Meltzer's Musings & Quick Hits: January 21, 2019
1) After clearing waivers at the start of the 2018-19 season but remaining on the Flyers' NHL roster, veteran winger Dale Weise solidified a spot in the lineup for himself for much of the season to date and
saw his ice time increase. He even spent a short stint on the second line while moving up and down the lineup and playing with a wide array of different linemates.
"It's easier for you to stay on track when you're playing 15 minutes instead of seven or eight but that's how I've got to approach each game no matter what. I think I've been doing that this season," Weise said in November.
More recently, Weise's role gradually diminished again, although his ice times were north of 11:30 (with a high of 14:23 on Jan. 5 against Calgary) in four of his last five games. He played 8:22 in Newark on January 12.
At the Jan. 14 morning skate prior to the Flyers home game against the Minnesota Wild, Weise exited the ice with the regulars while Jori Lehterä (who had not appeared in a game since Dec. 15) remained out for extra skating. That night, however, Weise was a healthy scratch while Lehterä was in the lineup.
The next day, the Flyers placed Weise on waivers. Unusually, there was a team press release acknowledging the waivers; normally, there is only a press release if there is an actual roster move to announce. The tone in the locker room afterwards was one of a "farewell", especially in the tribute paid to Weise by Nolan Patrick (a fellow Winnipeg native with whom Weise has grown close).
Was Weise going to be sent down to the Phantoms if he cleared waivers? The Phantoms learned of Weise being placed on waivers when the press release came out. The team was not told to expect Weise's arrival or to get a uniform ready for him. As such, the Phantoms simply carried on with business as usual.
Were the Flyers expecting to hold on to Weise, as they did at the start of the season, and waived him simply to have more flexibility over the next 30 days in the event of other roster moves? That was apparently not the case, either.
If he wasn't going to the Phantoms and the plan wasn't to keep the status quo if he cleared, did the Flyers have reason to suspect that some other NHL team might claim the 30-year-old Weise off waivers? His contract has another season to run at a $2.35 million cap hit. Even so, given the circumstances of him likely neither staying with the Flyers nor going to the Phantoms, it was either that the Flyers expected a waiver claim on the player or general manager Chuck Fletcher simply decided to pull the plug.
I guessed that it would be the former. I was wrong. Weise passed through waivers unclaimed on Wednesday. That night, the Flyers played the Bruins at the Wells Fargo Center. Weise, a healthy scratch, was not in the pressbox with the injury-rehabbing and scratched (Christian Folin) Philadelphia players. The Flyers did not have an on-ice practice on Thursday. On Friday, the team held a full practice before the equipment managers packed the players gear for Saturday's road game in Montreal. Weise was not on the ice and his equipment remained in his locker stall while everyone else's gear was being readied for the trip.
Gordon acknowledged that Weise would not accompany the team to Montreal and, instead, would start his bye week early. The coach said that Weise was still in the area and had apparently skated on his own. Beyond that, Gordon said any questions about Weise and his status would have to be directed to general manager Chuck Fletcher (who has not done any interviews or issued any "live" updates on players since December apart from some written statements with status updates on injured players).
Subsequent reports from Anthony San Filippo and John Boruk stated that the Flyers told Weise to stay home -- he would not practice with the team or travel on the road -- until a trade could be worked out with another team.
This is not unprecedented. It happened in Jan. 1999 with Alexandre Daigle before he was traded to Edmonton for Andrei Kovalenko. A variation happened in the latter part of the 2006-07 season when the Flyers informed Robert Esche that he could skate with rehabbing players but not practice with the team or report to the arena on game days; although no trade ended up being worked out. It also happened on the Adirondack Phantoms with Patrick Maroon in the fall of 2010 before he was later traded to the Anaheim Ducks along with David Laliberte in exchange for Danny Syvret and Rob Bordson.
Why did it unfold this way with Weise? It is unlikely that it was directly precipitated by the comments of Keith Jones that got picked up by a floor microphone after the broadcast of the Flyers' 3-0 home loss to St. Louis on Jan. 7. However, Weise was clearly unhappy with his diminished role and has made no bones about resisting descriptions such as "fourth-line player" and saying that he finds it difficult to play effectively in limited minutes.
So did Weise himself request a trade? Apparently not. Was he given a choice, assuming he cleared waivers, between going down to the Phantoms or a non-participating NHL roster player until he could be moved and opted for the former? Was that strictly Fletcher's call to remove an unhappy role player? Quite frankly, it's a moot question because the end result is the same.
Why would any other team want to trade for Weise after passing on him on waivers, where they could have had him for "free" at two different junctures this season? That one is easier to answer: it's all about roster and salary cap management. By trading for him rather than making a waiver claim, another team could compel the Flyers either to take back an unwanted contract and/or for the Flyers to eat a portion of Weise's remaining salary. Additionally, as with the Jordan Weal trade to Arizona, a team that is at the 50 NHL contract maximum many need the Flyers to take back a minor leaguer on a two-way contract.
Strictly in hockey terms, Weise could add depth to a playoff-bound roster. The Flyers are dealing from a position of weakness in trying to make a Weise trade, but it is doable.
