective player. I could see him doing well for the Devils. Every team, including the Flyers, needs a player like Smith. The problem is when you start both Smith and Hatcher in a system designed to play up tempo hockey and needs to compensate for some less-than-stellar defensive forwards.

Key stat: Smith ranked 3rd in the NHL with 204 blocked shots this season. In 38 regular season games the Flyers won with Smith in the lineup, the veteran defenseman was a plus-20. In 39 regular season losses, he was minus-24.

Lasse Kukkonen

Contract status: Signed through 2008-09
Salary cap hit: $875,000

I've blogged about Kukkonen many times during the season. Suffice to say that I think he's earned a starting spot in this roster, and did not deserve to spend so much time out of the lineup as a healthy scratch. He was strong down the stretch and generally solid (although not immune from a few costly or nearly costly mistakes) in the playoffs.

Come training camp, Kukkonen will likely find himself battling for the fifth, sixth or seventh defense spot depending on how other roster moves shake out. Kukkonen does not particularly excel in any one area -- except shot-blocking -- but does a variety of things well. At his best, he mixes it up physically, can move a puck a bit, snuffs out a lot of pass attempts and is a good coverage defenseman.

Kukkonen will never be a big point producing defenseman, but he does have a little more offensive ability than he's shown in Philadelphia. He showed glimpses of it in Chicago and in third period situations where his team is trailing.

In late November until around New Year's, Kukkonen went through a stretch of about six to eight weeks where he was limited by a foot bruise. He more or less got benched because he wasn't playing as well he did in October and November. Veteran defensemen get more leeway to struggle than less experienced ones.

The strangest part about that 10-game stretch before Kukkonen got benched for a month is that he was out for just one goal against (a powerplay goal at that) in that entire time, despite his limitations. He didn't played particularly well for much of that stretch. He had trouble winning battles on the boards and getting clearing passes to safety (without icing it). But the bottom line was that pucks didn't go in the Flyers net.

Key stat: Despite starting just 53 games during the regular season, Kukkonen blocked 111 shots (54th in the NHL, but all but two players ahead of him -- Brent Sopel and Brendan Witt -- played at least 10 more games). He ranked 5th in the postseason with 37 blocks in 14 games.

For the second straight season, Kukkonen led the Flyers defense in fewest charged giveaways per minutes played. Keep in mind that failed clears are rarely recorded as giveaways (unless they are directly intercepted) and situations where a player gets knocked off the puck are not considered giveaways.

For instance, in Game One of the Washington playoff series were Alex Ovechkin picked Kukkonen's pocket and scored, the play was credited to Ovechkin as a takeway even though Kukkonen's bad initial pass to Jaroslav Modry set the wheels in motion for the rest of the play.

In the regular season, Kukkonen was a plus-11 this season when paired with Randy Jones and a combined minus-eight with all other partners. However it should also be noted that much of the latter stat was compiled in two games. Kukkonen had a minus-four game against the Penguins (paired mostly with Modry) and a minus-three game against New Jersey (paired with Rory Fitzpatrick).

Ryan Parent

Contract status: Signed through 2009-10
Salary cap hit: $855,000

One of the key components in the package Nashville sent to the Flyers in the Peter Forsberg trade, Parent played 23 regular season games with the big club and four playoff games.

Parent has excellent skating ability. He was clearly ready to move up from the AHL when he got the call, but experienced the usual growing pains with the big club. He put together some strong games -- including a pair of solid efforts in the Eastern Conference Finals -- but also appeared indecisive at times. He could also stand to play a little meaner at times.

It's not a slam dunk that Parent will start next season in the Flyers starting six. He'll still have to earn a starting job, but his potential is obvious. Defensemen take longer than forwards to mature. At age 21, he's ahead of where many solid NHL blueliners were at the same point of their careers.

Parent has never shown much offensive inclination at the junior or AHL level, so don't look for it at the NHL level, even though he has the raw tools and makes some nice stretch passes when the opportunity presents itself.

Key stat: Parent got the nod over Modry in the final game of the Eastern Conference Finals and twice played 18-plus minutes in the series. He had three 20-plus minute games in the regular season.


