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Defensive dogfight, Niittymäki injured |
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Without a doubt, the biggest question mark for the Flyers entering the 2008-09 preseason is whether the team has upgraded the defense. The club has made a concerted effort to get more mobile and more skilled at clearing the zone (without taking icings) or starting breakouts. Has it worked? Has the team sacrificed too much grit and physical play in trying to get faster? We'll soon find out.
Right now, there are only three shoo-ins to earn starting spots on opening night. Everyone else is in open competition. Here's a mini-review of where everyone stands.
Kimmo Timonen: The Flyers' top defenseman spent most of the summer recuperating from the blood clot in his foot that knocked him out of the first four games of the Eastern Conference Finals. Even when he played in the last game against the Penguins, it was clear he wasn't himself (not that it would have made a difference in such a lopsided affair). Throughout the summer, he maintained a regimen of two medication injections per day in the hopes of avoiding surgery. According to Timonen, the medication finally worked, and he feels a lot better. He should be ready to go, and resume his role of anchoring the defense.
Braydon Coburn: As good as Coburn was last season, it will be important for him to continue to progress this season. He can still improve the consistency of his physical game, be a little less streaky in using his big shot effectively, and cut down somewhat on his turnovers. Coburn's new two-year contract kicks this season, so he's in a contract-drive for a long-term deal come next summer.
Randy Jones: My feelings on Jones haven't changed. Play him 16 to 18 minutes a night, and he's a good NHL defenseman. Play him 20 or more minutes a nigt against top lines, and he gets exposed. He was excellent at the start of last season, good in the playoffs and pretty ordinary in between. But considering that he didn't even have a roster spot locked up a year ago at this time, he deserves credit for taking major strides as an NHL defenseman. He's not a true offensive defenseman (he gets a lot of shot attempts blocked and is not an especially creative player with the puck), but he's a good two-way puck mover and a solid defender when he's playing in the role of a #4 or #5 defenseman. As of now, he's still the Flyers' #3 defenseman, and he either needs to grow into the role this year or someone else needs to step up into that role and allow Jones to settle in the #4 spot.
Steve Eminger: Eminger would have to have a miserable pre-season (or get injured) not to get a starting spot on opening night, given that the team traded a first-round pick on the day of the draft to get him. He has all the tools in the world for success in the NHL, but no track record yet of applying them. He played a decent series against the Flyers in the playoffs after being scratched most of last season. Eminger's play is one of the biggest X-factors on the Flyers defense this year. If Paul Holmgren's gamble pays off and Eminger blossoms, the Flyers are well on their way to having a strong blueline for years to come. If not, the blueline could continue to be the club's achilles heel.
Ryan Parent: All Parent needs to become a solid NHL defenseman is some more experience. His assertiveness, poise and consistency should all improve. But what is his role on the team right now? Is he ready to play on an every-game or almost every-game basis? What if he winds up in the #7 spot to start the year -- would he be better off with the Phantoms? Those are all fair questions to ask, with no clear-cut answers at this point.
Ossi Väänänen: The Finn had a nice bounceback season for Djurgården in Sweden last year after struggling in the NHL after the lockout. In Colorado, he was one of the poster-children for the type of defenseman that struggled in the so-called new NHL (big frame, not very mobile, clutched and grabbed a lot). But he's feeling and skating better than he has in some time.
In his early days in Phoenix, he was one of the NHL's real up-and-coming defensive D. Injury woes took him down a peg. Somewhere along the way, he misplaced his physical play, too. But he remained a good shot-blocker. In a #5 or #6 role with the Flyers, he should do fine. I'm absolutely NOT in favor of him being paired with Kimmo Timonen -- just because they're both Finns doesn't mean they're an ideal pairing -- because I think he must first show he can get back to the caliber of hockey he played early in his career. If he plays like he did with DIF last year (regardless of the step up in competition), he should do fine.
Lasse Kukkonen: I'm probably the head of the Lasse Kukkonen fan club, but I don't see him fitting in the team's plans this year. I hope I'm wrong. Although he's switched his uniform to an "opening night roster" sort of number -- he's now wearing #3 -- I suspect that he'll either be relegated back to the #7 role again or traded before the start of the season.
He's a free agent at the end of this year, and probably could make better money as a #1 or #2 defenseman in Europe -- as he was as the captain of a championship Kärpät Oulu club -- than as a #6 or #7 here. For that reason, I wouldn't be shocked if (barring a big NHL breakthrough), he ends up in Switzerland, the KHL or with Kärpät come next summer.
Bryan Berard: For tryout-player Berard to get a job on the club, he's going to have to show he can still produce enough offensively to make up for his average-at-best defensive play. He's going to have to get in the thick of things on the powerplay and show an ability to trigger the rush.
The more I think about Berard's chances, the more I think his tryout will be parlayed instead into a contract with another NHL team, because he's not only going to have to play well, there would also have to be cause for concern that players like Eminger and Parent aren't ready to start.
Nate Guenin: The dark horse in the race. He's unlikely to get a top-six spot, but he's probably battling Lasse Kukkonen (who won't be happy with the seventh spot) for the reserve D role. I've always liked Guenin as a no-frills sort of D who bangs some bodies and keeps things real simple. He's as NHL-ready as he's going to be, so if Lasse Kukkonen doesn't get moved elsewhere to get a shot at being a top six, Guening may be.
Derian Hatcher: Despite John Stevens' pronouncement that there's still a starting spot for Hatcher if his degenerative right knee is sound enough to play, I still expect the team to declare him medically unable to play and to put him on LTIR. The focus in that case would be having him rehab sufficiently to prepare for one final playoff push.
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WIP radio reported this morning that backup goaltender Antero Niittymäki will be out at four to six weeks for hip surgery.
There's no obvious backup candidate for Martin Biron right now, so if the injury to Niittymäki proves to be a long-term problem, the club will have to find a backup elsewhere.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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