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Meltzer's Musings: Development Camp Wrapup, Homegrown Talent Depth |
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QUICK HITS: JULY 13, 2017
1) The Flyers wrapped up Development Camp on Wednesday with the annual Trial on the Isle activities in Stone Harbor, NJ. The prospects will now head off for various destinations to continue their summer training and, in some cases, prepare for the junior national team camps and tourneys that take place in August. Nolan Patrick plans to spend most of the summer working out at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Carter Hart is a virtual shoo-in for a repeat engagement with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships, but isn't taking anything for granted.
2) There are many positives to Development Camp but there is also a risk (no matter how many times it is stated that these sessions are not intended for hockey evaluation) of folks in attendance reading a bit too much into what they see from a player in a few drills in July.
This was especially true on the 3-on-3 mini-tourney day. For instance, some attendees expressed disappointment that Mike Vecchione didn't score any goals in the half-ice three-on-three tourney on the final day while others got a tad over-excited by 2017 sixth-round pick Olle Lycksell's five goals. The format and purpose were all about the players having a little fun in a quasi-competitive situation and, as a bonus, providing a little final-day entertainment for fans.
3) As for the goaltending in 3-on-3, read nothing into any of it and just take it all in fun. The center ice sides of the two half-rinks didn't have regular crease markings (which makes it tougher for a goalie to get his bearings) and the posts weren't moored as they would normally play. There was no structure to the games, stick checking only and the short-ice with continuous play meant that there could be shots at both ends in a matter of a second or two.
That was how Team Gray lost its game against Team Black. The Grays pulled goalie Matej Tomek for an extra attacker and David Kase scored to tie the game. However, Tomek didn't immediately come back onto the ice with the continuous play so Noah Cates alertly fired a quick shot into the vacant net to win the game. Perhaps it spoke just a bit to confirming Cates' reputation for being a quick and improvisational thinker on the ice, but it was a situation that, of course, would never arise in a real game on a full sheet of ice (where there would be a stoppage after the tying goal, the goalie would return, and then there'd be an ensuing center-ice faceoff).
Bottom line: just enjoy these things for what they are. Tuesday's 3-on-3 wasn't even an overtime-like simulation, much less a scrimmage and certainly nothing like a bonafide hockey game. It was, however, fun to watch, fun to tally and, to a man, something the youngsters at camp found quite fun to play.
4) It seemed that most of the players attending the Development Camp took it in the spirit in which it was intended: as an opportunity to learn some new things about on-ice and off-ice preparation and honing some specific skills they can improve upon moving forward.
For example, no one has to tell Matthew Strome that his skating needs considerable work. The Flyers' 2017 fourth-round pick is well aware that his stride, cuts, and first-step explosiveness are all in need of significant improvement over the next few seasons.
Some have likened Strome's skating to Oskar Lindblom's in his draft year (2013-14), probably because both players entered their draft year touted as potential second-round or even first-round picks but saw their stock fall considerably and also because Lindblom largely resolved the issues is his draft +1 year and then it was a non-issue by the end of the following season. In Lindblom's case (and also Mikhail Vorobyev's still ongoing work), however, it was primarily a matter of just getting a bit stronger to increase their skating power in their first stride or two. Lindblom will never be a pure speedster but now gets from Point A to Point B with NHL-caliber quickness.
The work Strome needs is more along the lines of an overhaul than refinement. I would argue that better skating comparison players than Lindblom would be the likes of former Flyers draftee Patrick Maroon circa the summers of 2007 and 2008 or the case of longtime Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Holmström. Both Maroon and the Demolition Man were considered far below-average skaters for professional hockey candidates. Maroon was also dogged by frequent conditioning criticisms while Holmström in his days playing for Luleå in Elitserien was once deemed "the worst skater in any major professional league in the world."
One of the biggest knocks on Strome this past season was that his skating, which was raised as a scouting red flag during his play for Team Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament late last summer, had supposedly gotten worse in viewings during the OHL playoffs and Under-18 World Championships. Thus, full-season stamina and in-season conditioning were added to the concerns (although not to the same degree as with Maroon in his early days).
Here's the good news: Holmström and Maroon sufficiently worked on their issues to eventually go on to have NHL careers, including a 30-goal and four additional 20-plus goal years for Holmström as a netfront presence and a 27-goal campaign with Edmonton for Maroon just this past year. There is no reason why Strome can't do it, too. The 18-year-old already seems to be on the case to get the ball rolling on the process.
As a second-round or third-round pick, Strome's selection would have career significant risk to the Flyers. As the 108th overall selection, though, he was perfectly slotted to where the organization selected him. The organizational risk is less by that point and the potential reward (which is high) remains the same.
5) An interesting point was raised on Twitter by Jake Fahringer that the Flyers could have 11 or even 12 players on the roster this season who are homegrown products (i.e., originally drafted and/or signed to their first pro contract by the Flyers). A question was posed as to which Flyers' team has had the most such players on the roster.
I have not yet had the opportunity to research the correct answer but, off the top of my head, I believe the answer has to be the 1984-85 team which had 15 players who were significant contributors that year and were either originally drafted by the Flyers or else entered the pro ranks as undrafted (Tim Kerr, Dave Poulin, Ilkka Sinisalo) rookie free agents signed by the Flyers. The 1974-75 Flyers Stanley Cup championships team had 10 drafted/originally signed homegrown players plus four members whom the Flyers selected in the 1967 Expansion Draft.
Unlike those other teams, the 2017-18 Flyers are unlikely to go to the Stanley Cup Final. However, the Flyers farm system right now is clearly the deepest it has been since the 2004-05 Philadelphia Phantoms Calder Cup winning squad that featured the likes of Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, R.J. Umberger, Patrick Sharp, Ben Eager and Riley Cote among the forwards, Joni Pitkänen, Dennis Seidenberg, Randy Jones, and Freddy Meyer on defense and Antero Niittymäki in goal.
In today's cap-centered NHL, developing a homegrown talent pool is more important than ever. The overhaul of the Flyers' farm system to get where it is right now -- all the while with the NHL team being at least a playoff bubble team -- has been very impressive. This area has far and away been Ron Hextall's focus as general manager.
The importance of system depth can never be overstated. It is inevitable than some prospects will fail to develop as hoped, others to fall a bit short of their ceiling but still be role players, a few who get repeatedly derailed by injured and some who move on to other organizations before finding success. Having depth accounts for these typical occurrences, while simultaneously increasing the chances of hitting a home run or two plus for a few pleasant surprises to emerge along the way.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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