READ'S ROLLERCOASTER RIDE
Advanced stats devotees will tell you that Flyers forward Matt Read did not have nearly as bad of a 2015-16 season as his critics claim based on his career-low offensive production of 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 79 games and being made a healthy scratch on a couple of occasions for the first time in his career.
In both Corsi and Fenwick measurements, Read was on the positive side of the possession ledger despite no longer playing regularly with Sean Couturier, shuttling lines and linemates frequently and despite starting 52.2 percent of his shifts in the defensive zone.
Hockey, however, is a bottom line sport. It is hard to argue that Read genuinely had a better season in 2015-16 season than his injury (high ankle sprain) marred 2014-15 campaign. His best stretch of two-way hockey came after the All-Star break while playing on a line with Nick Cousins. Taken on the whole, the offensive end of Read's game -- his speed, creativity and hands -- remained largely AWOL this season.
“I thought Reader played well the last two, two and a half months probably his best hockey of the year. I’m not necessarily talking playoffs. But that stretch before that when we were all going pretty well, I think Matt played very well. I think sometimes he’s been bumped around the lineup, which is no excuse. Reader can play better," general manager Ron Hextall said.
For whatever reason, Read's speed -- which had been a big asset his first three NHL seasons -- was not nearly as evident last season after he recovered from the high ankle sprain or this season, either. Once a frequent shorthanded scoring threat (six SHGs in his first three seasons, none since) and creator of counterattacking opportunities an even strength, such chances became scarcer. His shooting percentages have gone down as well, because he was not getting to good shooting areas. Read has been too much of a perimeter player the last two seasons.
Turning puck possession into better scoring chances and getting back to doing the things offensively that made him such a valuable two-way role player his first three professional seasons was apparently a topic that came up in Read's exit interview with head coach Dave Hakstol.
“I actually just talked to Hak about this," Read said at his press conference on Tuesday shortly after his meetings with Hakstol and Hextall.
"As a line, we’ve been in the offensive line a lot, we’re getting pucks there, but there’s really no one there, there’s no one being the screen guy or getting rebounds. We’re all, I guess, perimeter players, cycling in the corner, doing the little things outside but not getting into the tough areas.
"We talked about getting in front of the net more often, or getting in that tough area where you take a crosscheck to get a rebound or do the little things. I think that’s where 95 percent of the goals are scored off of, rebounds or things right around the net.
"Not many guys can shoot from the top of the circles and score 50 every year. You’ve got to learn how to score goals, it gets harder and harder every year obviously with video and how everyone’s concentrating on every little aspect of defensive hockey. You’ve just got to find a way to score and produce as much as you can to help your team.”
From a defensive standpoint, Read remained positionally sound. He adapted well to the changes Hakstol made in containment through the neutral zone and backchecked willingly. With the puck on his stick, he tended to make the safe play almost to a fault -- he used to make a lot more creative plays with the puck when he was in favorable matchups.
It is easy to forget now that Read was a valuable offensive support player earlier in his Flyers career. Apart from his 24-goal rookie season and fourth-place finish in the Calder Trophy race in 2011-12 and his 20-goal (including four shorthanded goals) campaign in 2013-14, he was off to a strong start in his second season. Read was leading the Flyers in goals when he suffered a ribcage injury in the lockout shortened 2012-13 season, from which he returned several weeks ahead of schedule but struggled until the final few weeks of the 48-game campaign.
For his part, Read still sees himself as a player who can contribute more on the offensive side of the puck than he did in 2014-15 or 2015-16. As with Hextall, Read noted that his role changed a bit this season after two seasons of playing extensively on Couturier's line.
“You’ve got to look at an individual, every player on the team and what they can bring every night to be the best to help the team out. I consider myself a defensive offensive player. I can play very well defensively, defensive hockey, and play against the best lines or be given the opportunity to help offensively," Read said.
"Since Chief [former head coach Craig Berube] has gone, with Chief, it was strictly playing against top lines every night with Coots, and this year, it seemed like every week there was a different role, playing on different lines. To be a player in the NHL, I think you’ve got to be able to be versatile and changes roles whenever asked upon."
A regular part of the Flyers penalty killing units, Read said in February that everyone involved on that end of special teams holds accountability. The team boasted an 84.8 percent PK success rate (seventh in the NHL) in 2013-14. From there, it slipped to an unacceptable 77.1 percent in 2014-15. This year, a generally good second half brought the team up to a still-pedestrian 80.5 percent (tied for 20th) final mark. The Philadelphia penalty kill was picked apart in the first three games of the playoff series with the Capitals, even in a deceptive 5-for-6 showing in Game One. From Games Four to Six, it was greatly improved.
Read also remained a regular part of the Flyers' second power play unit. The unit which had brief effective spells in the first week of the regular season and during a stretch-drive period of a couple weeks but otherwise did not produce much offensive support. For the season, Read had seven power play points (two goals, five assists), which was hardly earth-shattering but was actually the second-highest power play output of his NHL career. His best was his rookie year (four goals, seven assists, 11 points).
