Little reason to buy Flyers as contenders
The explanation Alain Vigneault provided in naming Carter Hart the Flyers’ starting goalie Thursday was so comical you couldn’t help but wonder if veteran Brian Elliott might be traded to a contending team.
We’ll spare you the Vigneault narrative that the 35-year-old Elliott plays better when rested because he’s been idle since Tuesday. It will be five days before he plays, if of course he hasn’t already played his last game for the Orange and Black. Typically, you sit guys you want to trade in order to avoid nullifying a deal due to injury.
That’s how strange this Flyers season has been. With the NHL trade deadline just four days away, everything that the Flyers say must be decoded via the big picture, which right now is one big flatline.
The Flyers don’t have the capital to acquire what they really need at the deadline, which is an impact player the opposition has to game-plan for.
In Vigneault they have a respected, well-compensated coach who, considering the money NHL teams have lost during the pandemic, isn’t going anywhere. Vigneault is in the second year of a five-year, $25 million contract. At that salary, it doesn’t matter if he’s reaching the players.
What Vigneault hasn’t done a good job of is leading the team through offthe-ice challenges this season. Since a COVID outbreak shut the Flyers down in February, they’d won just 10 of 25 games entering their Thursday night visit to the New York Islanders.
The Flyers aren’t alone on that front. Every team ahead of them in the East has had significant COVID troubles except the Islanders. The Washington Capitals were tied for the East lead entering Thursday despite having COVID issues that sidelined among others, superstar Alex Ovechkin. The Pittsburgh Penguins are in third place in the East. They lost Sidney Crosby briefly. The Boston Bruins had major COVID issues yet are comfortably ahead of the Flyers. The New York Rangers had virus trouble on the same scale as the Flyers and are trending upward, with an identical record.
Vigneault hasn’t forgotten how to
coach; he won his 700th game in February. But the formula to defeat the Flyers is crystal clear: Be patient, because sooner or later, they will make the big mistakes that the opposition can turn into victories.
“I think in the last few games we’ve trended the right way as far as managing games better in the sense of not beating ourselves,” James van Riemsdyk said. “You don’t want to give up any easy offense or freebies and I think we’ve done a good job of that for the most part a little bit more lately.”
Judging by the tinkering Vigneault has done with the lineup, it’s obvious these Flyers aren’t a team in his image. In all fairness, he inherited aging veterans like Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek, who count more than $8 million against the salary cap each. Giroux is having a solid season while Voracek has been moved around so often, he doesn’t know what line he’ll be on from the first through the third period. He’s still tied for the team lead with 31 points.
Vigneault traded for Kevin Hayes, who he coached with the Rangers. Does anyone believe Hayes is worth his $7.1 million cap hit right now?
The Flyers’ young talent also hasn’t taken the steps forward the club anticipated. Nolan Patrick, the second overall pick in the 2017 lottery, is struggling. Joel Farabee, who the Flyers took with the 14th pick in 2018, is in Vigneault’s doghouse after a sizzling start this season.
“Joel is a very young player where
everybody can see the potential,” Vigneault said. “But like any player sometimes you have the ups and downs and as a young player you’re learning the game and you’re learning the components. Not just to manage the game but to manage the schedule, manage yourself and become a pro. And I believe that’s what Joel is going through right now. He’s going through a stretch where he’s not feeling it maybe as much as he was at the beginning.”
Travis Konecny is much more talented than the guy playing this season. Hart has had a disastrous season and no longer looks like the organization’s future in goal. The list goes on.
With so many issues, there’s no reason for the Flyers to be anything but sellers as they inch closer to the trade deadline. They’re hardly one player away. Maybe not even three or four, unless one is a shutdown goaltender.
Elliott, forward Scott Laughton, whose contract expires at the end of the season, or maybe defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere could be moving on out.
In a dose of irony, Vigneault Thursday praised Gostisbehere, who has been benched, bounced around the lineup and last week waived. Then again, it was defenseman Phil Myers who was scratched.
Does that mean …
Let you know Monday at 3 p.m.