Critics are fast to point out when a team overpays a certain player relative to his production on the ice. But even the most successful teams in the NHL typically have a few underachieving players who draw huge salaries. With only so much cap space to go around, it is crucial that teams also have a few players on low salaries who produce at a high level.
Last season, at a combined salary cap hit of $2.65 million, the Flyers received 52 goals and 96 points from Wayne Simmonds ($1.75 million, 28 goals, 49 points) and Matt Read ($900,000, 24 goals, 47 points). Add Max Talbot's career-best 19 goals at $1.75 million, and the Flyers got 71 goals worth of scoring depth at a cost of $4.4 million against the cap.
For all the hand-wringing some folks do about the Flyers' cap management, they received a huge return on investment for those three players. Their production in the regular season offset the injury-plagued down seasons for Danny Briere and James van Riemsdyk (combined 27 goals, combined $8.15 million of cap space).
Simmonds has one season to go on the two-year contract he signed with the Flyers after coming over from Los Angeles last year. Read still has two seasons remaining on his current deal but, because of his rather advanced age at the time he signed his rookie contract, he's eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2014. Talbot has four seasons remaining on the UFA deal he signed last summer.
Come next summer, Simmonds and Read will both be looking for contract extensions. For next season, however, as long as Simmonds and Read can come close to duplicating their success from 2011-12, the Flyers stand to continue receiving high value for a modest cost.
The big question, of course, is whether Simmonds and Read can match or exceed their production from last year. I don't see any reason why not.
Although I don't think Simmonds is going to get 28 goals every year, I think he's certainly capable of getting about 25 if he continues to play on the first power play unit (as he did throughout the second half of last season). In Read's case, I think the player's skill level and speed were obvious enough to feel confident that he wasn't just a one-year wonder.
In Talbot's case, I think there is a pretty good chance that he reverts a little closer to his career norms of about 12 goals. However, a healthy Briere should score about 10 more regular season goals than he did a year ago, and the continued development of Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier should also enable the club to make up most of the gap from losing Jaromir Jagr to free agency and trading van Riemsdyk.
Last but not least, keep in mind that the Flyers currently figure to go into the season with at least $2.5 million of bankable cap space. If they have a clear need to add some additional scoring depth by the trade deadline, they will have the ability to add a high-profile forward rental.
Scoring was not a problem for the Flyers last year. I don't think it will be a problem in 2012-13, either.
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Simmonds had a strong first season in orange and black. That does not mean, however, that he does not have room for improvement. Here are three areas in which he can get better in 2012-13:
1)
Offensive consistency. Simmonds is a very streaky player, and he was ice cold in the postseason. Apart from one critical goal he scored late in the second period of Game 3 of the Pittsburgh series, Simmonds came up empty on his scoring opportunities in the playoffs.
In the New Jersey series, he wasn't even getting many good scoring opportunities or winning puck battles he usually won during the season. It led many to wonder if his name would show up on the post-season injury report. Sure enough, Simmonds had to undergo surgery this summer to repair a broken left index finger. He should be fine for camp.
During the regular season last year, Simmonds had three stretches where he notched four or more goals over a span of four or five games. His best streak was a five-game goal streak (March 26 to April 3) in which he racked up six goal, including four at even strength.
On the flip side, Simmonds also went long stretches where he was invisible offensively. He had a 16-game goal drought (3 assists) during one span where he primarily played on the second or third line at even strength and the number one power play unit. In the playoffs, he had just the one goal plus five assists in 11 games.
2.
Defensive improvement. Simmonds is still no better than an average player in his own of the ice. He got exposed a bit in this area in both the Pittsburgh and New Jersey series, as well as periodically during the regular season.
While many power forwards are far from Selke-caliber defensive players, Simmonds has the skating ability to improve considerably in this area. For all the blame that fell on Ilya Bryzgalov and the Flyers' defensemen for the club's mediocre GAA, the lack of attention to defensive detail by Philadelphia forwards was an equal part of the problem.
Next season, it will be up to players such as Simmonds to work just as hard at becoming part of the defensive solution as they do at being valuable pieces of the club's goal-scoring depth puzzle. Part of it is positioning without the puck (specifically narrow the gap between themselves and the defensemen), the other part is making smarter decisions when they have the puck on their stick.
3.
Puckhandling. Simmonds is never going to play a playmaking winger, and he doesn't have to be. But he is so strong on the puck along the walls that it's a shame to lose possession so many times when he peels off the boards and tries to wheel out into the slot.
As always, any player can be nit-picked. Simmonds is a player whom I like quite a bit, and I think will be in Philadelphia for quite some time. He already adds some needed dimensions to the hockey team. If he can improve even marginally in his weaker areas, both he and the club will better for it.
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