Quick Hits: June 27, 2022
1) On this week's "Mondays with Meltzer" edition of Flyers Daily, Jason Myrtetus and I revisited the 14th anniversary of the blockbuster trade in which the Flyers sent two first rounds, their top defense prospect at the time (Luca Sbisa, whom they'd selected in the first round one year prior and who had jumped directly to the NHL) and scoring winger Joffrey Lupul to the Anaheim Ducks for superstar defenseman Chris Pronger.
We talk about the backstory to the deal. Oddly enough, Flyers senior management had recently talked about the long-term need to bolster the depth of the prospects in the farm system and avoid trading high-end draft picks. However, when Anaheim made it clear they were ready to move Pronger (after previously getting cold feet), Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren felt he needed to make a bold move.
Context: The Flyers had gone to the Eastern Conference Final in 2008 before losing in five games to Pittsburgh. A year later, the Flyers lost a much harder-fought six game series to Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal. Holmgren felt that adding a future Hall of Famer atop the blueline could help the Flyers to take the next step; possibly enough to defeat the Penguins should the teams meet again in the playoffs.
Ed Snider wasn't thrilled with how much the Flyers had to give up in trade in order to obtain Pronger. He trusted Holmgren, however, and greenlighted the trade-and-sign deal (a seven-year, $34,550,000 deal that would kick in for the 2010-11 season) for the soon-to-be 35-year-old player.
We all know how the trade turned out. Pronger was instrumental in the Flyers getting within two wins of the 2010 Stanley Cup after the Flyers squeaked into the playoffs via a final game shootout win in the regular season. The next year, Pronger dealt with various injuries (fractured wrist, foot fracture, back issues) but the Flyers nonetheless had a very strong regular season before goaltending issues sprung up in the playoffs. In 2011-12, Pronger (who was off to an outstanding start to the season) suffered a serious eye injury and an ocular concussion that prematurely ended his career.
The broader context to discussing the anniversary of the Pronger trade: There's a time for a GM to be bold in going all out to make "the big move" and there are also times NOT to do so. I do not believe that from, either a hockey or cap management standpoint, the current Flyers are well-situated to make a blockbuster trade or marquee free agent signing. There are simply too many question marks on the roster and too little cap space. Jason is of similar mindset.
Both Jason and I would rather the Flyers focus on HOW the team plays -- being more resilient and consistently competitive -- and preserving both assets and longer-term cap space than on chasing after big names. I'm open to making "hockey trades" (if something comes along that makes sense) and smaller moves but I don't think this can be done as a one-year process.
The Flyers need to see how long it will take Joel Farabee, who just underwent cervical disc replacement surgery, not only to get back into the lineup but also to recover his game. They need to be sure Sean Couturier will rebound from back surgery. They need to be confident that Kevin Hayes' latter season surge showed that his physical issues are behind him. They still have no idea how many games they'll get out of Ryan Ellis next season. I just don't see a path to where the Flyers can jump into contendership in a single year.
Depth wise, I want to see the Flyers get a better sense of how much they'll be able to rely moving forward on players such as Cam York, Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett to be productive parts of the lineup. I want to see if Carter Hart can play more like he did before the 2021-22 All-Star break than post-break and whether Ivan Fedotov can be a viable NHL goaltender either as Hart's backup or as competition for starting time.
Neither Jason nor I are in favor of the Flyers buying out either James van Riemsdyk or Oskar Lindblom (especially now that Farabee will miss training camp and up to the first month of the regular season) this offseason or in expending assets to get another team to absorb their contracts. In JVR's case, I'd be fine with the Flyers eating the maximum allowed $3.5 million on the final year of his current contract.
A year from now, it's likely that the flat-cap period in the NHL will end and there will be the first significant jump in several years. See how things play out this season in terms of player health and younger player productivity/reliability, maintain assets for the 2023 Draft, and then reassess in a year whether it's time to aggressively address the need for adding a top-of-the-lineup veteran.
That's just a personal preference of mine, and also of Jason's. It's not a prediction about what Chuck Fletcher will or will not do. To listen to the podcast,
click here.
