Midseason Player Reviews

I don't like rating players by grades, and there's no use denying every player faces different expectations and different roles.  I'm going to simply assume some degree of subjective expectations and rate players with a stock-rating flavor.

Outperform
-Claude Giroux.  No brainer here.  Last season he looked like a promising young center, but was arguably the 4th most visible center on the team.  With Richards and Carter traded to make room for a goalie, Giroux faced a lot of pressure to be the offensive lynchpin.  He has responded with an MVP caliber season.

-Jaromir Jagr.  Sticking with Giroux's line, no one was sure how Jagr would perform after three season out of the NHL.  50 points?  60 points?  He still couldn't do a point a game, could he?  Apparently yes.  After a slow start, he found his legs and has looked fantastic, and is a key offensive player for the Flyers.  Nagging injuries are the only thing slowing him down now.

-Scott Hartnell.  And now to complete the Giroux line!  Hartnell got off to a very rocky start, missing preseason time due to medical tests, and his place in the lineup was very much at risk with 2 points in 7 games and Simmonds on the top PP unit.  Placing him with Jagr and Giroux has been magic, as every player has looked better since this trio was complete.  Hartnell has 35 points in 34 games since then.

-Matt Read.  On pace for 25+ goals, and an offensive factor every night.  What more could the Flyers want from him?

-Jake Voracek.  His pace of ~50 points isn't going to turn many heads, and is line with his career averages, however I think he is playing better than that.  Didn't start off great, but he is up on his skates attacking the defense every night.  It's not a coincidence that the Flyers go on win streaks when he is playing his best.  Early in the season I talked about Jagr replacing Leino's offensive contribution, but it's actually been Voracek carrying the puck, making plays, contributing what the Flyers would've hoped for from Leino.

-Kimmo Timonen.  He has played big minutes and piled up the points, and looks to produce at a rate not seen since his best years in Nashville.

-Max Talbot.  Has played reliably all over the lineup, and at midseason is already near career highs in goal scoring and points.

-Sean Couturier.  I didn't listen to scouts early this year when they nearly unanimously predicted Cooter would make the big team.  I looked at the roster and though, nah.  Instead, Cooter has simply made it impossible to take him out of the lineup, playing like a veteran.

-Harry Zolneirczyk.  Despite being sent down early in the season, he has come back and looked great on the 4th line--energetic with occasional scoring.  Thumbs up, though to maintain a role like this in the NHL he will have to have an increased role on the PK.

-Zac Rinaldo.  I was pretty skeptical of this wild man coming into the season.  Although he seems targeted by officials, he has general kept it under control, potted a goal here or there, and aggressively sought contact on the ice. 

-Marc-Andre Bourdon.  His ascent to the NHL hasn't really gone like many in the organization may have hoped, but he has played within himself and looked like he belongs in the NHL.

Market Perform
-Danny Briere.  A pretty ho-hum regular season for Briere.  He's been there for some key goals, but hasn't looked consistently dangerous and is on pace for his lowest point totals for a full season as a Flyer (when healthy).  I am giving him somewhat of a pass due to raising his game in the playoffs the last two years, and the expectation that he will do it again.

-Matt Carle.  Carle continues to hum along, playing big minutes and getting decent point totals.  I still say he has the worst shot on the team though, so there's always that to infuriate Flyers fans when he gets so many chances with skating and awareness on the ice. 

-Wayne Simmonds.  Simmonds teased Flyers fans early this year and preseason with some offensive skill, however Flyer fans have seen some stone hands since then.  Simmonds is always battling out there, but his offense probably will never be more than occasional and streaky.

-Braydon Coburn.  Quiet but largely steady from Braydon.

-Sergei Bobrovsky.  Bob continues to progress nicely, and currently sports a much better stat line than Bryzgalov.  He probably deserves a chance to get some starts and be given a chance to run with it.

-Andreas Lilja.  Doing exactly what was expected; old and slow, occasionally physical defensemen.

Underperform
-Brayden Schenn.  I don't like putting him here, as when I see him play I see a skilled and intelligent player, and injuries never really gave him a chance.  Still, on January 1, there he was with 0 points and -7 in 8 games.  Hopefully, the second half will treat him better (and the signs are already good).

-James Van Riemsdyk.  Looking at a low 40s point season, and is not visible many nights.  This is even when I commented earlier this season that his points line flatters his play.  He was supposed to progress more than this by this point.

-Andrej Meszaros. The team's best defensemen last year, he struggled early.  His play has improved, but his overall body of work is not what Flyers fans were hoping for.

-Ilya Bryzgalov.  If you've read this blog, or even followed the Flyers at all, do I need to say anything?  Not playing like the top goalie the Flyers signed him to be.  He still can figure it out though.

-Jody Shelley.  Yes, he is still on this team.

No Rating
Chris Pronger, Erik Gustafsson

Crunch Time

The playoff nominally start in approximately 7 days, but the Flyers may as well already be in the playoffs with their slim 1 point lead on the Pens. Time to get stuff in order, period.

