JVR’s presence only means Flyers should expand their depth

VOORHEES, N.J. » Not surprisingly, Ron Hextall doled out compliments Sunday to the guy he’s now contractually committed to pay $35 million to, but he did so in a quiet, essentially low-key manner.

For his first major outlay of NBC money at the opening of a July 1 hockey sweepstakes, Hextall wasn’t exactly regretful ... but at the very least he was restrained. Then again, he spent a lot of money on a guy who better score 30 or more goals, because the other aspects of his game (skating, defensive responsibilities) are probably average at best.

Anyway, maybe Hextall was in downplay mode just to keep in line with his conservative management program, even if his corporate checkbook balance was indicating otherwise.

“Our philosophy four years ago was more to get our cap in order and gather young assets,” Hextall said, “and we’ve kind of been through that process now. It’s coming to fruition in terms of guys we have on our team, and when we can add somewhere to strengthen our team, we want to do it and we’ll continue to try and do it.” ‘Bout time. But that said... “We’re not changing the path that we went on four years ago,” Hextall subsequently added. “To work on something for four years and all of a sudden grab these prospects and trade them for an older player, that’s not what we’re doing. We’re not changing course here. If we can speed things up, make ourselves better, we’re all for it. But we’re not taking a prospect and going to give him away for a two-year asset that we may or may not contend with.

“The plan here is the same; we’re continuing on the course that we set out. And trust me, when we get calls, I get asked about the players we don’t want to move. Nothing’s going to change here in terms of our long-term vision and future. We’re not going to think short-term.”

OK then. Perhaps somewhere in the middle of those two Hextallian declarations a summer strategy can be forged. In the meantime, there are line guesses to get to. So when the puck is dropped for the season opener Oct. 4 in Las Vegas, how’s about this... TOP TIER LINE » Sean Couturier centering left wing Claude Giroux and Travis Konecny. SECOND SCORING THREAT » Nolan Patrick centering left wing James van Riemsdyk and Jake Voracek. THIRD AND MORE THAN THE OCCASIONAL GOAL » Um ... Jordan Weal centering Scott Laughton and Wayne Simmonds. OK, stop it right there. Yes, Laughton played center on the fourth line last season. He also had little scoring-capable support from the wings there, and it hampered him. It’s time to move Laughton to the left side for an extended look — and to see if he can reach his firstround potential.

He’s made a few guest appearances on the left side in the past two years, and he seemed to get involved more from an offensive standpoint when coming in off the left attack wing rather than fight his way through traffic in the middle of the ice.

And though Weal is oh, so size challenged — which was obvious during an awful 2017-18 season for him after earning a new contract last offseason — he remains a very capable playmaker who could really make use of the good size that both Laughton and Simmonds (if healthy) would provide. FOURTH AND SHORT (SHIFTS) » Jori Lehtera centering Oskar Lindblom and Michael Raffl.

Mostly checking duty for these guys, and as for the wingers, Raffl is probably more suited for rightside duty than Lindblom, though Raffl isn’t so likely to score from anywhere.

As for Lindblom, he turns 22 in August and has shown a bit of a scoring touch in one season with the Phantoms and in Sweden. He’s a guy who can be moved up in the lineup in a pinch, which is good because Hextall declined to re-sign Val Filppula.

Beyond those four lines, the Flyers’ forward bench group ... isn’t one. Dale Weise is still around, Taylor Leier is still learning, other in-house possibilities are more or less minor leaguers.

As for defense, they have a terrific top pair (Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere), an OK pair of veterans (Andrew MacDonald and Radko Gudas) and a couple of talented young guys in Travis Sanheim and Robert Hagg.

MacDonald is steadier than people think and Sanheim is more gifted offensively than he showed last season, so as a second pair they are intriguing. But with Brandon Manning sent on his way to sign with Chicago Sunday, it leaves the Flyers with a third pair of Gudas and Hagg.

All of which means Hextall isn’t finished. The checking center and veteran second- or third-pair defender he failed to sign Sunday because he only wants someone on a shortterm deal? It leaves a couple of holes that he will likely try to fill via a trade at some point.

It would be the right move ... NBC checkbook willing.

“We’ll continue to look at what’s around,” Hextall said, “(via) the market or the trades . ... Whether something’s going to come around, I don’t know. We’ll try to continue to get better at every position.”

Contact Rob Parent at rparent@21stcenturymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @ ReluctantSE

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe, left, mixes it up with the Flyers’ Scott Laughton during a game last Dec. 22. Laughton could throw his body around a bit more and hopefully use more of his scoring skills if the Flyers put him on left wing next season.