Update 2:15 PM
FLYERS ACQUIRE STREIT'S RIGHTS
The Flyers have acquired the negotiating rights to soon-to-be unrestricted free agent defenseman Mark Streit. Philadelphia sent a fourth-round draft pick in the 2014 NHL Draft and minor league winger Shane Harper to the Islanders in exchange for Streit.
Streit, who will turn 36 in December, is an established puck-moving defenseman whose primary skills are his skating, passing and shooting ability. He is a worthy first-unit point man on the power play. The other big advantage, of course, is that the Flyers did not have to pay a heavy trade price for Streit's rights. Acquiring an in-his-prime NHL defenseman of greater value would require expending a lot of trading assets, likely including Sean Couturier and/or Brayden Schenn.
Defensively, Streit is strictly average. Although he's not nearly the liability he was made out to be earlier in his NHL career, he's not someone a team would want matched up against top offensive players. He performed frequent penalty-killing duties with the Islanders apart from his offensive responsibilities but was not particularly good at it. The Flyers are already a good penalty killing team, so Streit would not be needed much in that role.
The ideal use for Streit is a #4 or #5 defenseman at even strength who is deployed in the offensive zone as much as possible and is given a lot of ice time on the power play. The Flyers' top power play unit, with Kimmo Timonen and Jakub Voracek as the point men in a modified umbrella setup, does not need any lineup tweaks. Having Streit, however, would be a significant boost to what was a mediocre second power play unit that lacked a good outlet passer and trigger man.
The main drawbacks to signing Streit:
1) He is seeking a multi-year deal. That would trigger the much-despised over-35 contract rules that could make Streit's contract an albatross around the Flyers' neck.
2) He will carry a hefty cap hit. Streit reportedly turned down a three-year, $15 million contract before deciding to test the open market. This is a seller's market for defensemen, and the open market prices are outrageous.
Depending on the length of contract he receives, Streit's final cap hit could be north of what he turned down from the Islanders. It is also possible that the Flyers offer him a four-year, slightly front-loaded/back-diving deal to bring down the cap hit a lot. However, the longer the deal, the greater the risk of getting burned by the over-35 rules if he suffers a serious injury or his play drops dramatically.
Personally, I would have preferred the Flyers acquire a younger and cheaper puck-mover even if the player wasn't as accomplished offensively as Streit's bankable 45 to 55 points per season. However, if he gets signed, the Flyers have certainly upgraded their puck-moving capabilities and made an already dangerous power play attack even better.
*********
BRAYDEN SCHENN: DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE POTENTIAL
Ever since the Flyers acquired him from the Los Angeles Kings as the centerpiece of the Mike Richards trade, the expectations on Brayden Schenn have been very high. While he has displayed the inconsistency and streakiness that is common of most first-year and second-year pros, he has also provided his fair share of glimpses at the type of player he could become as he reached his prime.
First two NHL seasons in review
As a rookie, Schenn was set back by a pair of injuries in the first half of the 2011-12 season. He pressed offensively and defensively when he was in the NHL lineup until finally hitting his stride in late December. Schenn scored his first NHL goal at the 2012 Winter Classic. He went to produce 12 goals on shots and 18 points over an average 14:07 of ice time in 54 total regular season games; an average of 0.33 points per game and a shooting percentage of 12.4 percent.
In the 2012 playoffs, Schenn dialed up the intensity both in the physical and scoring departments. He produced 3 goals and 9 points in 11 games. There was a little bit of a dropoff after Schenn was rendered woozy by a dirty hit by then-Penguins forward Arron Asham (for which Asham got suspended) but he recovered sufficiently to score a goal in the series-clinching win over the Penguins and then to one goal and two assists in the Flyers five-game loss to New Jersey.
During the NHL lockout, Schenn was assigned to the Adirondack Phantoms. The player, who had torn up the AHL (six goals and 12 points in seven games) in a brief early-season stint in 2011-12, appeared distracted and perhaps even a bit bored at times. He had a tremendous opening night game (two goals and three points) but then went pointless in four the next five games and was a minus-six over that span.
