Quick Hits: September 8, 2020
1) The NHL announced on Monday that Ottawa Senators winger Bobby Ryan, who made a successful return to the league after entering the league's Player Assistance program for alcohol abuse and openly discussed his struggles with substance abuse in effort to inspire others in need of help to seek treatment, has won the 2019-20 Masterton Trophy. The other finalists were Flyers left winger Oskar Lindblom and Dallas Stars defenseman Stephen Johns.
Lindblom, of course, was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma back in December. After undergoing rib resection surgery and chemotherapy, he was diagnosed in July as achieving remission. Western PA native Johns missed the entire 2018-19 season and much of the 2019-10 season while dealing with post-concussion syndrome. He eventually made it back to dress in 17 regular season games for the Stars before the leaguewide pause for Covid-19.
Lindblom's candidacy for the 2019-20 award was hampered by the voting period dates. The voting was completed before his dramatic return to the Flyers' lineup for Games 6 and 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Islanders. He is eligible to be renominated for the 2020-21 season.
The Masterton Trophy is a hard one to select a single winner. There are compelling human interest and sporting interest stories each year of players' dedication to the sport, their perseverance in the face of hardships and, in so doing, the inspiration they've given to other people. It's awfully tough to declare three "finalists" and one "most deserving" winner.
Actually, it is the collective group of 31 stories each season -- one nominee from every NHL team, from which the winner and two runners up are selected -- that underscore the true meaning of the award. The qualities the Masterton Trophy honors can manifest themselves in many different ways, which is why the initial list of 31, to me, is more compelling than the final selection of one honoree.
When I started working for the Flyers in 2016, I had by rule to give up my membership in the Professional Hockey Writers' Association (PHWA), as there are potential conflicts of interest in writing about an organization with whom one has a paid working relationship. Correspondingly, I was no longer able to vote for the league award winners. I always found the Masterton the toughest for which to choose.
That said, I would certainly have loved to see Oskar Lindblom win this year and would be thrilled if he wins next year. The true victory, though, isn't in whether he's given a trophy. It's that he is alive and well and has resumed his hockey career. He doesn't need an award to validate that, nor does Stephen Johns for recovering his quality of life and his career after his hellish struggle with post-concussion issues.
I'd also like to put out there that Sam Morin's tireless rehab work from two ACL injuries that cost him two seasons of his career (directly after missing three quarters of the 2017-18 season due to a core muscle issue) has Masterton qualities to it. He's never given in to feeling sorry for himself. The ever-present smile and optimistic personality are still very much there, along with his career dreams. I can't even estimate how many hours he has spent alone on the ice or gym, save for one coach or trainer with him, working to get back to where he was in early fall of 2017 when it looked like only a matter of an opportunity to extended playing time for the Flyers.
If Morin makes it back to the NHL, that'd be its own reward. If not, it certainly won't be for lack of hard work and devotion to making it happen. Last year, if I'd have had a vote, I'd have selected veteran goalie Mike McKenna. I did have a vote in 2015, and Rob Zepp was my personal first choice as the Flyers' nominee for finally playing in the NHL at age 33 after his hockey journey had taken him through the minor leagues and two seasons in Finland before a long tenure in Germany's DEL and playing time for the German national team.
The point I'm getting at here is this: Even beyond the list of 31 nominees (which, after next season, will be 32 after the new Seattle Kraken franchise plays its first season), there are compelling stories of players with unending dedication to hockey and perseverance in chasing THE dream of an NHL career.
2) 2020 NHL Draft: The Flyers will pick 23rd overall in the first round of the upcoming NHL Draft. Officially, Philadelphia's second round pick is the 54th overall selection, but it will actually be the 53rd pick. This is because the NHL forced the Arizona Coyotes to forfeit the 49th overall selection. Thus, after the Montreal Canadiens pick at No. 48, the next actual selection (officially No. 50) will be made by Calgary.
The Flyers do not hold a third-round pick this year, due to the Justin Braun trade last year. The team holds the 116th overall pick (4th round), 147th (5th round), 178th (6th round), the 202nd (the 2020 edition of what's been an annually traded-to-Montreal 7th rounder in exchange for the Habs' 7th rounder the next year) and 209th pick.
Notes:
* The conditional pick that the Flyers traded to Anaheim for Derek Grant was the earlier of the Flyers' 2020 fourth rounder or Nashville's 2020 fourth-rounder (originally acquired from the Predators in the Wayne Simmonds' trade at the 2019 deadline). Nashville's pick (104th) overall now goes to Anaheim, and the Flyers retain their own original 4th rounder.
* The fifth-round pick the Flyers traded to Montreal for Nate Thompson is for 2021.
3) Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher is tentatively slated to do his Exit Day media availability via video conference call on Thursday of this week.
4) U.S. Army veteran Joe Seher, a member of the Flyers Warriors, recently sustained serious injuries in a freak accident at home. He is going to need multiple surgeries and will be unable to work for quite some time to come. Flyers Warriors teammate Kyle Melnick-Hoffman has organized a Go Fund Me campaign on behalf of Seher to help Joe and his family cope with the medical bills and other financial hardships. To date, nearly $3,100 has been raised. To help out this Army veteran, husband, father, and member of the 2019 USA Hockey Warrior Classic championship winning Flyers Warriors roster, please visit the
fundraiser page.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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