The Philadelphia Flyers have a number of their top prospects knocking on the door for an NHL role, but if those players do get called up, the team cannot continue to make the same mistakes repeatedly as they have been.
Rookie Nikita Grebenkin has hardly gotten a fair shake since the season started, franchise player Matvei Michkov is playing significantly less than last year, and it took the Flyers nearly a month to install defenseman Emil Andrae as a regular in the lineup.
Advertisement
While defenseman Adam Ginning, who has played just once since Oct. 16, is likely the first to go to make a roster spot for a prospect, the Flyers need to do it with a purpose.
Anthony SanFilippo of On Pattison recently reported that the Flyers might be “ready to give [Alex Bump] a look, but they don’t want him stuck playing on the fourth line. The Flyers brass believes when Bump comes up, he has to play in the top nine.”
In translation, that means more than 12 minutes a night, and not playing with Rodrigo Abols and Garnet Hathaway.
But the same, obviously, hasn’t been true for Grebenkin and Michkov, who have both had to do that this season at some point.
‘Everyoneâ€s Bringing the Intensity’: Tocchet, Flyers Committed to Avoiding Complacency
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers/latest-news/everyone-s-bringing-the-intensity-tocchet-flyers-committed-to-avoiding-complacency" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:'Everyone’s Bringing the Intensity': Tocchet, Flyers Committed to Avoiding Complacency The Philadelphia Flyers were battling hard in practice on Monday.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas” class=”link “> ‘Everyoneâ€s Bringing the Intensity’: Tocchet, Flyers Committed to Avoiding Complacency The Philadelphia Flyers were battling hard in practice on Monday.
Advertisement
Bump, 21, has four goals, nine assists, and 13 points in 15 games with the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms, with 11 of those points coming in his last 10 games.
The offense is finally coming after an unimpressive preseason, and the Flyers, who rank seventh-worst in the NHL in goals scored, could certainly use that.
This is simply a matter of how, but head coach Rick Tocchet and Co. have not yet shown a willingness to lean into the youth, bar the Noah Cates line and newcomer Trevor Zegras.
Adding a young Bump to the equation only further muddies matters, as the Flyers would then have to organize a group of top-nine wingers that includes him, Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, Zegras, if he stays on the wing, and potentially Grebenkin, too.
Advertisement
Such a move would effectively force Zegras and Christian Dvorak to stay down the middle permanently, which can, and arguably should be, the plan for Tocchet, but that remains to be seen.
Tocchet has basked in the versatility those two bring to the table, and it would be hard to imagine he softens his stance on that to make way for a 21-year-old winger.
Flyers: Are We Headed Towards a Goalie Controversy?
Nonetheless, the Flyers absolutely should be leaning into youth and more traditional rebuilding practices while it is convenient for them, rather than seeing what developments come about and winging it from there – no pun intended.
Advertisement
Plus, Porter Martone could be in the conversation as soon as this spring. The Flyers ought to see which pieces fit into Tocchet’s “puzzle” and which ones do not, and sometimes, you have to build the frame first and turn it every which way to find your next move.
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.