Quick Hits: October 16, 2020
1) Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher was unavailable to speak to the media earlier this week after the organization signed defenseman Erik Gustafsson to a one-year contract. He is slated to speak today at 11 a.m. ET.
2) According to Elliotte Friedman's Oct. 14 edition of 31 Thoughts, the Flyers have had discussions with the Arizona Coyotes about acquiring 32-year-old defenseman Jason Demers. As with Gustafsson, Demers is an unrestricted free agent after the 2020-21 season, and would not cause the Flyers a need to alter their 2021 Expansion Draft protection list plan.
Demers, a 20-minute a game right-handed defenseman, would fill a penalty killing vacancy left by the retirement of Matt Niskanen. His salary cap hit is a shade under $4 million (the Florida Panthers retained $565,000 of the full $4.5 million when he was traded to the Coyotes during the 2017-18 preseason).
Right now, however, the Flyers already have a glut of eight defensemen on the NHL roster and already have three defensemen who exclusively (Phil Myers, Justin Braun) or strongly prefer (Gustafsson) to play the right side. In a theoretical Demers acquisition, Gustafsson may have to shift to the left, which he said on Monday that he'd do if asked but said would require an adjustment period after spending the last three seasons on right defense.
It may not make sense to acquire another defensemen before the Flyers figure out where Shayne Gostisbehere fits in the blueline plan for 2020-21 unless he's traded. Philly also has to budget any additional cap spending against the need to re-sign restricted free agents Myers and Nolan Patrick.
3) Friedman also reported that the Flyers were among the teams with interest in unrestricted free agent veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic. However, Hamonic's longstanding preference to live and play in Western Canada has not changed. Hamonic opted out of playing in the Bubble this summer due to COVID-related concerns over his young daughter, Charlie, who was hospitalized last year with a respiratory illness. When Hamonic played for the Islanders, he requested a trade to be close to a different family member who was dealing with a serious illness.
4) Florida defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent who has played on three straight one-year contracts and who is a trendy player in advanced stats circles because he put up strong underlying numbers for the Panthers despite starting more than half his five-on-five shifts in the defensive zone (for the first time in his career) in 2019-20. Whether new general manager Bill Zito is actually discussing trades, and with which teams if so, remains to be seen. The feeling here is that he tries to get something done with the player before the case goes to arbitration and the player becomes a potential unrestricted free agent in 2021.
5) On today's edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus chats with recently signed Phantoms/Flyers defenseman Derrick Pouliot about his decision to sign with Philadelphia, his preparations for training camp and his aspirations for the 2020-21 season.
6) Yes, I saw Pierre LeBrun's report that Patrik Laine's agent feels that a trade from the Jets would be in the best interests of both his client (an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent after the 2020-21 season) and the Winnipeg Jets. No, I still do not think the Flyers should break the bank to trade for this particular player unless Philly were able to seriously restructure their cap planning picture with some of their older veteran forwards with multiple years left on big-dollar contracts. I also found the Tweet below interesting in light of reputed unhappiness by Laine about his usage by head coach Paul Maurice. If anything, I would think Nikolaj Ehlers is the better fit for Philadelphia's desire for a scoring winger, were he to be made available. First and foremost, Ehlers is cost-controlled at $6 million through 2024-25 (which is a major reason why he's pretty much unavailable for trade).
Winnipeg Jets forwards, 5-on-5 icetime.
— Murat Ates (@WPGMurat) October 15, 2020
Sharing with the hope that the arguments can start in a fair place.
1. Patrik Laine played more at 5-on-5 than Blake Wheeler did last season.
2. Laine also played almost twice as much with Scheifele at 5-on-5 as Wheeler did.
Carry on. pic.twitter.com/v1I6opLCV6
7) Flyers goaltending prospect Samuel Ersson continued his stellar early 2020-21 run in SHL yesterday by stealing a 2-1 win for Brynà¤s IF at home against Rögle BK. In a game in which BIF was outshot by a 43-14 ratio, Ersson was the difference maker. Over the final 40 minutes play, the netminder stopped 34 shots and got his team through a series of penalty kills, including a 5-on-3.
8) Oct 16 Flyers Alumni Birthday: Thomas Eriksson
Tall and highly skilled defenseman Thomas Eriksson was born in Stockholm on Oct. 16 1959. The Flyers drafted the slick-skating 6-foot-2 Djurgà¥rden star in the fifth round (98th overall) of the 1979 NHL Draft.
Good friends since adolescence with goaltender Pelle Lindbergh, a fellow Stockholm native, the two players were teammates on the bronze medal winning Swedish team at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Eriksson and Lindbergh also attended their first NHL camp together in September 1980 and were housemates in Portland while they played for the Maine Mariners. Their personalities were quite different - Lindbergh was gregarious and outgoing, while Eriksson was quieter and more introverted - but they got along famously.
On February 12, 1981, Eriksson became the first European born and trained player to appear in a regular season game for the Flyers; a 4-3 win at the Spectrum over the Vancouver Canucks. Two games later, Eriksson assisted on a Reggie Leach goal to record his first NHL point.
Eriksson's lengthy and distinguished European and international careers outshined his NHL time during his time with the Flyers in the mid-1980s, which was interrupted by a one-season return to Sweden when he grew homesick early in his second year with the Flyers.
Nevertheless, Eriksson enjoyed a pair of solid seasons with Philadelphia in 1983-84 (11 goals, 44 points, plus-28 in 68 games) and 1984-85 (10 goals, 39 points, plus-24 in 72 games). He was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 1983-84.
Following the death of close friend Pelle Lindbergh, a struggle with bone chips in his ankle and issues with head coach Mike Keenan, Eriksson decided to return home for good after the 1985-86 season. He played eight more seasons for Djurgà¥rdens IF. An iconic player for Djurgà¥rden, Eriksson's number 27 jersey was retired by the club.
After his playing days ended, Eriksson went into law enforcement in Stockholm.