QUICK HITS: SEPTEMBER 7, 2017
1) When the Flyers acquired Jori Lehterठfrom the St. Louis Blues in the Brayden Schenn trade on Draft Day, their primary incentive was the acquisition of two first-round Draft picks (Morgan Frost this year and a yet-to-be-determined 2018 or 2019 first-rounder). The inclusion of Lehterà¤, from St. Louis' perspective, was first and foremost a salary dump. The Flyers had enough cap flexibility to be able to do it.
That does not mean, however, that Lehterठhas no value to offer the Flyers.
The Finnish forward is coming off a down season offensively. However, this may have been at least partially owed to injury as he spent two stints on injured reserve with concussion-like symptoms. A few weeks prior to the trade to the Flyers, Lehtera admitted to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post Dispatch that 2016-17 was far from his best work and he aims to recover the form that made him an effective player for the Blues his first two seasons in the NHL.
The Flyers do not expect Lehtera, whose NHL goal-scoring high is 14 (2014-15 with St. Louis) and who scored seven goals last season, to single-handedly make up for Schenn's 25 goals (17 power play tallies) last season. Rather, the team will rely on a push for balanced scoring - higher output from veterans, the continued emergence of second-year pro Travis Konecny and, if they prove themselves ready for the NHL next season, on contributions from potential rookie roster players such as Nolan Patrick and Oskar Lindblom.
Primarily, what the Flyers expect to see from the 29-year-old Lehtera is a solid two-way game, underrated playmaking ability and contributions in the subtle-but-important areas of the game that contribute to quality shifts and momentum for the team. Whether at home or on the road, he can be used in a variety of different matchups at 5-on-5 and can be a supplementary piece on special teams.
The Flyers have been looking for several years to add some more size and puck protection ability to their forward corps. The 6-foot-2, 210 pound Lehterठis not a physical player in the sense of delivering bone-crushing checks or playing a "mean" game. However, one of his biggest strengths is that he is quite good as using his size and strength to protect the puck.
If he effectively occupies the puck, sets up enough chances for teammates to land in the 20 to 25 assist range and is responsible without the puck, he's probably going to have a regular spot somewhere in Dave Hakstol's lineup. The Finn could become a fan whipping boy in Philly as he did in St. Louis, but he's not going to be judged by his coaches based on goals or hits.
On the analytics side, his shot-attempt differentials were typically positive in St, Louis but no doubt aided by playing with Vladimir Tarasenko and starting a lot of shifts in the offensive zone. It will be a good test for him to keep the puck-possession proxy stats high on a Flyers team that will have a lot of youth on the blueline and struggled at five-on-five last year.
For more on Lehterठand the Flyers' expectations for him, click here.
2) Flyers goaltending prospect Felix Sandstrom is undergoing arthroscopic surgery this week, per the Brynà¤s IF Gà¤vle official website. He is expected to miss only two weeks but, with opening night of the regular season slated for Sept. 19, he could miss a few games at the start of the season. Veteran David Rautio, already penciled in to split time again with Sandström, will start on opening night and be backed up by junior team callup Samuel Ersson.
Sandström played in goal yesterday, looking generally sharp in stopping 34 of 37 shots in a 5-3 preseason win against à–rebro. The player told the Brynà¤s website that the surgery had already been planned ahead of time (i.e., it is not due to an injury sustained in yesterday's game). Still, it seems a little unusual to have a tuneup start days before a scheduled preseason surgery and two-week rehab period.
3) Sept. 7 sadly marks the anniversary of the deaths of two of the top 10 Flyers defensemen of all-time: Brad "the Beast" McCrimmon perished on Sept. 7, 2011 in the horrific airplane disaster in Yaroslavl, Russia, that took the lives of the entire Lokomotiv team en route to its regular season opening game (and McCrimmon's head coaching debut). On Sept. 7, 2016, Bob "the Count" Dailey died after a six-year battle with cancer. Today on the Flyers Alumni Association official Facebook page there are extensive photo galleries devoted to McCrimmon and Dailey, including some rare and previously unpublished photos from the Flyers Archives. For more on the lives and careers of the Beast and the Count, see their Flyers A-to-Z profiles on the Flyers official website.
4) I spent all day, and part of the evening yesterday at the Wells Fargo Center, doing photo research for the Dailey and McCrimmon memorials as well preparing for as a variety of other upcoming events. As I sat at a work space, one of Bob Clarke's old jerseys, Gene Hart's famous orange blazer and the Barry Ashbee Trophy lurked nearby. These items and much more will soon be on display for Flyers fans to see at the Skate Zone in Voorhees.
5) Sept. 7 Flyers and Flyers Alumni Birthdays: Andrew MacDonald (1986). Gino Odjick (1970), Rob Zepp (1981).
