Yesterday's news about Chris Pronger needing arthroscopic knee surgery (this time on his left knee) could not have come at a worse time for the team.
In the short term, the club learned it will be without its captain and top defenseman for a month just as it is about to embark on it most grueling travel month of the season. Last year, the Flyers thrived without Pronger during a brutal post-Christmas road stretch but it took a very heavy toll on the club.
Looking back, I think that first extended stretch without Pronger ended up taking a very heavy toll on the team (especially veteran defenseman Kimmo Timonen) after the All-Star break. Although the Flyers posted a gaudy record during that stretch, virtually every game was a real tough grind without being able to bank on Pronger's minutes.
In the bigger picture, does anyone really have confidence that Pronger will ever be able to stay in the lineup on a regular basis again? He has now had five surgeries since the summer of 2010 -- three of the "body breaking down" variety (back surgery and the two "minor" knee procedures) and two of the "on-ice bad luck" type (foot fracture repair, hand surgery).
More and more, Pronger's situation is starting to resemble that of the post-1987 Mark Howe. During Howe's latter years in Philadelphia, he could still play at a very high level when he was able to suit up for games; perhaps not at Norris Trophy caliber anymore but still better than the vast majority of defensemen in the NHL. Unfortunately, his absences grew longer and longer and all the uncertainty about when he'd be able to play (and how long until the next stretch he'd miss) contributed to instability on the blueline.
Some folks have said they think the Flyers will be just fine for the next month with their current top four defensemen (Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle and Andrej Meszaros) and either trying to get by with two rookies (Marc-Andre Bourdon, Kevin Marshall) or making a minor move for a veteran third-pairing defenseman.
I disagree, because Pronger remains iffy for the long haul. Meszaros, the reigning Barry Ashbee Trophy winner, is the big X-factor in this whole scenario. If he plays to his capabilities, the blueline should be OK. Among Meszaros, Coburn and Carle, it is the former who has the highest upside to play at first-pairing level.
But Meszaros has had a mediocre season to date. His decision-making has been highly suspect at times and he has often had difficulty getting shots on net.
Meszaros' ice time has actually
dropped slightly from last year: an average 20:32 per game so far as opposed to 21:07 last season. Don't forget that that Pronger has already missed 10 games. Also keep in mind that there has been instability in the number six spot -- the early season flip-flopping of Andreas Lilja and Matt Walker, Erik Gustafsson being called up and then injured, Lilja re-assuming the six spot and then getting injured and then Bourdon and Marshall being called up simultaneously.
If Meszaros were getting the job done this season on a similar basis to last year, his ice time would likely have gone up given all the adversity the club has faced. Now that Pronger is going to be out until the Winter Classic, it is more critical than ever that Meszaros regain his form of last season.
The same thing goes for the inconsistency shown at times by both Coburn and Carle. Without Pronger in the lineup, both of those guys need to bring their "A" games with more regularity. On a game-in and game-out basis, Kimmo Timonen has been the Flyers' most consistent and reliable defenseman. The team really need all four of its top guys to be playing well simultaneously.
The biggest issue with losing Pronger is that it's almost impossible to find one player to replace him. The team pretty much needs two players -- one defenseman who can help out on the power play and a minutes-eating defender for five-on-five and penalty killing duties who plays with a mean streak.
I don't known what Paul Holmgren has planned. Tim Panaccio believes that the club will stand pat for now, hope that the goaltending consistency and team defense pick up and then go from there. We'll see.
I do know that the Flyers need to start thinking seriously about their long-range planning on defense, that Pronger's health was my single biggest concern coming into the season, and that the 3-4-5 defensemen on the club need to elevate their games along with Ilya Bryzgalov.
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The Flyers will learn in a couple hours whether Andreas Nodl has cleared waivers. I've never heard of "gauging interest" in a player by waiving him. Gauging interest is when a general manager calls all the other GMs and sees if another team is willing to trade an asset of some sort.
If Nodl clears waivers, the Flyers also have the option of keeping him with the big club without needing another waiver for 30 days if there is a need for cap/roster space. I think that is really what is at work here: Philly wants some flexibility if they make outside roster moves and are willing to risk Nodl being claimed.
If Nodl gets sent down, he will be the third player on the Phantoms whose one-way NHL contract with the Flyers is being buried (off the cap) in the AHL, along with Michael Leighton and Matt Walker. Tom Sestito, who is on a two-way deal that is not subject to recall waivers, also had to pass through initial waivers to be sent down.
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In conjunction with our sponsor Hockeytickets.ca, I am pleased to announce that we have obtained two free tickets to give away for a HockeyBuzz reader to see the Flyers take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins at the Wells Fargo Center on Sat. December 17 at 1 PM.
We will arrange the giveaway as a trivia contest, randomly selecting a winner from among the correct responses.
Here's the trivia question:
The Flyers made their first ever trade with the Boston Bruins on Oct. 18, 1967. Philadelphia dealt a first-round draft pick in 1970 (which Boston used to select Rick MacLeish) to the Bruins and received a player in return. Who came over from Boston to Philadelphia in the deal?
Email your answer to
[email protected] with "Flyers-Bruins Trivia Contest" in the subject line. Entry cutoff is 5 p.m. EST on Thursday. I'll contact the winner that evening and announce him/her on Friday's gameday blog.
If no one comes up with the correct answer (I'm pretty sure some folks will), we'll do a random drawing from among all the entries.
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I had initially intended to run the last part of my November in Review blog today, which takes individual looks at the Flyers' defensemen and goalies. The news of Pronger's knee surgery altered the plan.
I will do the individual defensemen and goalie writeups tomorrow, although much of it will reiterate issues I addressed at the top of today's blog.
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Special thanks go out to my longtime friends and pressbox colleagues Anthony Mingione and Russ Cohen for having me as "Third Man In" last night on their
Off the Post show on Blogtalk Radio.
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