Overall, Read's 0.33 points per game average was the lowest of his NHL career; a particular reflection of his tendency to stay along the perimeter and corresponding struggles to create offense at even strength. When he was scoring goals earlier his career, Read showed an ability not just to score in transition but also to hide out of the traffic and emerge in scoring position or else to work the puck inside the dots and dish to an open teammate.
That has not been evidence very often since he was quietly one of the Flyers' more effective forwards in the 2014 playoff series against the Rangers. That series, he was one of the few Flyers who was able to create some chances -- and managed to post points in three games, including a tying goal in the Flyers' 2-1 win in Game 4 of that series. The finesse-oriented Read was also surprisingly physical in that series, being credited with 20 hits.
Nothing speaks to a coach's confidence level in a player quite like ice time and number of shifts. Craig Berube played Read 19-plus minutes four times in that series and he skated 22 to 26 shifts in six of the seven games of that playoff series. Conversely, the 2015-16 playoff version of Read only topped 20 shifts of usage by Hakstol once in the six-game Caps series (Game One, with a half-dozen penalties to kill) and his ice times decreased as the series went along to a low of 9:34 as the team was eliminated in a 1-0 final in Game Six.
Read acknowledged on Tuesday that he needs to do more to work his way back up on the NHL team's depth chart.
"It was kind of an up-and-down season. I got healthy scratched a couple of games. I guess as an individual, you see when you get healthy scratched, you’ve got to learn from what you’re doing wrong so you’re not in that position again," Read said.
"I think everyone’s season has ups and downs, I think I would say I had my stretches where I’m playing very well and helping my linemates, but I think I had a lot more times where my confidence level wasn’t there. Or just struggling to be the best I can be to help my linemates, help my team be the best we can be every night.”
Read turns 30 years of age on June 14. He has two seasons left on his contract at a $3,625 million cap hit with a real-dollar salary of $4 million in 2016-16 and $3.5 million in 2016-17. While it is possible that Read could be traded this off-season, his salary relative to his production over the last two seasons -- he's being paid commensurately with the two-way player he was from 2011-12 to 2013-14 -- makes that difficult without taking back a contract or eating some of the cap hit.
With Vincent Lecavalier retiring and both Nicklas Grossmann and Luke Schenn becoming unrestricted free agents on July 1, the Flyers will once again have flexibility to absorb some salary on up to three traded players. However, the most likely course of action with Read is to hope the player bounces back in 2016-17 and rediscovers the player who was quietly one of the Flyers most effective supporting cast players for several years.
A buyout of Read's contract would not be a wise or likely cap management move because the Flyers would be on the hook for a cap hit over four years rather than two. However, since this question will inevitably come up among the contingent of the fan base that wants him gone at any cost, here's what the cap breakdown would be on a buyout this summer per the capfriendly.com website:
2016-17 -- $2.75 million cap savings ($1.25 million cap hit).
2017-18 -- $2.25 million cap savings ($1.25 million cap hit).
2018-19 -- $1.25 million cap detriment ($1.25 million hit on otherwise expired contract).
2019-20 -- $1.25 million cap detriment ($1.25 million hit on otherwise expired contract).
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TOO EARLY TO WORRY ABOUT UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT MARKET
Now that the 2015-16 season is finished and the Flyers have cleaned out their lockers, Silly Season has begun in earnest. Something that I have discovered over the years is that it is pointless to talk in April about which unrestricted restricted free agents the Flyers may pursue come July 1.
That's because the list of UFAs is likely to get pared down significantly before free agency starts, with many of the bigger names being removed after signing extensions with their current team (or else being traded prior to free agency and hammering out a deal with their new team before their rights expire).
An example: I've seen multiple blogs and a local newspaper article list LA Kings power forward Milan Lucic as a potential Flyers target. However, the Los Angeles Times
reported on April 24 that Lucic does not want to test the market this summer and has every intention of trying to work out a contract extension with the Kings. Lucic is directly quoted in the piece that there's "just a bit more work to do" in finding a cap figure and term than works for both sides and that the Kings as well the player himself want to get it done.
Just as important as re-signings, the NHL Draft weekend has become like a second "trade deadline" of sorts -- actually more active nowadays than the actual in-season deadline. Player movement can and will chance some teams' outlook on their needs come July 1 as well as altering cap space availability in either direction.
As such, I will hold off any blogs centered around free agency speculation for the Flyers until the time in between the Draft weekend (June 24-25) and July 1. Anything right now would be
just space-filling speculation. I prefer to devote the early portion of that time to player and prospect analysis, compiling draft-related information and other topics that are tough to devote in-depth blogs to against the demands of in-season coverage of games and practices.
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CONDOLENCES TO THE DRUCE FAMILY
Condolences go out to retired former Flyers forward John Druce, his ex-wife Chantel and their daughter Natalie after the passing of their 27-year-old daughter and sister Courtney. Courtney fought very bravely over a 12-year span through five bouts with forms of cancer.