Phantoms head coach Terry Murray had a productive talk with both Schenn and Sean Couturier, who seemed similarly distracted by the lockout. There was a definite uptick in both of their play, with Schenn exploding for a four-point game (one goal and three assists) in the Phantoms' final game of October and then went off on a stretch that saw him score five goals and 11 points in the next eight games. Schenn ranked among the top three AHL scoring leaders by late November.
Schenn and Couturier opened the season on the same line but were soon separated. Eventually, the Phantoms lack of scoring depth forced Murray to put the two players back together again. Schenn moving from center to left wing after a late November to early December stretch of four straight pointless games (minus-six). In 12 December games, Schenn produced four goals and 10 points in 12 games. He added one more assist in two January tilts before the end of the NHL lockout. Schenn finished his AHL stint with 13 goals, 33 points and a minus-14 rating in 33 games.
Basically, Schenn and Couturier (10 goals, 28 points in 30 games) were the extent of the Phantoms' attack with only Tye McGinn showing any ability to produce when placed on their wing. Despite playing well less than half of the 76-game schedule as members of the team, Schenn still finished third and Couturier fourth in scoring on the offensively challenged Phantoms.
Having played in the AHL throughout the lockout, Schenn had a seeming advantage over players who had been idle. He looked very strong during the team's abbreviated training camp, and beat out Jakub Voracek (who had been playing in the KHL during the lockout but who reported a little overweight) for the opening day slot as the right winger on the top line with Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell. As it turned out, Voracek would go on to have a breakout season, reclaiming a spot on the top line.
After two-plus games on right wing of the Giroux line, Schenn was moved to the second line center (and, later, left wing) spot. In six January games overall, Schenn had two assists.
Schenn got hot when the calendar flipped to February. He had points in 10 of his next 13 games (six goals, nine assists, 15 points). That included a pair of power play goals.
When Schenn's hot streak ended, he fell back into some bad habits. There was a stretch of games where he tried to overrely on his finesse rather than using his grit to drive to the net. Gradually, Schenn got back to doing the things that can make him successful at the NHL level but the points still weren't coming. He endured a stretch of 16 straight goalless games (and one goal in 22 games). Over that span, Schenn was held without a point in 16 games, including 10 games in a row at one point.
By the time the drought finally ended, there were only seven games left in the lockout-shortened schedule. Schenn closed out the season with points in four of the final seven games (one goal, three assists).
Schenn finished the 2013 NHL season with eight goals on 79 shots and 26 points over an average 15:31 of ice time in 47 games; an average of 0.55 points per game and a shooting percentage of 10.1 percent.
Digging beneath the surface
Schenn, who will turn 22 late August, is 20 months older than Couturier. While all players develop at their own rate, one would expect Schenn to be further along in his learning curve than Couturier at this point. Given that Schenn also plays a more offense-oriented role on the team at this point, the second-season point-per-game differential in Schenn's favor is to be expected.
When people look at offensive numbers, many fail to take zone starts and the caliber of offensively skilled players the opposition has on the ice. Put simply, Peter Laviolette designed Schenn's current role to be one geared toward getting him on the ice when the puck is in the other team's end of the ice and the opponents had their own second or third-line caliber offensive players on the ice.
According to the
advanced statistic database on Behindthenet.ca, Schenn had the highest percentage of offensive zone starts of any forward on the Flyers this season, starting 52.8 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone. He finished in the offensive zone 52.5 percent of the time and was a minus-eight on the season.
That's not awful given the Flyers team-wide problems this year but probably could have been a little better. For instance, Matt Read's shifts started in the offensive zone 47 percent of the time but finished in the offensive zone 50.1 percent of the time. Couturier, playing against other team's most potent offensive players, started in the offensive zone just 32.1 percent of the time but finished in the offensive zone 44.7 percent of the time.
