Fletcher keeps door open for Niskanen in blueline depth

While praising the work of his defensemen, saying they have played better than he’d expected, Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher admitted Tuesday that he’s tried to rectify the club’s biggest offseason personnel hit ... losing Matt Niskanen.

After one solid season partnering top defender Ivan Provorov, Niskanen called it a career late last summer despite having another year remaining on his contract. Niskanen, who turned 34 last month, had put in 12 years with Dallas, Pittsburgh and Washington prior to his one outstanding Flyers season.

Being away from his family, and the reality of playing under the restrictions and risks of a pandemic, moved him to think that was enough.

But Fletcher thought it best to not take “no’ as Niskanen’s final answer. Not yet, anyway.

“He seems to be doing well and enjoying his time with his family,” said Fletcher, who has kept in touch with Niskanen every few weeks or so. “Matt’s made it pretty clear he’s done playing. (But) we didn’t terminate his contract and we left open the possibility that if he did change his mind, we would be in a position to bring him back. It’s not something we’re counting on. He’s been pretty clear in his conversations with me that he’s enjoying where he’s at right now and it was the right decision for him at the right time.”

Of course, in time, things could change, and quickly. All you needed for proof was to see how targeted top-pair partner Shayne Gostisbehere was struck with COVID-19 during the short training camp, forcing him to miss the first six games of the season.

Youthful Phil Myers could have been a replacement for Gostisbehere next to Provorov, but he was out for four games with a rib cartilage tear. The risk of being exposed to the virus will be with every team through however long this shortened 56-game season takes. Having the chance to add a veteran defenseman, no matter how slim, is worth holding onto for as long as possible.

“He’s been pretty clear the times I’ve spoken to him,” Fletcher said. “He’s put a lot of time into the NHL. He’s spent a lot of time preparing to be a player and competing. At this stage, he wanted to spend time with his family and just take a step back. That’s a conversation maybe for another time. At this point in time, I think the most important thing is to give Matt the space he needs to be with his family and thank him for what he did for us.”

Citing a radio interview he gave earlier Tuesday, Fletcher added, “As I said earlier on the radio, however good you think he is as a player, he’s even better than that. He had a massive impact on our team last year and really helped change the trajectory of this franchise. We’re really indebted to him and would have loved to have him for one more year.”

Niskanen’s departure helped motivate Fletcher to sign free agent Erik Gustafsson. But with no exhibition games and not much of a training camp, it’s clear Gustafsson could have used a lot more time to adjust to his new team.

“I think (Gustafsson) has played better the last two games he has played,” Fletcher said. “Clearly (he) needs to improve and evolve.”

Meanwhile, Fletcher cited Gostisbehere and Myers for their sharp recent play, and is hoping his defense can stay healthy.

“I think they’ve played better than I expected,” he said of the D as a whole. “I guess I would suggest our group of forwards, to me, haven’t played at the level they need to play at. I think they’ve made the game extremely difficult for our defensemen and for our goaltenders. All things considered, I think the D have surpassed my expectations for the first 10 games. I felt it would take some time to get the group to where we wanted it to get to.”

As for his disappointment with the forwards, Fletcher said it stemmed from early shortcomings with “situational awareness and ... puck management in the neutral zone, our ability to get pucks behind their D and establish a forecheck, and our desire to occasionally shoot the puck at the other team’s net.”

“I think we have a group of players that likes to make plays,” Fletcher added. “The positive side to that is that we make some tremendous plays. Typically when we’re able to execute on the passes we make in the offensive zone, we give our teammates unbelievable looks at the net. We create a lot of high-danger chances . ... The downside to doing that is we have a lot of one and dones. We have a lot of plays that get disrupted. We allow easy transitions to the other team to come up the ice and often with an odd-man advantage. It puts a lot of pressure on our defensemen and our goaltenders.

“I think there has to be a different mindset and different approach if we’re going to be successful as the schedule continues into February, March, and April when teams start to tighten up. It will be difficult to be successful with the way we’re playing right now.”

• • • James van Riemsdyk is off to a hot start, even though this is the first time the 31-year-old is starting a season with a baby in the house. He credits the smooth change to his wife, Lauren.

“She’s has been a rock star,” JVR said of his better half. “This is obviously our first time going through a season like this together with the baby (daughter Scarlett Everly), who’s nine months old today. (Lauren’s) been great, letting me sleep in on game days and days after games, which is pretty much every single day of the week now. She’s definitely holding down the fort, allowing me to put all my energy on recovering and playing the best I can play.”

Something’s working, as van Riemsdyk was announced as the East Division Player of the Month. He took it in stride.

“I think you kind of look more at the end of a career where little stuff like that is cool,” said van Riemsdyk, who has five goals and 13 points in 10 games. “As far as where I’m at, at this stage of my career, it’s certainly all about the team and winning a Stanley Cup, so that’s what I’m focused on day in and day out.”