QUICK HITS: JULY 8, 2016
1) On the first day the Flyers 2016 Development Camp, Samuel Morin (illness) was unable to take to the ice, while Alex Lyon (undisclosed) returned to the ice for the second session after the day after reportedly having a minor physical issue during the early-day session.
2) It is sometimes easy to forget how young Lehigh Valley Phantoms defenseman Robert Hägg still is. His name was on the NHL Draft radar from the time he was about 16 years old and establishing himself a fixture on the various Swedish junior national team age groups as well as excelling for Modo's junior teams. He debuted in the Swedish Hockey League (formerly Swedish Elite League) before his 18th birthday. He joined the Phantoms in the AHL at age 19.
He's still only 21, and still only entering the second season of his entry-level NHL contract. His rookie year with the Phantoms (2014-15) was slide-rule eligible.
Taking a step back and realizing that Hägg has been playing against pros for three-and-a-half seasons now, it probably should not surprising that he's had issues with inconsistency in his play. It's taken him time to learn exactly who he is as a professional player; where his real strengths are.
There have been many times where one can almost see him overthinking his game. He's shown various elements that suggest he could evolve into a well-rounded, two-way defenseman if only he can put all the pieces together.
There's been a tendency with him to be a bit like a young baseball player who overthinks at the plate. The young hitter who is always tinkering with his stance -- open stance one game, closed the next, tries to pull everything one week and then tries to be an opposite field hitter the next week rather than just seeing and hitting the ball. With Hägg, there's been a similar search for identity, although he has always said his goal is to become an all-situations player who moves the puck well and defends reliably without the puck.
The reality has been that his game has been all over the place. For example, during his rookie year, Hägg was among the AHL's shot on goal leaders through the first quarter of the season although the pace fell off considerably as his role was simplified to be more of a puck mover than a power play trigger man. At other times, especially in 2015-16, he's played more like an ultra-conservative defensive defenseman.
There's a bit of shyness to his personality -- not speaking unless spoken to -- and a bit of a laid-back style on the ice that has sometimes been labeled as being too casual. Those who know him best, however, say that Hägg beats himself up mentally all the time. He may smile and shrug frequently in interviews but, on the inside, he agonizes over every play and every mistake.
Last week, while I was compiling the three-part development camp preview for the Flyers' official website, I spoke for about 50 minutes with Flyers director of scouting Chris Pryor. We went up and down the farm system and the organization's development philosophy. Pryor said of Hägg, "Robert is is his own worst critic."
Pryor also point out Hägg's youth, the difficulty of the SHL and AHL at such a young age, and the fact that not every path is linear. All of these are fair and valid points.
Last year, Hägg (who has always kept himself in excellent physical condition), came to training camp in incredible shape. He had a strong preseason, even earning himself an extra NHL exhibition game as a reward.
Then he got hurt and, for whatever reason, a rather disappointing season -- including a stint as a healthy scratch for Scott Gordon's team -- followed. Late in the season, however, Hägg's game clicked both defensively and offensively. Over the final month of the 2015-16 season, he was one of the Phantoms' best players.
"That’s a point that’s very important when you look at development in the way we view it,” Pryor said. “Where you finish is more important to us than where you start. We really liked where Robert was at by the end of the season. Now we want him to kind of pick up from there and take it the next step.”
Therein lies the challenge for Hägg: Hit the ground running from the point where he left off at the end of last season, consistently play to at least that level, and show further improvement beyond that. For such a young player, he already has a lot of hockey under his belt. Now it's time to start taking forward steps without the corresponding backward ones.
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2016 FLYERS ALUMNI GOLF INVITATIONAL
The 2016 Flyers Alumni Golf Invitational will be held on July 18 at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. The event will raise money for the Flyers Alumni Association, Flyers Charities and BLOCS.
The Golf Invitational will offer a round of golf, lunch, cocktail reception and dinner program.
Subject to changes and additions, the following Flyers Alumni -- widely representing every decade of team history -- will be attending: Ray Allison, Bill Barber, Frank Bathe, Craig Berube, Brian Boucher, Jesse Boulerice, Danny Briere, Terry Carkner, Lindsay Carson, Jeff Chychrun, Bob Clarke, Bill Clement, Steve Coates, Riley Cote, Doug Crossman, Barry Dean, Eric Desjardins, Andre "Moose" Dupont, Doug Favell, Todd Fedoruk, Ross Fitzpatrick, Mark Freer, Larry Goodenough, TJ Gorence, Paul Holmgren, Ed Hospodar, Mark Howe, Kerry Huffman, Bob "the Hound" Kelly, Tim Kerr, Orest Kindrachuk, Mike Knuble, Ian Laperriere, Mitch Lamoureaux, Neil Little, Brad Marsh, Phil Myre, Bernie Parent, Dave Poulin, Brian Propp, Chris Pronger, Luke Richardson, Don Saleski, Dave "the Hammer" Schultz (attending but not golfing), Ilkka Sinisalo, Derrick Smith, and Joe Watson.
For more information,
click here.
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