Top-line switch working better than Hextall could imagine

VOORHEES, N.J. » The experiment of moving Claude Giroux to left wing and moving Sean Couturier into an unfamiliar role on a scoring line worked so well over the first two weeks of the Flyers’ season that even general manager Ron Hextall wasn’t averse Thursday to accepting some measure credit for it.

Hextall admitted the move, which was initiated late in training camp by head coach Dave Hakstol, had been discussed during the offseason.

“You get into discussions before camp and you say, ‘OK, who’s going to play with who? How do we finish the year? Who’s got a shot to make the team? Who might surprise us to make the team?’” Hextall said after a morning practice at the Skate Zone. “You go through all scenarios and possibilities, but you’re never there until preseason starts to play out and the pciture become a little clearer. But that’s certainly one of the things we had talked about, whether (Giroux) can play the wing.”

Just six games into the season, Giroux and his top-line center replacement Couturier had provided an answer. Heading into Thursday night’s game against Nashville, those two, along with Jake Voracek at right wing, shows as one of the most productive lines in the league.

Couturier, Giroux and Voracek produced a cume of eight goals and 18 assists, good for 26 points with a combined plus-minus rating of plus-13.

“Yeah, it’s pretty obvious that we’d be happy” with the move, Hextall said. But he made sure he gave credit where credit was due.

“G’s a smart player,” Hextall said of team captain Giroux. “He has skill, he sees the ice well, he’s gritty, he’s smart with the puck. He’s got all the attributes (to) play all three positions. Obviously, that’s a valuable guy, because we’re a little loaded up in the middle this year.

“There’s a lot of things that go into a decision like that. Quite frankly, G had never played left wing in his life and then all of a sudden he’s playing left wing and he’s made a real quick transition. So credit to him, first of all, for his buy-in. There was no ‘I want to play the middle’ stuff. Second of all, he’s worked at it and set his mind to it.”

The mindset of keeping this line intact is thus established, though with line combinations nothing is ever written in stone.

“You never know until you try it if it’s going to work,” Hextall said. “But just on the thought of it, it’s a real stable guy in the middle of two guys who like to make plays. And it’s not like (Couturier) is a poor offensive player, he’s a good offensive player. He’s been in different roles over the years and some of his role isn’t going to change. He’s still going to match up against top players, which he’s good at, and he’s got two dynamic players on his wings.

“So ... so far so good.”