Looking even deeper into Schenn's ice time and set of responsibilities, virtually all of his average 15:31 of ice time took place at even strength (13:04) and the power play (2:24, mostly on the second unit) without him facing the wear-down effects of having to kill penalties or battle to get the puck up the ice after defensive zone starts. For these reasons, it would have nice if his second-season points-per-game and shooting percentage had ended up being a little higher.
That does NOT mean, however, that there were no signs of progress. In terms of advanced stats, Schenn's adjusted Flyers-to-opposition shot attempt differentials (i.e. Corsi) were significantly higher as a second-year player than as a rookie (+2.9 as opposed to -2.6).
Linemates are also a factor both in point production and in advanced-stat measures related to time spent on the attack. Brayden Schenn's most common 2013 linemates up front were Wayne Simmonds (52.8 percent of Schenn's shifts also had Simmonds on the ice for the Flyers) and Danny Briere (38.5 percent), followed by Scott Hartnell (25.3 percent). Among these players, both Briere and Hartnell had down years and Simmonds was nearly as streaky as Schenn.
The 2013 season was an especially poor one for Briere. The veteran forward had a subpar all-around season by just about every measure, including a negative team shot differential despite starting in the offensive zone 51.2 percent of the time and being spotted against other team's least dangerous players. Schenn's adjusted Corsi numbers were better than both Simmonds (+1.4) and Briere (-0.18).
In terms of puck protection and puck pursuit measurements-- areas that ultimately play into shot-attempt and scoring-chance differentials -- Schenn also showed improvement as a second year player, being credited with 19 takeaways as opposed to 11 charged giveaways (his ratio as a rookie was 11 takeaways to 15 giveaways).
Late in the season, CSN studio commentator Rick Tocchet commented in an intermission segment that Schenn was at least playing a more physical brand of hockey in his second year as opposed to his rookie season. The numbers don't really bear that out, and suggest instead a comparable level of physicality. As a rookie, he was credited with 136 hits in 54 games; an average of 2.51 per game. This season, Schenn had 109 credited hits in 47 games; an average of 2.32 per game.
As the various pieces of information add up, it points to a conclusion that Schenn is making progress as the type of player who helps his team maintain possession of the puck in the offensive zone. His physical game has been above-average all along. Schenn is not a blazing fast skater by any means, nor is he an exceptionally gifted stickhandler, so that physical-oriented game is a necessity. Meanwhile, he's improving in other areas as well.
By no means is Schenn a finished product in ANY of these areas, however. If he's going to maintain his current role as a top-six forward who gets the benefit of a lot of offensive zone starts, the points-per-game and shooting percentage need to come up in the seasons to come. He also needs to continue to show a similar clip of improvement from his second-to-third season as he did from his first-to-his second in the non-scoring aspects of his offensive game.
As a defensive player, Schenn has also shown some improvement over the course of his two pro seasons to date. He is still far from a shutdown defender in his coverages and overall defensive awareness but is improving at a slow-but-steady clip.
Anecdotally, I would say his defensive capabilities early in his rookie season were of C-grade (strictly average). Since then, he has advanced to about the C-plus range with a chance to eventually become a solid B-grade defender. Many of his takeaways this past season happened on the backcheck. Late in the season, when the blueline was riddled with injuries, Schenn was among the Flyers forwards who most noticeably buckled down to help out down low in the defensive zone when necessary.
During his AHL stint over the course of the lockout, Schenn saw some penalty killing work. He was more of a shorthanded scoring threat than a savvy penalty killer but he forced some mistakes that led to counterattacking chances. Once the lockout ended and Schenn returned to the NHL, he played virtually no role on the penalty kill. Perhaps he may in seasons to come.
Another opportunity for improvement: Schenn sometimes displayed a tendency to overstay his shifts when there was an opportunity to go off for a line change. A few times, that contributed to goals being scored by the opposition. That's not an uncommon issue for offensive-minded players. Schenn could benefit by being a little more disciplined in knowing when to push the attack and when to go off to get fresh troops on the ice.
Center or Winger?
