Quick Hits: April 8, 2020
1) When the NHL Expansion Draft rolls around next summer, the Flyers will have some tough decisions to make no matter what. Every team -- except the inexplicably still-exempt Vegas Golden Knights, who will have been in the NHL for four seasons by that point -- is either going to lose a player they'd otherwise have preferred to keep or else will repeat the mistakes that teams made in the last Expansion Draft.
In 2017, the Golden Knights lured many teams into overpaying in assets to get the new franchise to agree not to pick a certain unprotected player, to take a specific less-desired player or flip one from another team. The wiser strategy, as it turned out, was to simply absorb the one lost player, and move on from there.
There's still a lot of time between now and next year's Expansion Draft, and whatever theoretical lists that people come up with for the Flyers are dependent on how some still-unanswerable questions play out over the next year. This is especially true in regard to the health and hockey availability of Nolan Patrick (chronic migraine syndrome) and Oskar Lindblom (Ewing sarcoma).
If one or both players remain unavailable to play in 2020-21, they would qualify for the "career-threatening injury" exemption to the Expansion Draft, and the Flyers would not have to make a choice as to whether to protect or expose them. Of course, that is a worst-case scenario, especially given that Lindblom's situation isn't just career-threatening but life-threatening and there is a major quality-of-life issue at stake for Patrick. These are more important considerations than anything hockey-related.
In a best-case scenario, Patrick and Lindblom are able to resume their careers. Then it would be a no-brainer to protect both players. The one and only downside would be that it would be two fewer protected slots among the seven allotted; a trade-off the Flyers would gladly make for a host of reasons.
In some of the "mock Draft" exposure lists that I've seen, folks have debated whether Scott Laughton would be protected. Laughton, however, is an unrestricted free agent next summer. As such, he is not eligible for exposure to the Expansion Draft barring a contract extension beforehand. If he does have another strong season next year, though, the Flyers may try to extend him and then protect him from the Draft.
Looking ahead a year, it seems more likely as of right now that the Flyers will lose a defenseman, rather than a forward or goalie, to the Expansion Draft. If the decision had to be made today, Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim (an RFA next summer) and Phil Myers (also an RFA) would be the likely three protected blueliners. That would leave Shayne Gostisbehere (signed through 2022-23), Robert Hägg (an RFA this summer) or someone such as Mark Friedman (an RFA this summer) as candidates for Expansion Draft selection.
2) Scott Laughton spoke to the Philadelphia media via conference call on Tuesday. He is one of the few Flyers players who is still in the Delaware Valley during the coronavirus pandemic, although he is planning to return to Canada later this month to move into a newly purchased off-season home in the Toronto area. Laughton answered the now-familiar spate of questions on what he's doing to stay in shape during the pandemic, the potential effects on the team of a long layoff, and what his preferences would be among the scenarios that have been discussed for ways to finish the 2019-20 season and award the Stanley Cup. For more,
click here.
3) Carter Hart is the next up in the media conference call series. He will speak on Thursday afternoon. In the meantime, check out the
in-depth profile of the 21-year-old netminder's 2019-20 season and video highlights from the campaign.
4) The Flyers Warriors came up with a fun way to stay connected with one another as well as the Flyers fans who support the team of disabled U.S. military veterans and the USA Hockey Warrior program. Set to the tune of Hall and Oates' "You Make My Dreams," the Flyers Warriors created a video with players -- as well as head coach Brad Marsh, special guests Ian Laperriere and Kerry Huffman, and others -- handling the puck and "passing" it to one another, from one's home to the next and always tape-to-tape.
5) Over on the Flyers Alumni's official website (FlyersAlumni.org), we will be doing a series of weekly "Where Are They Now?" features on what Flyers Alumni players have done since their playing days. The first profile will be on Adam Hall, who now works in finance for Morgan Stanley. We welcome suggestions for future profile subjects and will try to make as many as possible come to fruition.
6) Today in Flyers History: April 8, 1973
After getting shut out, 5-0, in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Quarterfinals, the Flyers returned the favor to the host Minnesota North Stars with a 3-0 shutout win in Game 4. Doug Favell stopped all 31 shots he faced as a late first-period power play goal by Bobby Clarke held up until Bill Barber and Ross Lonsberry added insurance markers in the third period. The Flyers' win evened up the best-of-seven series at 2-2. For more,
click here.
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FLYERS FANTASY TOURNAMENT: ROUND ROBIN DAY 4
Flyers Team Sweden was a run-away winner over Flyers Team Czech Republic in the fan voting for their round-robin game. The Swedish side claimed over 90 percent of the vote.
The game was much closer in an EA Sports simulation. The Swedes prevailed 3-1. Pelle Lindbergh took a shut out bid late into regulation before Jaromir Jagr followed up his own rebound at 18:12 of the third period. The Swedes got two goals from Mikael Renberg (even strength and power play), one from Kim Johnsson (empty net) and three assists by Peter Forsberg. Lindbergh stopped 21 of 22 shots while Roman Cechmanek stopped 27 of 30 in a losing cause.
Today's Group A round-robin game is an intriguing one, pitting Team Quebec against Team Manitoba.
The Quebec side is loaded and balanced. The six-man lineup includes the 1973-74 version of Bernie Parent in goal (Vezina and Conn Smythe winner), 2017-18 Claude Giroux (Team Quebec eligible for his Gatineau Olympiques background) centering 2005-06 Simon Gagne and Danny Briere ca. 2010-11. The blueline has Eric Desjardins (ca. 1996-97) paired with feisty Broad Street Bullies blueliner Andre "Moose" Dupont (ca. 1974-75).
Team Manitoba is led by three-time Hart Trophy winner Bobby Clarke (1975-76) version with longtime Flin Flon Bombers and LCB Line running mate Reggie Leach (175-76 version with his 60-goal regular season and Conn Smythe Trophy winning 19-goal playoff run) on his right wing. Backstopping the team in goal is Ron Hextall in his Vezina Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy winning 1986-87 rookie season.
The Manitoba blueline features the current-day version of Travis Sanheim (2019-20 season) paired with veteran Ted Harris (the 1974-75 version, who collected his fifth and final Stanley Cup ring). The forward corp is rounded out by Pat Falloon, who chipped in 22 goals and 48 points in second-line and second power play unit duty in 62 games for the Flyers in 1995-96 after coming over from San Jose.
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