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The Flyers released some terrible news on Tuesday when they announced veteran defenseman Kimmo Timonen is suffering from blood clots in his lungs and lower right leg.

The good news is Timonen is being treated for it in Finland now and should be OK. The bad news is the Finnish God of Defense will take a long time to recover fully, and that he may never suit up in the NHL again.

Obviously getting healthy for his family is priority No. 1, but in the hockey aspect of this his absence is a huge loss for the Flyers, as he's undoubtedly the team's top blue liner.

Flyers GM Ron Hextall has since signed Michael Del Zotto to a one-year deal to help fill the void in terms of moving the puck up ice and trying to have create some offense from back end.

Del Zotto has hit a rough patch since his first couple of seasons in the NHL, but I like the idea of signing him to a one-year, no-risk contract and giving him a shot to prove his worth.

That said, he's certainly a significant downgrade from Timonen.

Del Zotto has struggled to win the shot attempt battle against highly mediocre competition in recent years, while Timonen has flourished playing against the league's best on a nightly basis.



Corsi Relative is simply the amount of shot attempts (plus or minus) a player has compared to his team when he's not on the ice. For example, if Philadelphia generates 55 of 100 shot attempts with Timonen on the ice, and 48 of 100 when he's off, his relative number would be +7.

Generally more shot attempts lead to more goals, so it's good to be on the plus side of things. The fact that Del Zotto has struggled a little in that aspect (i.e. spending more time in his zone defending shots than attacking and taking them) is likely part of the reason he went unsigned for so long.

Del Zotto is known for his puck moving ability and looked at as a point producer, but really he's only had one real good offensive season, and it was in large part because he rode high shooting percentages, which he hasn't been able to sustain.



As you'll notice, Del Zotto is typically a little over a 3% shooter and 2-3 goal scorer. When he shot almost 9%, his goal output sky rocketed and essentially converted him from a 30-point player to a 40-point player.

I won't question his ability to move the puck - that's his best attribute - but he's good at it, not great.

If he's spoon fed offensive zone starts and consistent time on the top PP unit 30 points isn't an unreasonable expectation, but don't expect much more. That's by no means bad, but he's no Kimmo Timonen in the offensive zone or defensive zone.

The Flyers additions this summer are R.J. Umberger and Del Zotto, and they lost Scott Hartnell and now Timonen to blood clots.

Call me crazy, but I think those are two downwards moves, and that is good news for Columbus, New Jersey and the rest of the Metro Division. Most teams took a step or two forward and the Flyers are going in reverse, which leads me to believe they won't be a playoff team in 2014-15.

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