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Quick Hits: May 10, 2022
1) The NHL Draft Lottery will be held live today from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. It will be broadcast on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The Philadelphia Flyers will learn whether they will have the first overall, second, fourth, fifth or sixth overall selection in the 2022 Entry. There will be two drawings: one for the first overall pick and one for the second. Teams cannot move up more than a maximum of 10 spots in the final Entry Draft selection order.
Entering the lottery's first drawing -- the odds will adjust proportionately for the second -- the Flyers' odds are as follows:
2) If Barry Trotz has interest in coaching the Philadelphia Flyers, it is seemingly an ideal fit for the Flyers to hire the 59-year-old Manitoba native. He is one of the few head coaches who has a track record of making a material difference on clubs he takes over behind the bench. What's more, the areas he has a track record of improving -- structure, team defense, getting teamwide buy-in -- overlap with one of the hockey team's biggest needs.
In Nashville, Trotz took over the club as a brand-new expansion team and enjoyed a 15-season tenure with the Predators. The club gradually built a reputation as overachievers and eventually became a contender after four seasons of posting 100 to 110 points.
In four years with the Washington Capitals, Trotz's teams annually posted 101 to 120 points. In his final season (2017-18), the Capitals won the first and only Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. On an expiring contract that final season, Trotz departed for the New York Islanders.
When Trotz went to the Islanders, he walked into a seemingly dire situation. The 2017-18 Islanders missed the playoffs by 18 points (17 standings point plus a tiebreaker disadvantage). They yielded 296 goals; the worst team GAA (3.57) in the NHL. To add insult to injury, the team's best player, John Tavares, departed after the season via unrestricted free agency to join the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In their very first season under Trotz, with no large-scale roster changes, the Islanders transformed from the NHL's bottom-ranked GAA club to the very best (2.33 GAA). In both 2019-20 and 2020-21, the Islanders reached the Eastern Conference Final in the playoffs before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
This year, after a single down season, Lou Lamoriello fired Trotz. He'll have no shortage of job offers from NHL team over the next couple weeks. If the Flyers hold to Dave Scott's pledge of a "blank check" to spend whatever is needed to improve the club, they could put forth a very competitive bid for Trotz from a financial standpoint. However, while Trotz certainly would not be intimidated or frightened off by the Flyers' struggles of the last two seasons, he will be able to handpick his next destination among multiple offers.
If Trotz is not destined to come to Philadelphia, the same group of oft-mentioned candidates remain in the potential pool of options for Philadelphia: Paul Maurice (if he wants to get right back into coaching), Bruce Boudreau (if he opts out in Vancouver, which seems less likely now), John Tortorella, Jim Montgomery, etc.
3) May 10 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Mikael Andersson (1966), Nicolas Aube-Kubel (1996). Denis Hamel (1977).
4) Today in Flyers History: May 10, 1987
Perhaps the greatest game of Pelle Eklund's NHL career came in Game 5 of the 1987 Wales Conference Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. Eklund puts on an electrifying show, scoring a hat trick in spectacular fashion. The Habs, simply could not cope with his anticipation, speed and shiftiness.
Scott Mellanby, Brian Propp and Ron Sutter also scored for Philly, as the Flyers grabbed a three games to one lead in the series. Flyers rookie goalie Ron Hextall outplayed both Patrick Roy (16 saves on 20 shots) and Brian Hayward (five saves on seven shots). Hextall stopped 25 of 28 shots and earns an assist on Sutter's first period goal. Montreal recovered from an early 2-0 deficit to tie the game before Eklund and company pulled away to move within one victory of a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
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