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FLYERS TOP 25 IN THE LAST 25 YEARS: CLAUDE GIROUX
By the time Flyers captain Claude Giroux's Flyers career comes to an end, he stands a good chance at ranking at least within in the franchise's all-time top-four for points. Within the next two years, he figures to rise into the top five and surpass the likes of Rod Brind'Amour (601 points), Mark Recchi (627), John LeClair (643) and oft-injured forwards Tim Kerr (650) and Eric Lindros (659 in just 486 games).
Currently, Giroux is 10th in franchise history with 575 career points. Bob Clarke's all-time franchise record 1,210 points is probably out of reach for Giroux but, by the time he is done, he should at the very least be in the top four. The late Rick MacLeish is currently fourth (697 points). Giroux is currently 274 points behind Brian Propp (849 points) for third and 308 points behind Bill Barber (883 points) for second.
If he were to do it within the next four seasons, Giroux would have to average 69 points per season to surpass Propp and 77 points per season over the same span to tie Barber. Over a five-season span, it would take 55 points per season to pass Propp and 62 points per season to move past Barber.
No matter how you slice and dice the numbers and notwithstanding a downward trend in his point production (primarily in five-on-five play) the last two seasons, Giroux has been a major impact player for the Flyers. He was also a very important, if somewhat overlooked, part of the team's magical 2010 playoff run as well as the biggest catalyst in the team's upset of pre-playoff Cup favorite Pittsburgh in the first round of the 2012 playoffs.
For these reasons and more, Giroux earns the number two spot in the Flyers' Top 25 in the Last 25 Years profile countdown.
A standout for the QMJHL's Gatineau Olympiques, Giroux was drafted as a right winger but eventually made the transition to center at the NHL level. On an emergency recall basis, Giroux made his NHL debut for the Flyers on February 19, 2008, in a game in Ottawa. Later that year, he had one of the most dominant playoff runs in the Quebec Major Junior League history, racking up a staggering 51 points (17 goals, 34 assists) in just 19 games.
Set back temporarily by dental surgery to remove four impacted wisdom teeth, Giroux failed to make the Flyers' opening night roster for the 2008-09 season but was called up to stay by midseason. He posted nine goals and 27 points in 42 games. In 2009-10, Giroux contributed 47 points (16 goals, 31 assists) during the regular season.
Giroux's real coming-out party as an NHL star began in the 2010 playoffs. En route to the Flyers coming within two wins of the Stanley Cup championship, Giroux complied 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 23 postseason games. The next year, improved to 76 points (25 goals and his first career 50-assist season) while dressing in all 82 regular season matches.
In 2011-12, the Flyers placed Giroux - now centering the first line - on a line with the legendary Jaromir Jagr and power forward Scott Hartnell. The trio clicked, and Giroux racked up 93 points in 77 games. He placed fourth in the Hart Trophy balloting for National Hockey League most valuable player.
Giroux played brilliantly in the Flyers' first-round upset of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Most notably, his spectacular opening shift of Game Six - which started with Giroux blasting Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby with a clean body check and ended with Giroux firing a shot past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to give Philadelphia a quick 1-0 lead - stands as one of the best shifts in franchise history. Overall, Giroux racked up 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in 10 playoff games that year before sitting out the final game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on a one-game suspension by the NHL.
Giroux had offseason hip/groin surgery in the summer of 2016 and then got banged up in a pre-tournament tuneup game at the World Cup of Hockey and wound up playing sparingly. One of the most accomplished players in latter-day Flyers history, Giroux entered the 2016-17 with four Bobby Clarke Trophies (Flyers most valuable player) and four NHL All-Star Game selections to his credit.
Early in the season, Giroux seemed poised to add more honors to his trophy case. He got off to a torrid start when the NHL season started. He rattled off a 10-game point streak after being held without a point on opening night. Through 15 games, he already had 16 points (three goals, 13 assists). Unfortunately, except for a mini-streak during the Flyers 10-game winning stretch in late November to early December, Giroux struggled.
The captain had an especially rough time after Christmas and New Year's. His play picked up again a bit down a lost-cause stretch drive but it was not enough to rescue his or the team's season. Giroux uncharacteristically finished the campaign with just 14 goals, 58 points and a minus-14 at even strength that he readily admitted bothered him more than the dip in his point totals.
Giroux participated in the 2017 IIHF World Championships, captaining Team Canada. He otherwise had a lengthy offseason to prepare for the 2017-18 campaign. Even with the influx of young talent coming up through the Flyers' farm system and apparently ready to push for NHL roster spots this season, Giroux is still the Flyers' most important player as his 30th birthday approaches midway through next season.