First, after Leighton cleared waivers yesterday, Laviolette took the unusual step (for him) to announce Bobrovsky was starting tonight and will start in the playoffs. Not surprising that Bob is the guy, but Holmgren said he wanted Leighton to play Friday or Saturday, which may not happen now. As I said yesterday, it seems odd to me that the Flyers would expose Leighton to waivers now for him to be an undressed 3rd goalie. Or maybe they had to do it now? Goaltending hasn't really been the problem, but I wouldn't rule out doing something drastic to shake things up if the Flyers continue to slowly sink.

Second, Holmgren apparently laid down law on the team in a private meeting. Per Tim Panaccio:

tpanotch Tim Panaccio

Hartnell: “Paul Holmgren can be a scary guy,” said Scott Hartnell. “Especially, when he gives you that look.”

tpanotch Tim Panaccio

Peter Laviolette thought Holmgren's message/address to the team was constructive and well-received

tpanotch Tim Panaccio

Flyers say GM HOLMGREN address to them yesterday was a bit scary. Intimidating ...some said

LOL. It's not as simple as yelling and deciding to play harder all of a sudden, but I don't think it could hurt.

Third, there are the injuries. Briere partially practiced yesterday, though his status for tonight is unclear. No signs of Pronger, but you have to think he'll be ready for actual playoff games. Betts is also out.

The time for excuses is over. Time for Richards to get in playoff form. Carter needs to prove he can score in the playoffs. Versteeg needs to find his niche on this team. Can JVR be more of a factor this year?

Flyers denied circus goal

Just wanted to post a pretty awesome goal that wasn't. Jeff Carter, Claude Giroux, and JVR play a little hacky-sack with the puck;

The goal was waved off under Rule 80.1.

80.1 High-sticking the Puck – Batting the puck above the normal height of the shoulders with a stick is prohibited. When a puck is struck with a high stick and subsequently comes into the possession and control of a player from the offending team (including the player who made contact with the puck), either directly or deflected off any player or official,there shall be a whistle.

When a puck has been contacted by a high stick, the play shall be permitted to continue, provided that:

(i) the puck has been batted to an opponent (when a player bats the puck to an opponent, the Referee shall give the “washout” signal immediately. Otherwise, he will stop the play).

I don't know. Sounds to me like it should've counted. Number one, was Giroux's stick above normal shoulder height? Close call. Number two, Ryan Miller clearly touched the puck with his glove before it got to JVR. Does a glancing touch count as being "batted to an opponent"? I think so.

Most likely, the official who made the call from behind the didn't see that Miller touched it. Oh well, all's well that ends well.

Report Card Day

Little did I realize, but the Flyers play their 42nd game tonight. Therefore it is very important to give out midseason grades immediately, lest they lose their eminence.

As a team, things have gone pretty much as well as anyone could've expected. ESPN seems to think highly of them.

Summary: The Flyers are without question the cream of the crop in the Eastern Conference. Even without veteran defenseman Chris Pronger, who should return from injury in the near future, the Flyers haven't missed a beat. They have great balance up front and steady netminding from Renaissance man Brian Boucher. Fewest road losses in the NHL also illustrate the team's maturity. Grade: A-plus. Trending: Up.

So there's that, and not much else to say.

As for players, without doing the tiresome grade for each one;

Thumbs Up

-Leino, killing it

-JVR, coming on and the team will be thrilled if he keeps it up

-Boucher, (see JVR)

-Briere, looking like the player everybody hoped for when signing the big contract

-Hartnell, doing his job well

-Giroux, breakthrough first third, needs to rev it back up.

-Meszaros, outperforming Carle and Coburn

-Nodl, ~20 goal pace for no-goal Nodl!

-Bobs, great start, will need to re-find that form to help Boucher

Holding steady, check back at playoff time

Pronger, Timonen, Richards, Carter, Carle, Coburn, O'Donnell, Betts

*shrugs*

Shelley, Carcillo, Bartulis, Zherdev

Random thought:

The Flyers will have a two-headed monster in net for the foreseeable future, would it be incredibly corny to nickname said beast Bobby Boucher/Waterboy?

Leighton Waived

This caught me by surprise. The breaking news of the day is that Michael Leighton has been waived.

I thought the Flyers would roll with 3 goalies for another week or two, but not so fast.

Leighton got the win in his first game back, though he was not good. Of course letting in a no-angle shot 2.5 minutes in didn't ease Flyers fans' memories of the Stanley Cup winning goal.

It is tempting to see this and have an initial reaction that the Flyers are dumping him and going with Boucher and Bobrovsky. After taking a deep breath, the following is more likely;

1) Leighton will be unclaimed and try to find his stride in the AHL as part of the Flyers organization.

2) The Flyers are going to ride Boucher (aka Mr. Streaky) as long as he's playing well. Personally I don't think that's going to be much longer, but you never know.

3) The Flyers don't want to send Bobrovsky down.

The Flyers overall goalie situation is not much clearer now. Don't be surprised to see Leighton called back up if Boucher and Bobrovsky struggle and Leighton plays well down on the farm. This definitely isn't good news for Mr. