Quick Hits: October 14, 2020
1) Recently signed defenseman Erik Gustafsson spoke by video conference with members of the media on Tuesday. The player opined that, while he didn't come close to matching the offensive career highs he set in 2018-19 (17 goals, 60 points for Chicago), he took important strides in improving as an all-around hockey player. "Gus" said that he aims to evolve into more of a two-way defenseman. He admitted that he still has work to do in his defensive game but feels he will be a good fit in Alain Vigneault's systems.
For a profile of the player, plus video of his media session, click here for the 411. Gustafsson also did a subsequent 1-on-1 interview with Jason Myrtetus for the Wednesday edition of Flyers Daily on the Flyers Broadcast Network. Jason also chatted with recently signed defenseman Derrick Pouliot.
2) Gustafsson indicated that, because he's played mostly on the right side of his defense pairings at the NHL level, he feels more comfortable at right defense. However, if asked to play the left side, the left-handed shooter feels he could adapt to the left side again. New teammate Travis Sanheim, also a lefty, is fairly similar in that he's played both left and right defense in the NHL; but it his case, mostly played left defense in 2019-20.
As a player who typically gets a heavy allotment of offensive zone starts (58.6 percent for his career, roughly 56 percent between Chicago and Calgary in 2019-20), the Flyers will have to manage his minutes in similar fashion to the usage of Shayne Gostisbehere (60.6 percent o-zone starts for his career, 57.1 percent in 2019-20) or, before that, Mark Streit (54.0 percent o-zone for his NHL career, 54.8 percent for his Flyers career).
Streit spent a couple of seasons paired with Nicklas Grossmann; a strictly defensive defenseman in the old-school meaning of the term. What was interesting about their usage together in 2013-14 was that Streit had well over 55 percent of his 5-on-5 shift starts in the offensive zone while Grossmann had 55.4 percent of his own in the D-zone. This was accomplished in year one by Craig Berube and John Paddock because Kimmo Timonen often stayed out to start the shift and then give way to Streit as the play moved up ice. Likewise, the Flyers sometimes used Timonen and Streit together if there was an offensive zone faceoff start. In year two, with Timonen out due to a blood clot, the zone starts were kept more straight up, so Grossmann wound up starting 51.1 percent of his starts in the offensive zone (the only time in his career he started more than half his shifts up ice).
Applying that idea to the 2020-21 team, it is possible that Vigneault and Mike Yeo could extend Ivan Provorov's duties similarly to how Timonen was extended to adjust zone starts for the offensive minded Streit and the much more stay-at-home Grossmann. If Gustafsson ends up being paired with Robert Hà¤gg (career 56.5 percent defensive zone starts, 51.2 percent D-zone in 2019-20) as his primary partner, this might be a way to accommodate the differing zone-start deployments. It also speaks volumes for just how valuable having a two-way player like Provorov or Timonen is to a defense corps beyond just their regular pairing.
If, however, Sanheim (50.2 offensive-zone starts for his career, 49.4 percent) ends up as Gustafsson's partner -- this is presuming Phil Myers moves up to play with Provorov -- the coaches can simply go straight up with Sanheim regardless of where the shift starts. Given that Gustafsson has been a 20-minute a game player over the last two seasons (as Streit was for most of his Flyers stint), the most straightforward default blueline arrangement for the current group of Flyers defensemen might be as follows;
Provorov - Myers Sanheim - Gustafsson Hà¤gg or Gostisbehere - Braun
3) Right now, Mark Friedman is once again relegated to No. 8 on the defensive depth chart. General manager Chuck Fletcher has said that he believes Friedman is ready to push for more playing time in the NHL; which is awfully tough to do as a No. 8 (even assuming eight defensemen would be carried rather than seven).
Even apart from the redundancy of the Gostisbehere/Gustafsson primary competencies and deployment needs, not to mention the still-existent problem of lacking an ideal player in the "Matt Niskanen role" on the right side of the top pair, there's now a depth chart logjam. Something's gotta give.
4) Over the weekend, the Phantoms signed Logan Day to an American Hockey League contract for the 2020-21 season. Lehigh Valley now has a bit of a prospective blueline logjam of their own. It is almost a lock that Samuel Morin, after missing most of the last 2 3/4 seasons due to injuries, will clear waivers and be assigned to the Phantoms for much-needed playing time. There are also three incoming rookies. The blueline roster for Lehigh Valley, at present, is as follows:
Derrick Pouliot Egor Zamula (rookie) Samuel Morin Nate Prosser Linus Högberg (rookie) Tyler Wotherspoon Wyatte Wylie (rookie) Logan Day Chris Bigras
There is likely to be spillover from the Phantoms' roster to the Reading Royals in the ECHL. It is possible that Wylie or Högberg -- if they are not regularly in Scott Gordon's lineup -- could see time in Reading. Actually, with the ECHL pushing to start their season ahead of the American Hockey League (which is also likely to start later than the NHL), we may see multiple Phantoms-ticketed players play in Reading for the start of that league's season before the American Hockey gets going.