Chantel Druce posted the following on her Facebook page yesterday:
"It is with our deepest sorrow that we inform you of the passing of our beloved Daughter, Courtney. Survived by her loving Mother, Chantel; Father, John and Sister, Natalie. Courtney passed away peacefully on April 27, 2016, at the age of 27, as a result of her fifth battle with cancer. Courtney was surrounded by loved ones and we now have our own personal angel to watch over us in the heavens above.
In lieu of flowers the family wishes donations to the following Charities.
pedalforhope.ca. Pedal for Hope raises funds for paediatric cancer research.
victoriasfoundation.org. Alicia Rose Foundation; Raising funds for cancer awareness.
We ask that everyone please respect our need for privacy and personal time. The service to be held in Canada. Details of the service to follow.
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ODDS AND ENDS
* WHL: The Brandon Wheat Kings, featuring Flyers 2015 first-round pick Ivan Provorov, are one win away from reaching the playoff finals. The Wheaties took a three games to one lead in their semifinal series with the Red Deer Rebels with a 4-2 win in Game 5. Game five will be held in Brandon on Friday. The winner will take on the Seattle Thunderbirds, who swept the defending champion Kelowna Rockets in their semifinal series. In the semifinal series to date, Provorov has two points (one goal, one assist) and is plus-four at even strength over the four games.
* QMJHL: The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, featuring Flyers defense prospect Philippe Myers, are also one away from reaching the playoff finals as they head to Game 5 of their semifinal series against the Moncton Wildcats on Friday. Myers, who played a strong all-around game in his team's 1-0 win in Game 4, has two assists and is plus-one at even strength in the series to date.
* QMJHL: In the other semifinal series in the Q, the Saint John Sea Dogs, featuring Flyers 2015 fourth-round pick Samuel Dove-McFalls, will try to stave off elimination in Game 5 of their series with the Shawinigan Cataractes on Friday. Saint John dropped a 4-3 overtime decision in Game 4 to fall into a deep hole in the series. Dove-McFalls scored a goal (his second of the series) and won 10 of 17 faceoffs in a losing cause.
* Flyers 50th Anniversary season: As I have mentioned in previous blogs, it is my tremendous honor and privilege to be working as a contractor with the Flyers to provide daily content for use across all team platforms (web, marketing, in-game and social media) throughout the team's year long celebration of its 50th anniversary season in 2016-17. I also work in the capacity of the Flyers Alumni Association's website and social media content writer and manager.
If you have not seen the
Flyers Alumni website lately, it has been overhauled and updated. There is now a complete record of all Flyers in the Hockey Hall of Fame and inductees in the Flyers Hall of Fame. There are pages devoted to the upcoming Alumni Golf invitational, Alumni Fantasy Hockey Camp, the Alumni's donation drive for Snider Hockey, information on booking Flyers Alumni for fundraisers and private events and much more.
Over on the
Flyers Alumni Facebook page,we have greatly increased the frequency and visual appeal of the postings, which are now chock full of vintage and rare photos, the occasional sneak preview of things in store for the 50th Anniversary season coverage and up-to-date info on current events. Similar info is available by following the Alumni Twitter page (@FlyersAlumni).
In regard to the Flyers 50th Anniversary season project I'm working on with the Flyers, there is a lot of cool stuff in store for the next year, which will start to take shape this offseason.
I'll let you all in one thing that has been keeping me busy daily since March 1: creating a 365-day record of notable Flyers happenings across all calendar dates of the year (both in-season and off-season) as well as sized-to-scale profiles of each and every player -- there have been over 500 -- of the Flyers careers of every player in franchise history. By the end of next season, there will be entries for all 365 days and every player from 1967-68 to 2016-17.
Simultaneously, Jay Greenberg is hard at work creating THE definitive 50th Anniversary history of the Flyers. In conjunction with the re-release of Full Spectrum (covering the 1966 awarding of an expansion franchise to Ed Snider and his original partnership group through the 1995-96 final season at the Philadelphia Spectrum), Jay is writing an all-new volume covering the opening of the CoreStates Center (now Wells Fargo Center) in 1996 straight on through the 2015-16 season. There will also be several special sections, profiling the 50 most influential figures in franchise history, the 50 greatest victories and 50 vital events/moments apart from the victories list.
I have been assisting Jay with fact-checking each chapter, profile and special section and was honored with the request to guest author two of the chapters (2011-12 and lockout shortened 2012-13 seasons) as well as one of the special sections (50 moments) as a tandem effort with Jay.
Even with my own Pelle Lindbergh book co-authored with Thomas Tynander, I have never been so proud and excited to be part of something as I am with my roles with the Flyers, Jay's book and the Alumni, all while being able to cover the current team right here at HockeyBuzz.
There's no other way to put it: It's a dream come true.
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