2) The 2022 NHL Entry Draft is nine days away. Over on the Flyers official website, I wrote an
in-depth directory of Flyers prospects (both contracted and unsigned players) who played major junior, collegiate or European hockey in 2021-22. How did each player progress this past season? Where will he be playing next season? What would the organization like to see him work on before joining the Phantoms or Flyers in the future?
3) Today in Flyers History: On June 27, 1998, the Flyers traded veteran defenseman Paul Coffey to the Chicago Blackhawks for a 1998 fifth-round pick (Francis Belanger). On the same day, the Flyers traded goalie Dominic Roussel and defenseman Jeff Staples to the newly created Nashville Predators for a 1998 seventh-round pick (WHL goalie Cam Ondrik).
4) Today in Flyers History: On June 27, 2013, the Flyers exercised salary cap amnesty buyouts on Danny Briere and Ilya Bryzgalov.
5) Today in Flyers History: On June 27, 2015: The Flyers traded defenseman Nicklas Grossmann and the remaining contract of the de facto retired Chris Pronger (with $500,000 retained -- Pronger's real dollar salary at that point -- to make it budget neutral) in exchange for forward Sam Gagner.
6) Now a member of the Florida Panthers' organization, former Flyers 2016 first-round pick German Rubtsov celebrates his 24th birthday today. He is a restricted free agent this summer.
Rubtsov's development, or lack thereof, was affected by multiple injuries that required surgeries and a tendency to retreat into a defensive shell thereafter.
2016-17: After transferring at midseason from the KHL to the QMJHL's Chicoutimi Sagueneens, Rubtsov suffered a broken nose and concussion that kept him out of the postseason. He showed some promise in posting 22 points (9g, 13a) in 16 games, especially in light of the fact that it was his first exposure to playing in North America.
2017-18: Rubtsov stagnated or even somewhat regressed from an offensive standpoint in his draft-plus-two season, which saw him traded at midseason from Chicoutimi to a contending Acadie-Bathurst Titan team. He was defensively sound and reliable but, apart from when he was deployed on the power play, Rubtsov did not show much of the offensive skill or creativity he was touted to have before the 2016 Draft (and had shown hints of in the Q in his draft-plus-one year). On the positive side, he was a regular starter and got a lot of ice time for the eventual QMJHL champion Titan.
2018-19: Rubtsov turned pro and joined the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He started off well, getting all-situation ice time under head coach Scott Gordon and posting 10 points (6g, 4a) in the first 13 games. In the first period of Game 14, Rubtsov suffered a season-ending shoulder injury that required surgery.
2019-20: Rubtsov appeared in four NHL games for the Flyers under new head coach Alain Vigneault. He played on the fourth line in his first -- and thus far only -- games in the National Hockey League before being returned to the Phantoms. In early November, Rubtsov suffered another shoulder injury on a seemingly harmless play along the boards. He did not require another surgery but he missed the next five weeks. Upon his return, Rubtsov played very tentatively and never made a serious push to move up in the lineup or earn a return trip to the NHL. At the time the AHL season was paused -- and eventually the remainder was canceled -- due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rubtsov had a very modest two goals and 13 points in 42 games for the Phantoms.
2020-21: With pandemic ongoing and the NHL and AHL seasons delayed, Rubtsov returned to the KHL (with permission from the Flyers' organization) to play for HC Sochi. He had an injury-riddled and highly disappointing season for HC Sochi. After the season, it was learned that Rubtsov had played through a lingering wrist issue that required off-season surgery. Statistically, he posted three goals and 11 points in 46 games.
2021-22: Rubtsov returned to North America. Assigned to the Phantoms, Rubtsov was largely a non-factor on a team that got off to a terrible start and struggled mightily to score. He was unassertive with the puck and content to play an overly safe and ultra-conservative game. Rubtsov did have a three-game spell in November where he seemed to finally be settling in and making some plays but then he promptly joined a laundry list of Phantoms players sidelined by an injury. He missed two weeks. He never stood out thereafter, except for an outlying nice play here or a good two-way game there that he did not build off subsequently. On March 19, 2022, Rubtsov (two goals, six points in 37 games for the Phantoms) was traded to Florida in the Claude Giroux trade. He dressed in five regular season (1g, 0a) and one Calder Cup playoff game for the Charlotte Checkers.
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