We can confidently say that if they are in contention for a playoff spot, they aren\u2019t going to be sellers. But I\u2019d argue that even if they\u2019re in range of a playoff spot, the next trade deadline won\u2019t look anything like the previous two. Both Daniel Briere and Keith Jones have already indicated as much.<\/p>\n
For example, here\u2019s Briere on July 1 speaking about the free-agent additions made that day: \u201cWe wanted to give the players something to chew on to be excited a little bit that we\u2019re more competitive. Now it\u2019s up to the players to take the next step. But, we wanted to start helping them.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a good reminder of the human element of all this. Guys such as Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny, for example, really seemed to fade after Scott Laughton got dealt last season. Owen Tippett sagged when he lost his buddies, Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. Matvei Michkov seems particularly driven to make the playoffs, and you can be sure lots of other young guys who have been here for a few years are, too.<\/p>\n
You can already predict that the message from Briere to his team on Day 1 of training camp will be something along the lines of, \u201cIf you guys show us you\u2019re a good team and you\u2019re in the mix for a playoff spot, management is not going to mess with that.\u201d Things are different now. Subtractions aren\u2019t inevitable.<\/p>\n
Something else to keep in mind, though, is that there aren\u2019t any obvious pieces to sell anyway, like there were previously in guys such as Laughton and Sean Walker, who were both on expiring contracts. Plus, Frost and Farabee, who just didn\u2019t fit into what the Flyers were trying to build. The only pending unrestricted free agent is Christian Dvorak, and as I\u2019ve mentioned, they didn\u2019t sign him just to move him for assets at the deadline. If he\u2019s filling a key role on a competitive team, they\u2019re going to keep him around, even if it means potentially losing him for nothing next summer.<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s anyone who could be dangled, perhaps it\u2019s Rasmus Ristolainen. But after yet another injury, his value is down, and with another year on his contract, that\u2019s not even something the Flyers have to do, either \u2014 particularly if he returns healthy and becomes an important contributor like he was last season.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t want to see guys such as Karsen Dorwart, Nikita Grebenkin, Denver Barkey and Devin Kaplan blocked by Christian Dvorak, Garnet Hathaway and, to a lesser extent, Rodrigo Abols and Anthony Richard. What do you think Rick Tocchet\u2019s philosophy is going to be with the bottom six regarding playing veterans over prospects? <\/strong>\u2014 Clinton P.<\/p>\n Honestly, I think it\u2019s going to be pretty simple from Tocchet\u2019s perspective. He\u2019s going to play the players that best give him a chance to win. Same as John Tortorella did before him.<\/p>\n All four guys you mentioned at the top of this question probably need more time in the minors anyway. But if guys such as Dorwart and Grebenkin, especially, show they belong on the NHL roster in camp, I think Tocchet could find a spot for them, particularly if Tyson Foerster misses the start of the season. I\u2019d suggest it\u2019s a tremendous long shot those four are already better than the established NHL players on the roster, though. And Alex Bump could already be penciled into the top nine at this point, too.<\/p>\n You want your prospects to earn jobs rather than just be handed them. There\u2019s going to be competition for spots on the NHL roster in September, but even for the guys that don\u2019t make the Flyers, there should be healthy competition with the Phantoms for key roles, too. None of that is a bad thing. If they keep progressing, then it simply opens options for Briere to move other pieces.<\/p>\n Do you think Torts\u2019 philosophy of trying to block every shot attempt contributes to poor goaltending\/save percentages? Is there any data to back up this theory? <\/strong>\u2014 Andrew F.<\/p>\n In conversations with Samuel Ersson, he sometimes mentioned that he would prefer to see certain shots all the way, rather than risk one of his teammates diving in front of it, risking a screen or a deflection. It was probably a factor in some of Ivan Fedotov\u2019s struggles, too, particularly early in the season when he seemed have tremendous difficulty with shots from long range.<\/p>\n Still, I have a difficult time thinking that greatly contributed to the poor save percentages. The Flyers under Tortorella were hardly the only club that stressed shot blocking. To me, there were just too many easy shots that went in on all three, but particularly Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov. And as I pointed out recently<\/a>, it wasn\u2019t a problem until Carter Hart\u2019s departure midway through the 2023-24 season.<\/p>\n
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