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A dark cloud, and a ray of 'Sunshine' |
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One of the underlying stories in the early part of the Flyers season has been the disappointing play of defenseman Steve Eminger. The Flyers traded a late first-round pick to Washington in order to give the physically gifted but underachieving (at least as a pro) defenseman, who will turn 25 on Halloween.
Eminger had an up-and-down preseason, following by a poor opening night game against the Rangers. He played better against Montreal, had a generally strong game in Pittsburgh and was one of many Flyers who had an awful night in Colorado.
Forget the fact that he's minus-three in four games, although he's been a key culprit in two goals against. A more telling indicator of the coaching staff's unspoken concern is the player's ice time. Even with the blueline racked by injuries -- and with an 18-year-old defenseman in the lineup -- Eminger has yet to play as much as 17:15. Twice, he's played about 14:30. That tells you the coaching staff hasn't liked what it's seen. His decision-making has been spotty, with and without the puck.
It's far too early in the season to pass judgment on the player, and years too early to determine the wisdom of gambling a first-round pick to get him.
However, it is fair to say this: Coming into the draft, everyone knew the Flyers' cupboard of goaltending prospects was more or less bare. There were two top goaltending prospects in the 2008 draft in Chet Pickard and Jacob Markström.
When the Flyers moved up to the 19th overall spot where they selected Luca Sbisa, it's believed they were trying to get Pickard, who went one spot earlier to Nashville. But Markström was still on the board when the Flyers sent the 27th overall pick to Washington (which the Caps used for defenseman John Carlson).
Markström ended up going to Florida with the first pick of the second round, while the Flyers chose Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Jacob DeSerres with the third-round pick (84th overall) that also came over from Washington with Eminger.
Here's what's happened since then: Markström, at age 18, has emerged as the best goaltender in the Swedish Elite League. In his first nine starts, he has a 1.54 goals against average, a pair of shutouts and a .950 save percentage, elevating his surprising Brynäs team to first place.
DeSerres, conversely, has struggled mightily in Seattle. His team hasn't played well in front of him, but he hasn't been very good in goal, either. He's been torched in four of his five outings so far, and sports an ugly .848 save percentage and 4.91 GAA in the early going.
It's a long, long season, folks. There are no conclusions to be drawn or even implied as to how Markström and DeSerres will fare the rest of this year and where they'll stand in their development in the next year or two to come. Meanwhile, if Steve Eminger gets going, it won't matter what Markström does in the years to come.
But the earliest returns on the deal are clearly not what the Flyers had hoped to see.
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With the Flyers' last pick of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, they chose Joacim "Jocke" Eriksson, the goalie who backed up Markström last year on both the Brynäs J20 team (until Markström was promoted to the big club) and the Swedish national U18 squad.
While he's not quite the prodigy Markström is, Eriksson is a solid goaltending prospect in his own right. After dealing with a bout of tonsillitis at the start of the season, he's come on strong for the Brynäs J20 team, recording shutouts in two of his last three games and generally giving his team a chance to win every game he's played.
The goalie the other Flyers prospects nicknamed "Sunshine" will be back in action tomorrow as his team travels to Örnsköldsvik to take on the Modo J20 team at Swedbank Arena.
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Over the weekend, I will have another full prospect update blog, updating not only Eriksson, but the Phantoms and all system players in Canadian major junior hockey, Europe and the NCAA.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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