5) Each year, after the Draft, we do a more in-depth look at each of the Flyers' draftees than we feature immediately after each pick is made. The deep-dive version is called "Under the Microscope". The 2020 edition is now available on the team's official website.
6) Oct. 13 Flyers Alumni birthday: Dave Schultz
Flyers Hall of Fame left winger Dave "the Hammer" Schultz was born October, 14, 1949 in Waldheim, Saskatchewan. Drafted by the Flyers in the 5th round (52nd overall) of the 1969 NHL Draft, Schultz was more of a scorer than a fighter in his earliest hockey days but found a role for himself at the professional level by dropping the gloves with greater and greater frequency.
Schultz only spent four years in a Philadelphia Flyers uniform but they were certainly memorable seasons. It's fair to say that Schultz was the poster child for the Broad Street Bullies of the mid-1970s.
During his Flyers career, Schultz was the most vilified player around the National Hockey League. In Philadelphia, however, he could do no wrong. Schultz's stature as one of the most popular players among the local fan base that the organization honored in inducting him as the 20th member of the Flyers Hall of Fame in November 2009.
Schultz wasn't necessarily the best fighter in the NHL during his career, but he was among the most active and entertaining. The Hammer would work himself into a frenzy before he even hit the ice, and he had a flair for showmanship almost akin to a pro wrestling bad guy.
"The Hammer" - who also less famously went by the Sesame Street inspired nicknames of "Oscar" and "Grouch" as well as by "Zeus" for the thunder he brought - could also play hockey effectively in addition to being a frequent pugilist.
While Schultz's defining legacy was the fact that he topped 300 penalty minutes in three consecutive seasons (topping out at an astounding 472 in 1974-75), he also had a knack for coming through in the clutch.
The Hammer scored 20 goals in the Flyers' first Stanley Cup season and played an important role in each of the three playoff series the Flyers won on the way to claiming the 1973-74 championship. During the regular season that year, Schultz answered questions about his non-fighting prowess by scoring two hat tricks within a week.
In the playoffs, it was Schultz who scored the quarterfinal series clinching goal against the Atlanta Flames on the same night he laid a bloody beating on Flames forward Bryan Hextall Jr. (the father of future Flyers Hall of Fame goaltender and current-day general manager Ron Hextall). In the semifinals against the Rangers, Schultz's lopsided Game Seven pummeling of Rangers defenseman Dale Rolfe was demoralizing to the Blueshirts. In the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins, it was Schultz who set up Bobby Clarke for the Flyers captain's iconic Game Two overtime goal that proved critical to the Flyers winning their first Stanley Cup.
In many ways, Schultz's popularity in Philadelphia in those years rivaled even that of Clarke and Bernie Parent. Schultz even recorded a song, entitled "Penalty Box" that, solely owed to his local popularity, became a top-seller in local record stores and the most-requested single on Delaware Valley area radio stations.
For his Flyers career, Schultz played in 297 regular season games recording 51 goals, 115 points, 1,386 penalty minutes and a plus-70 rating at even strength. In 61 playoff games, he had seven goals, 16 points and 363 penalty minutes.
On September 29, 1976, the Flyers traded Schultz to the LA Kings for a 1977 fourth-round pick (Yves Gaillemette) and a 1978 second-round pick, later flipped to the Colorado Rockies and used on the selection of Merlin Malinoski.
Although he never again approached the stature in Philadelphia, Schultz went on to play for the Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffao Sabres in a 535-game NHL career (2,294 career penalty minutes). His most notable post-Flyers season came with the Penguins after being traded from the Kings early in the 1977-78 season. That year, Schultz posted a combined 11 goals, 36 points and 405 penalty minutes in 74 games.
Following his playing days, Schultz made his permanent home in the Delaware Valley. He remained a very popular figure at Flyers games and at Flyers Alumni games and events.
Schultz's older brother, the late Ray Schultz, also played for several years in the Flyers' organization at the minor league level. After a stint with the AHL's Richmond Robins, he suited up for the Lockhart Cup winning 1975-76 Philadelphia Firebirds of the North American Hockey League. A defenseman, Ray Schultz spent three seasons with the Firebirds. He was 46 and lived in Langhorne, Bucks County at the time of his September 1994 passing after a battle with cancer.
Dave Schultz and ex-wife Cathy have two sons, Chad and Brett. In 2020, the entire Schultz clan was in mourning after Chad and Jen Schultz's daughter, Annalise, passed away from a rare and insidious form of pediatric brain cancer called diffuse midline glioma.