Quick Hits: July 28, 2023
1) One of the less publicized roster moves the Flyers made during the 2023 offseason to date was the signing of 25-year-old defenseman Victor Mete to a one-year, two-way contract back on July 5. The deal pays $775,000 at the NHL level and $450,000 if he clears waivers and spends the 2023-24 season in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Mete, who turned 25 last month, is a reclamation project for Philadelphia. He spent last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs but spent most of the season on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) with a lower body injury suffered on Dec. 6, 2022. He was originally said to be out for a couple weeks but the injury turned out to be more serious than first thought. On Dec. 27, he was placed on LTIR and did not return. In his 11 games played, Mete was deployed on the third pair and averaged 13:04 of ice time (0 G, 2 A, 4 PIM, 9 blocked shots, 7 SOG). Prior to the injury, he also spent a half-dozen games in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies; his first non-NHL action since early in the 2018-19 season.
It was not all that long ago that Mete was considered a fast-rising young puck-moving defenseman early in his career with the Montreal Canadiens. He is a very good skater, and adept both at making breakout passes and jumping into the play up-ice. His stock has fallen, however, since the pandemic between injuries and inconsistency. Mete had a rough season in Ottawa in 2021-22 and was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Senators. Last year, former Toronto general manager Kyle Dubus took a flier on Mete, with disappointing results before the season-ending injury in December. After the season, Toronto declined to extend a qualifying offer to Mete, making him a UFA for the second straight offseason.
Nevertheless, there remains some intrigue over Mete, who was a very productive two-way defenseman at the Ontario Hockey League level and represented gold medalist Team Canada at the 2017-18 World Junior Championships (note: Mete is not caught up in the present Hockey Canada investigation, having cooperated fully with authorities despite having been out of the country on holiday in Jamaica when the incident that precipitated the investigation took place in June 2018). As an OHL player, he was also a regular point-producer in addition to showing two-way hockey sense and well above-average wheels.
At 5-foot-9, 187 pounds, Mete has a low center of gravity and is deceptively strong despite his lack of height. However, he's never been known as much of a physical presence. He relies on finesse, anticipation and containment. He has a quick stick. Early in his NHL career, Mete saw a fair amount of power play time with the Canadiens (1:24 per game in his rookie 2017-18 season) but he soon became more of a 5-on-5 puck-moving specialist on the third pair from the 2020-21 season onward.
Mete's injury issues and the fact that his contract with the Flyers is a two-way deal indicates that he'll enter training camp in September as a dark horse to make the NHL roster. However, he does have 247 games of NHL regular season experience under his belt and he did dress in every game of the Habs' 2020 first-round playoff series against the Flyers (albeit in a limited role with 12:30 TOI, highlighted by a pair of power play assists in Montreal's 5-0 win in Game 2). At present, he's a candidate for a 6th or 7th defenseman spot on the Flyers if he bounces back to form and/or if there are injuries elsewhere on the blueline and younger candidates such as Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae fail to seize a spot and run with it.
Side note: Mete's agent is Darren Ferris of Quartexx Management; the same agent who represents Flyers RFA center Morgan Frost and former Phantoms/Flyers winger Isaac Ratcliffe.
2) Flyers Daily: During the Flyers' recent Development Camp, Jason Myrtetus had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with center/wing prospect Elliot Desnoyers. Desnoyers, who led the Phantoms in goals last season (23) while playing in all game situations and dressed in four NHL games with the Flyers, talked about what he learned about the transition to the pro game during his rookie year and the need to focus only on the things that are within his own control. To listen to the 15-minute interview, click here.
3) The seventh overall pick of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Flyers right wing prospect Matvei Michkov is in training camp with the KHL's SKA St. Petersburg club. Early word was that Michkov will not participate in the preseason Sochi Hockey Open (Aug. 3 to 8). It's likely, however, that he'll play in the Puchkov Tournament Aug. 21 to 26) in St. Petersburg, which will feature SKA, Avtomobilist, Severstal, Sibir, and Sochi.
First preseason ice for #FueledByPhilly Matvei Michkov, #NJDevils Arseni Gritsyuk and SKA.
— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) July 28, 2023
📸 SKA pic.twitter.com/LjmWWlEcJI
* 2015: The Flyers re-sign center Sean Couturier to a six-year, $26 million ($4.3M AAV) contract extension. The deal would prove be a tremendous bargain for the Flyers, as Couturier would go on to enjoy back-to-back seasons of 76 points (31 and 33 goals), place as the top runner-up for the Selke Trophy in 2017-18 and win the Selke in 2019-20. He also remained largely healthy during this contract.
On Aug. 26, 2021, the Flyers pre-emptively signed Couturier to an eight-year extension ($7.75 million AAV) kicking in for the 2022-23 season. Unfortunately, shortly after posting 12 points (5g, 7a) in the first 10 games of the 2021-22 campaign and averaging 21 minutes of ice time, Couturier's back started to bother him. He played through it as long he could but was ineffective (1G, 4A over his 19 games). Couturier was shut down after the Dec. 18, 2021, game against Ottawa. He had not played a game since then.
On Feb. 11, 2022, Couturier underwent back surgery. He retuned for training camp in Sep. 2022 but continued to have issues. He underwent a second operation on Sept. 19, 2022, and missed the entire 2022-23 season. Couturier is slated to be on the ice for Day One of the club's 2023 training camp and the club is hoping that he will be healthy for the 2023-24 season and return to something close to his preinjury form. Couturier will turn 31 on Dec. 7, 2023.
* 2021: The Flyers formally announced six signings, most notably the following: goaltender Martin Jones (one year, $2 million), Nate Thompson (one year, $965,000) and Nick Seeler (one year, $750,000). Subsequently on the same day, the Flyers announced the signing of veteran defenseman Keith Yandle to a one-year, $900,000 contract. The Flyers also signed AHL/NHL swingmen Gerry Mayhew and Adam Clendening to one-year, two-way contracts.
5) July 28 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Barry Ashbee (1939-1977), Garth Snow (1969)