2) The situation with Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas is quite different. Sportnet's Nick Kypreos reported brisk interest in the player. If he is traded by the deadline this year, it will solely be because the Flyers received a too-good-to-pass-up offer for the rugged 28-year-old veteran blueliner. Gudas, who is signed for one additional season at a $3.35 million cap hit, has enjoyed a consistently effective 2018-19 season for the Flyers after a down year last year. The Flyers would likely prefer to keep him unless they can sell high on Gudas.
3) Part of the Flyers' considerations in potentially bringing up Philippe Myers from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms is slotting him within the current blueline mix. Putting lines together isn't just about "Is Player A better than Player B." It is also about the mix as a whole -- lefthanded and righthanded shooters, meshing of styles, blending youth with experience -- and finding the best fits therein.
At some point, the Flyers may get Myers some NHL games this season. That will probably require a bit of NHL roster reshaping first. I would expect some lineup changes after the trade deadline and roster expansion.
If and when he is recalled, the righthanded shooting Myers would not likely go right to the top pair with Ivan Provorov, nor would he ideally fit with fellow righthander Gudas. That would leave one of second-year NHLer Travis Sanheim (if he's moved off the Provorov pairing), Shayne Gostisbehere, Robert Hägg or Andrew MacDonald as the options. The Flyers probably would not get much in return for seventh defenseman Christian Folin, another righthanded shooter, but the impending UFA is tradeable because many clubs look to stock up on blueline depth for the stretch drive and playoffs.
Another consideration: The team would like to take a look at Samuel Morin in some NHL games after he is cleared to play in mid-to-late February and then completes a two-week conditioning stint with the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
4) The Phantoms are a busy team this week: The team has a Monday afternoon game against Wilkes Barre/Scranton, followed by a Wednesday home game against Hershey, a Friday home game against Laval and a road game on Saturday in Bridgeport.
Entering Monday's game, rookie center Connor Bunnaman bring in a four-game goal-scoring streak and a six-game point streak (five goals, seven points). For the season, the former Kitchener Ranger has tallied 12 goals and 18 points in 31 games.
Over the course of this week, it will be interesting to see how the Phantoms goalie rotation is managed. Alex Lyon is coming off a stellar 49-save performance (and 3-for-3 in the shootout) in the Phantoms' 3-2 win over Rochester on Saturday. Anthony Stolarz, who is with the team on a two-week conditioning stint after the Flyers activated him from IR, stopped 37 of 43 shots in a 6-5 overtime loss to Hartford on Friday. In the meantime, the Flyers are on a bye week and the NHL All-Star break, which presents a decision on whether to have the 20-year-old Carter Hart ride out the break with the rest of the team. Hart said on Friday that he is taking a trip home to Alberta to visit family and friends during the bye week.
5) Rehabbing Flyers veteran goaltender Brian Elliott was on the ice in Voorhees on Friday. Flyers general manager Fletcher said in a Jan. 18 statement, "Brian is progressing nicely and continuing his rehab. He's back on the ice, but there is really no timetable set for his return."
Fletcher also said that injured veteran goaltender Michal Neuvirth is also expected back on the ice by the latter portion of this week. However, there is also no timetable set for him to return to the active roster.
6) Flyers 2017 first-round pick Morgan Frost has already had a five-point game this season (a five-assist game on Nov. 24 against Owen Sound) but had never before had a game the likes of his performance on Sunday as the 19-year-old Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds center racked up a career-high five goals in one game. He tallied twice at even strength, once shorthanded (his third shorthanded goal of the season), once on the power play and, finally, into an empty net to put an exclamation mark on a 7-4 road win over the Sudbury Wolves.
Coincidentally, Sudbury's goaltender is Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres prospect), who was the starting goalie for gold medalist Team Finland at the World Junior Championships. In the quarterfinal game, Team Canada coach Tim Hunter left leading scorer Frost on the bench for the duration of 4-on-4 overtime and chose Maxime Comtois over Frost for an OT penalty shot despite the fact that Frost had scored a shootout goal on Comtois in an Ontario League game earlier this season.
Frost's five-goal afternoon on Sunday gave him 30 goals and 75 points on the season in only 38 games. His 1.97 points per game average leads the Ontario League by a wide margin but, due to seven games missed due to Team Canada commitments, Frost is four points behind Ottawa 67's overage (20-year-old) forward Tye Felhaber in the scoring race.
While junior success is not necessarily a predictor of a player's NHL future, it is statistically worth noting that Frost had 112 points in his draft-plus-one season but was bypassed for Team Canada in the WJC. This year, he is a 1.97 points-per-game pace in the OHL after leading all players at the WJC in points-per-game. Flyers captain Claude Giroux, in his draft-plus-one QMJHL season with the Gatineau Olympiques, had 112 points but was bypassed for Team Canada at the WJC. The next year, he averaged 1.93 points per game in the regular season.
7) Flyers 2017 second-round pick Isaac Ratcliffe scored a second-period shorthanded goal in a losing cause on Sunday to extend the Guelph Storm left winger's point streak to 10 consecutive games. In that span, Ratcliffe has compiled 13 goals and 17 points.
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