Jaroslav Modry

Contract status: Unrestricted free agent
Salary cap hit: TBD ($1.2 million in 2007-08)


Things didn't work out for Modry in Philadelphia. Apart from the horrendous personal situation he went through -- dealing with the terminal illness and death of his father in the Czech Republic -- very little went right on the ice. He also dealt with a shoulder injury.

It seemed as though every time Modry made a mistake, the puck ended up in the Flyers net. He had problems with coverages and was neither physical nor particularly effective in tying up his man's stick.

Modry actually played pretty well in the final two weeks of the regular season but his disastrous first dozen games and struggles in the early part of the playoffs overshadowed solid play during the final stretch where the club secured a playoff spot.

Everyone once in awhile, he'd show a flash of being the player who played in an NHL All-Star game (2000-01), had 38 or more points three times and once scored 13 goals. The most notable instance was a tremendous pass to Jeff Carter for a goal during the Washington series. But those moments were too few and far between.

In the grand scheme of things, hockey is unimportant. Modry has had to cope with far more serious grief than the loss of a playoff series. After the death of his father, I can't even fathom how difficult it was for him to delay his return to the Czech Republic until the completion of the Washington series after the death of his father, but he did so with true professionalism.

Key stat: In Modry's first 12 games as a Flyer, he was a minus-15 (he finished at minus-11 in 19 regular season games). Modry was on the ice for each of the first 12 goals Washington scored in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and finished the playoffs at minus-six at even strength in nine games.


Farm system

The Flyers don't have anyfranchise defensemen in the pipeline, but there's a diverse group of players with the potential to be NHL starters.

The most NHL-ready prospect is Nate Guenin, who has already had a couple short stints with the big club. The 25-year-old plays a simple game and probably tops out as a sixth or seventh defenseman, but he blocks some shots, takes the body and will drop the gloves from time to time.

Converted forward Oskars Bartulis is coming off a solid rookie season for the Philadelphia Phantoms and could push for a spot at some point next season. He's a fine skater and passer, who could still stand to get a little stronger physically. He had only one goal (and 20 assists) in the AHL this season, but the 21-year-old does have some upside offensively. He has the potential to be a two-way puck mover as he continues to mature.

Michael Ratchuk has the best speed and strongest offensive potential of any defenseman in the system. After finishing his sophomore season with Michigan State, he joined the Phantoms for the end of the season. Ratchuk opened eyes by scoring his first professional goal on an end-and-end rush where he flew past everyone on the ice, split the defense and went in to score. Defensively, he's rough around the edges and lacks size. Offensively, he's still working on consistency. But the 20-year-old has top-end skills.

Soon to be 20-year-old Finnish defenseman Joonas Lehtivuori is coming off an excellent season in which he established himself as a reliable two-way defenseman for Ilves Tampere Finland's SM-Liiga and played big minutes for Team Finland at the World Junior Championships. His SM-Liiga point totals (8 goals, 21 points in 48 games) were very encouraging for a player his age. Just as a frame of reference, Kimmo Timonen had six goals and 13 points for KalPa at the same stage of his career.

As with many unsigned European draft picks, Lehtivuori is currently in limbo due to the lack of an NHL-IIHF transfer agreement. Under the NHL-NHLPA collective bargaining agreement, the Flyers would have to sign 2006 draftee Lehtivuori to an entry level contract by June 1 in order to retain his rights. Lehtivuori signed a multi-year deal with Ilves earlier this season.

Back in December, Paul Holmgren indicated that the Flyers would do what's necessary to keep the player's rights. Lehtivuori is not currently NHL-ready. He still needs to get stronger physically and could use additional seasoning, whether it's with Ilves or the Phantoms.

Russian defensive defenseman Denis Bodrov is in a similar situation as a 2006 draftee. He's two years older than Lehtivuori. Bringing Russian players over has become a tricky proposition and although Bodrov was a second-round pick and Lehtivuouri a fourth-rounder, the Finn appears to be the higher priority right now.

Kevin Marshall, a second-round pick in last year's draft, is shaping up to be a better-skating version of Denis Gauthier (who was originally a first-round pick) at the same age. Marshall yaps and agitates, takes some undisciplined penalties but makes some excellent defensive stops. Like Gauthier, he's a good point producer at the junior level but projects as more of a defensive D-man as he moves up to the pros.

Marshall was invited to Team Canada's training camp prior to the WJC, but did not make the cut. He's got a good chance to make it next year as a 19-year-old.

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