Quick Hits: August 25, 2022
1) On the latest edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus discusses the trickle-down effect that Ryan Ellis's absence/presence has on the Flyers' lineup including Cam York. Rasmus Ristolainen and the team as a whole. Unfortunately, it does not appear that Ellis will be available for the start of the season and there is no indication of when -- or if -- that situation will change.
If he were to get healthy, the picture for the team would brighten considerably in the same way it did when Matt Niskanen was here. It seems like ancient history now, but Flyers outscored their first three opponents last season by a combined 16-8 in regulation (2-0-1 record) before Ellis exited the lineup for 78 of the remaining 79 games. He made a one-game return in Dallas (5-2 loss) on Nov. 13 and then missed the rest of the season with what was eventually deemed a "multi-layered" (meaning multi-symptom) chronic issue in his pelvic region.
The Flyers went into last year counting heavily on Ellis to shoulder a very heavy ice time burden along with partner Ivan Provorov (Ellis skated 28:20 in his Flyers debut with two assists). They relied on him to be a force in triggering breakouts; a skill they desperately needed and in which the player excels when healthy. They counted on him to get shots through from the point (for his career, he's posted a 51.0 percent ratio of getting his shot attempts on net; a very strong percentage for a defenseman. Moreover, he was relied on to be a calming presence when things got chaotic and to be able to work seamlessly with Provorov. Last but not least, a Provorov-Ellis duo was expected to help the coaches slot the other two defense pairings more ideally.
When Ellis went down, that plan fell apart. Justin Braun had to move up from the third pair to the top pair for much of the season. Rasmus Ristolainen's role also increased. The struggles of Keith Yandle became harder to work around. The power play continued to sink like a stone. Provorov had an inconsistent season and battled frustration.
The addition of Tony DeAngelo in the offseason should help the Flyers' power play. However, many of the other problems threaten to carry over without Ellis being available. The only benefit of his absence is desperately needed LTIR space for a team that would otherwise struggle mightily to become compliant with the salary cap season. The modest available cap space in the off-season was used up -- to the point in which the team presently will have to carry either AHL veteran Troy Grosenek or still-unproven Felix Sandström as the No. 2 goalie on the depth chart because there's no cap space -- and none was created because Chuck Fletcher shied away from moving assets for cap space (for a second straight year) in order to add veteran talent.
The Flyers' attempt at an "aggressive retool" was what they did in the summer of 2021, and that has had an ongoing salary cap impact this offseason. Ellis was supposed to be a crucial component of the plan, not just for 2021-22 but for multiple years.
Unfortunately, the Flyers are essentially still in the same boat now they were in a year ago after a 6-2-2 start. Hopefully, having a healthy Sean Couturier and Kevin Hayes will prevent the issues from compounding as dramatically as they did a year ago with their No. 1 center, No. 2 center and first-pair RD missing. But the team also no longer has Claude Giroux or a proven veteran backup goalie, nor can it said for certain that young players they'll have to rely upon (such as Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost and York) will have the breakthrough season that is so desperately needed for more bonafide depth.
Would the picture brighten if Ellis were to get healthy and both Couturier and Hayes hold up? Yes, especially when combined with the structure that new head coach John Tortorella will hammer home on a daily basis. Would it be enough improvement by itself to push for a playoff spot? Most likely, the team would still need multiple other players (Travis Konecny, Provorov, Joel Farabee and the likes of Tippett and Frost) to step up, too. That's a big ask given the way the bottom dropped out on the last two seasons. Impossible? No. I'm hoping for the best, but not going in with any grandiose expectations.
Specific to Ellis, I wish I could say that I was optimistic. Even if he missed the start of the season, it'd be an encouraging outcome if he could return at some point and stay in the lineup. However, I think one has to be rather skeptical at this point. I don't think he can be counted on any time soon, if at all. The gamble on his health has thus far come up snake eyes, and it has an effect throughout the lineup that is greater than the individual value of the player himself. Ellis isn't a superstar but he was being relied on to check off the boxes of things the team needed (more accurately, still needed) and which he does well.
It really doesn't matter at this point that the chronic health issue that presented in camp last year and still lingers to this day is different from all of Ellis' previous injuries. He'd never had core/pelvic issues among his litany of injuries in Nashville. But that's not comforting in the least. Long-term unavailability is long-term unavailability, regardless of the specifics. Beyond that, many injury-prone athletes seem to later succumb to injuries that were not directly related to their previous issues. The bottom line is that, regardless of when Ellis developed the problems that have limited him to four games in a Flyers uniform, it's still unresolved without an end in sight.
