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Meltzer's Musings: Vecchione's Outlook for 2017-18 and Beyond |
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IS A MOVE TO WING IN VECCHIONE'S BEST INTERESTS?
When the Philadelphia Flyers pursued 2016-17 Hobey Baker finalist Mike Vecchione as a free agent after he completed his senior season at Union College, there was an initial hype train built up around the player by Flyers fans. In some corners, the announcement of his March 31 signing was initially treated in similar fashion to the acquisition of a superstar NHL player.
Two NHL games and a few months later, following the selection of Nolan Patrick with the second overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft, Vecchione is almost a forgotten man in those same corners. The new contract Vecchione signed as a restricted free agent in July was a mere blip on the offseason news radar.
This is hardly unusual, however. In recent springs, there has often been a tendency for the top never-drafted collegiate free agents to get overhyped. It happened last year with Drake Caggiula. It happened previously with defenseman Christian Folin and goalie Eric Hartzell.
The reality is that, while some of these players can quickly go on to become high-quality NHL role players -- a prime example being collegiate free agent Matt Read's first three seasons with the Flyers after finishing his career with Bemidji State -- there aren't a lot of future stars to be found among their ranks. At the time of his signing with the Flyers, Vecchione projected as a potential solid bottom-six NHL forward who could be an asset as a supporting cast player.
That projection hasn't changed, but the field is overcrowded. Presently, the Flyers have a glut of both young and veteran depth forwards vying for roster spots. Vecchione is competing with the likes of Michael Raffl, Read, Jori Lehterä, Scott Laughton and Taylor Leier.
Will Vecchione be the opening night roster? Will he be with the Phantoms instead? How will the Flyers gaining the second overall pick of the 2017 Draft impact Vecchione's future, both in the short-term and the long term?
The answer is that Vecchione will have to play his way onto the Flyers' roster in September and October and find his niche. Nothing but an opportunity -- and a competitive signing bonus and immediate entry-level contract burn-off -- were offered to him before he signed with the Flyers. There is no guaranteed roster spot for him and no assurance that he will not be asked to move to a wing rather than his preferred center position.
As a matter of fact, Vecchione's best bet for the long term in Philadelphia may be to play wing. That is especially true he is going to play in the top nine rather than being assigned to fourth-line duties.
Right after he was signed, I had a pregame conversation with a television commentator on Vecchione's role. I said that as long as he remained at center, the role in Philly would be on the fourth line because he wasn't going to play ahead of Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier or Valtteri Filppula in Dave Hakstol's lineup. At the time, of course, there was no way to know that the Flyers would move up to the second spot in the 2017 Draft courtesy of good luck in the lottery and then would acquire 2017 (Morgan Frost) and 2018 first-round picks from St. Louis in the Brayden Schenn trade, as well as veteran center Lehterä.
As long as he is healthy, Patrick has a strong chance -- but also not a promise from the Flyers -- to go directly to the NHL next season. In terms of Vecchione's additional long-term competition in the system, Frost is a playmaking center. The Flyers' 2016 first-round pick, German Rubtsov, is yet another a natural center as is fellow Russian prospect Mikhail Vorobyev.
Thus, a move to wing very well could be Vecchione's best shot at being part of the long-term picture in Philadelphia.
Vecchione, who is less than three months younger than veteran Couturier (a good reminder that players develop at different paces), needs to have a standout training camp to win an NHL job come opening night. Right now, it seems that Laughton is ahead of him in the on-paper competition as are the veterans. However, things can change rapidly once camp and the preseason games get underway in two months; every bit as quickly, in fact, as Vecchione went from hyped "must-sign" free agent to a semi-overlooked roster candidate.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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