MELTZER'S MUSINGS: JUNE 2, 2015
1) Free agency opens one month from today. Unless the Flyers significantly restructure their salary cap to open space over the next few weeks, the team will likely be to afford only smaller-scale signings in free agency for the second straight year. That does not necessarily mean they won't be add players who help the organization -- such as the addition of defenseman Nick Schultz last year -- but they are presently unlikely to dive into what is a rather shallow UFA pool in its own right.
One move the Flyers are going to have to make is signing a new backup goaltender for Steve Mason, either via free agency or trade. Last year, the Flyers somewhat unexpectedly ended up re-signing Ray Emery to a one-year contract.
This year, despite Emery being a good team player and a fierce competitor, the Flyers are likely to move in a different direction. The potential moderate candidates on the market aren't exactly overwhelming but there are some capable UFA netminders out there: Jhonas Enroth (Dallas Stars, $1.25 million cap hit last season, turns 27 on June 25), Thomas Greiss (Pittsburgh Penguins, $1 million cap hit last season, age 29), Curtis McElhinney (Columbus Blue Jackets, $600,000 cap ht last season, age 32), and Anders Lindbà¤ck (Buffalo Sabres, $925,000 cap hit last season, age 27) are among the available players likely to get contracts in the financial ballpark the Flyers can afford under the cap.
A year ago, there was a run on backup goalies in the opening hours of free agency. The Flyers were believed to initially have a target other than Emery in mind -- suspected to be Justin Peters, who quickly signed a two-year contract with the Capitals at a $950,000 cap hit with the Capitals to back up Braden Holtby but was marginalized into basically a third-stringer behind workhorse Holtby and Phillipp Grubauer -- but ended up sticking with Emery at a $1 million cost.
No doubt that goaltenders such Peters would available at a negligible cost on the trade market, but it seems more likely the Flyers will go after an unrestricted free agent instead of expending any assets.
Additionally, the team a good situation last season with Rob Zepp as the starter for the American Hockey League's Lehigh Valley Phantoms and the Flyers' third-string goaltender at the NHL level. Zepp is an unrestricted free agent again this summer. If he does not re-sign with the Flyers, the organization will also be in the market for a veteran AHL starter who can come up to the big team in a pinch. If Zepp is re-signed, he may compete in camp for the NHL backup job with whomever else the team signs. Prospect goaltender Anthony Stolarz is not close to being NHL ready and is being eased in at the American League level.
2) Flyers forward R.J. Umberger told the team's official website that he is feeling better than he has in the last year-and-a-half after undergoing surgery on March 19 to repair his right hip and bilateral abdominal areas; problems that clearly affected his skating and hindered his overall performance in an undeniably poor 2014-15 season.
Umberger was also not a healthy player in his final season in Columbus. Shortly after the end of the 2013-14 campaign, prior to his trade to the Flyers, Columbus Dispatch Blue Jackets beat writer Aaron Portzline reported that Umberger attempted to play through multiple injuries, including a herniated disc in his back and a separated shoulder. That put some context into a down season in which Umberger went from lineup mainstay to a semi-healthy scratch.
Before the wave of injuries he sustained the past few seasons, Umberger was a reliable and versatile forward who could play in all game situations, was a plus-skater and could be penciled in annually for 20 to 24 goals. That player has rarely been seen the last few years.
At age 33, it is questionable whether Umberger can ever fully regain the form he showed as a young player with the Flyers or his best years in Columbus. He's basically untradeable with two seasons to go on a contract with a $4.6 million cap hit. The Flyers need to hope for the best.
Umberger isn't garbage. He deserves more respect than he's gotten from much of the fanbase ever since the unpopular trade of last summer was made. So far, the trade has not worked out well for Philadelphia. If reasonably healthy, however, Umberger is still capable of being a significantly more effective than he has been of late. Even if his 20-plus goal, 50-plus point seasons are a thing of the past, a healthier Umberger could make the Flyers a deeper team than they were a year ago.
If similar injuries to the last two seasons arise, however, Umberger needs to be more proactive in his self-reports than he's been in the past. He needs to recognize the difference between an injury that can be played through and one that cannot. The veteran's stoicism was impressive even by hockey standards but it backfired because he was not helping himself or the team. If Umberger experiences recurrent problems next season, the Flyers should not hesitate to put him on long-term injured reserve.
3) The NHL Draft is a little more than three weeks away, being held at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL, on June 26-27. In upcoming blogs, I will profile an array of prospects in similar fashion to last year's presentation. I am not much for mock drafts -- even the most educated ones are mere guesses that are usually based on widely available rankings whereas NHL teams operate solely from internal ranking that often vary quite widely.
The Philadelphia Flyers have long been a team that takes the "draft the best available player regardless of his position" route in the first round of NHL Draft. What this means is that they will take the player whom they project to realistically play the highest in the lineup. Risk tolerance also comes into the equation as well.
The Flyers have 10 picks this year, including two in the first round, seven in the first 99 overall selections and at least one in each of the seven rounds. This should enable the organization to be aggressive -- but not reckless -- in their selections.
Generically speaking, if they pick a forward early, the Flyers tend to gravitate to players who are primarily centers -- or at least have "natural center" skill sets even if deployed at wing -- rather than players who exclusively play wing. This is based on a belief that a center has to handle more responsibilities and it is easier to convert a center to a winger than vice versa. For instance, the Flyers drafted Simon Gagne as a center but switched him to left wing early into his rookie season.
Of course, there are exceptions. Claude Giroux was drafted as a right winger but became an impact center. The Flyers used the second overall pick of the 2007 Draft on left winger James van Riemsdyk, although he did play a bit of center before turning pro. In 2005, the Flyers used the 29th overall pick on feisty Steve Downie.
As such, nothing is set in stone. However, those expecting the Flyers to draft a winger with the seventh overall pick based mainly on a premise of the wings been an area of organizational need could be disappointed. They're going to go by their usual internally defined best player available route. If they project a winger as a potential future first-line impact player (such as was the projection on JVR before he was selected second overall in 2007) they may go that route. Otherwise, they are more likely to have center or defenseman ahead in their best-player-available list.
4) Flyers video coach Adam Patterson and former Flyers left winger Scott Hartnell have launched a business together: a product called the Naked Cooler. The product's main selling point is its transparency on the sides, enabling the user to see the beverages contained inside while keeping up to 60 beverages cold for up to 24 hours. Patterson designed the cooler and obtained a patent on the window design and Hartnell joined him as a 25-percent equity partner in the business venture. For more information click here.
5) Today in 1978, the Flyers settled a tampering dispute with the New York Rangers over thee Rangers courting and hiring still-contracted Flyers head coach Fred Shero to become New York's new coach and general manager, the Rangers agree to part with their 1978 first-round draft pick. The Flyers use the selection -- the 7th overall selection of the NHL Draft -- to pick offensively talented and feisty forward Ken "the Rat" Linseman.
6) Today in 2010, the Flyers narrowed the gap in the 2010 Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks to two games to one with a 4-3 overtime win at home in Game 3. Giroux's goal at 5:59 of overtime caps a three-point performance for the burgeoning star. Philly also got goals from Danny Briere (11th of the playoffs), Scott Hartnell (power play) and a game-tying goal by Ville Leino. Michael Leighton stopped 24 of 27 shots to earn the win in net.