To listen to the podcast, click here.
2) The Flyers have hired Ian McKeown for the newly created position of vice president of their Athletic Performance and Wellness Program, according to Chuck Fletcher.
Per his introductory press release, McKeown will "establish and oversee a comprehensive and coordinated health and wellness program for all players within the Flyers organization" and work in tandem with team doctors and specialists at Penn Medicine.
This hiring by Philadelphia's NHL club reflects a broader trend across professional sports to have a dedicated person on staff in charge of overseeing all functions related to collaboration with doctors, trainers, sports psychologists, nutritionists, strength and flexibility coaches, and rehabilitation and physical therapy specialists.
“In order to compete at the highest level in today’s game, our players need and deserve a modern, comprehensive performance and wellness program, and by hiring Ian for this new role, we’re investing in a world-class program that we believe will significantly impact our players and our team,… Chuck Fletcher said in a statement.
"We are very excited to bring Ian into our group, and his experience in enabling peak athletic performance is unmatched. He will have a direct impact in reshaping and enhancing our players' abilities to perform at the highest level each day, including in practices and games, and recover on days away from the rink."
In this new role, McKeown will work across all of the organization’s relevant departments – including the analytics department – to create customized, comprehensive health and wellness plans for each of the Flyers players.
A native of County Down in Northern Ireland, McKeown does not come from a hockey playing or coaching background but has worked extensively in the health and wellness field in professional sports. He lived in Australia for 14 years and spent the previous nine years performing a similar role for Australian Rules Football team Port Adelaide FC to the tasks he will oversee for the Flyers. He also has previous consulting experience in other pro sports leagues including franchises based in North America. McKeown earned a Ph.D. in strength and conditioning science from the University of Canberra in Australia. He previously earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports and Exercise Science from Ulster University in Northern Ireland.
Per the Flyers' press release, McKeown’s approach to working with athletes "balances the technical, physical, coaching, and human elements of high-level athletic performance, and his work incorporates extensive research and data-driven decision making. He also places a strong emphasis on areas like nutrition, sports psychology, and sports science in his performance systems."
In a statement, McKeown said, "My career has taken me all over the world. My goal is to work with good people, doing great work. There are great people around here and as soon as I started to speak with people from the organization, I fell in love with it. I’m here to make a difference. For me it's about being really strategic and smart about creating the right environment where people just can't help but get better, being connected and a part of something special. But we also work in a performance sport. We're expecting you to work hard and to have incredibly high standards."
3) Today in Flyers History: On Aug. 25, 1998, the Flyers traded the rights to defense prospect Ray Giroux to the New York Islanders for a 2000 sixth-round pick (later flipped to Montreal). The Flyers had drafted the Yale-bound blueliner in the eighth round of the 2004 Draft but did not sign him.
I always felt that Giroux (no relation to Claude) came along at the wrong time; an era in which smaller-framed defensemen had a hard time sticking in the NHL unless they were a superstar-caliber offensive force or a blazing speedster.
Giroux wasn't tiny, but being a listed 6-foot, 190-pound player was considered detrimental to a D-man's NHL chances back in the mid-to-late-1990s. This was an era dominated by big, beefy defensemen. Most teams drafted and signed players accordingly in those years.
The Yale graduate was a really good puck-mover with some offensive pop and a savvy approach to the game. That was just enough for him to get into 38 NHL regular season games with the Islanders and New Jersey Devils but, although he always held his own including defensively (he had a quick stick), he inevitably spent more time in the AHL and Europe than the NHL. He was an all-star a couple times in the KHL, thrived in Finland and logged big minutes at the AHL level but never got an extended NHL shot.
Giroux's agent, Bill Zito, carved out a niche in identifying overlooked talents (especially players toiling in Finland) in whom he believed had NHL potential. His early clients included the likes of Tim Thomas, Brian Rafalski, Kimmo Timonen and Ville Leino as well as Giroux. Eventually, Zito made the jump from being a player agent to an NHL team executive -- assistant GM with the Columbus Blue Jackets and later the GM of the Florida Panthers.
Ray Giroux played until the 2013-14 season; a 15-year pro career. He's an obscure name to most NHL fans but he's someone I always believed was a player who belonged in the NHL on a full-time basis. Had be come along 10 years later, I think he'd have a lengthy NHL career rather than a few cups of coffee. Side note: As a member of the AHL's Lowell Lock Monsters, he burned some very good Philadelphia Phantoms teams repeatedly.
4) August 25 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Dave Tippett (1961), Nick Schultz (1982), Greg Paslawski (1961).