In his two pro seasons to date, Schenn has spent time at all three forward positions. Primarily, he's shuttled between center and left wing. It might help his development and consistency a bit if the Flyers decided on one spot and stayed with it.
Schenn at this point still seems a little more comfortable in the middle. However, his skill set suggests that left wing might ultimately be the best spot for him. When playing on the same line with Briere, who has always been markedly less productive as a winger than center, one of the two players had to be lined up out of his preferred position. Both Briere and Schenn handled it professionally and tried their best to make it work, but there has never really been great offensive chemistry with the two as linemates, no matter which one was in the middle and which was on a wing.
If he stays at center, Schenn will need to improve in the faceoff circle along with continuing to sharpen his defensive acumen. As a rookie, Schenn won 46.1 percent of his faceoffs. In his second year, Schenn won 45.5 percent of his draws (48.48 percent on the road, 42.34 percent at home).
The Luke Factor
Having older brother Luke Schenn join the team last summer after a trade with Toronto no doubt increased the comfort level that both Brayden and Luke felt heading into the season. It didn't really amount to much of a difference on the ice -- Luke's step forward was probably due mostly to natural progression as a fifth-season NHL defenseman rather than anything having to do with the presence of the ice.
Some people have said that the Flyers would be more reluctant to trade either one of the Schenn brothers because of fear of a negative impact on the one who stays behind. I don't buy that for a second. The Flyers have had other brother combos before -- including twin brothers Ron and Rich Sutter -- and it made no on-ice difference in the brother who remained with the Flyers after the other one departed the team.
I'm not saying the Flyers are (or should be) shopping Brayden Schenn in potential deals to upgrade the defense. My point is that both Brayden and Luke understand that hockey is a business and trades are part of the business. The fact that both brothers are currently members of the Flyers roster will not in any way influence Paul Holmgren's thinking in terms of potential trades.
Final Thoughts
Brayden Schenn's first two NHL seasons have been a bit of a bumpy ride but being patient through a young player's growing pains is part of the process of developing young talent at the NHL level. While Schenn hasn't been one of those rare prodigies who hits the ground running in the NHL with barely any missteps, he also isn't THAT far behind where he should be at age 21.
At different times, Schenn has shown all of the elements of a high-end top six forward in the NHL. He just needs to do it on a more regular basis with shorter downswings after highly productive stretches. The work ethic is there. He just needs more experience.
I would not be automatically opposed to seeing the Flyers trade Schenn. Given a choice between trading Schenn or trading Couturier to upgrade the blueline, I would opt to move Schenn because losing Couturier's defensive skill set would be counter-productive to the goal of improving team defense. My thinking could change, however, if Scott Laughton's game emerges at the pro level to being a legitimate shutdown center candidate; although Laughton is considerably smaller than Couturier with a lower offensive upside.
Preferably, the Flyers wouldn't trade either Couturier or Schenn right now unless it was in a no-brainer sort of deal that brought back a bonafide top pairing defenseman in his prime. That seems unlikely unless it is part of a package deal. However if the Flyers, as rumored, said no last summer to dealing Couturier, Schenn and first round picks to Nashville ahead of signing Shea Weber to an offer sheet, I don't know if there's a player out there for whom the Flyers would be willing to deal both young forwards.
As with Couturier, I think the Flyers' best course of action right now is to avoid the temptation to trade Brayden Schenn for instant puck moving and/or offensive help on the blueline. There are serviceable puck-moving role players to be had without gutting the remade long-term nucleus of forwards that Holmgren started to create following the Jeff Carter and Mike Richards trades.
The Flyers organization has dramatically reversed courses in their master plan too many times in the last decade. Rather than over-reacting to a bad year in a shortened season, they would be better served to continue to add building blocks instead of looking for that huge move that will magically put a team that probably isn't ready for a return to the Stanley Cup Finals back into immediate title contention.
**********
Kindle users: Please sign up for Flyers Buzz. For more information
click here.
Click below to follow me on Twitter:
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»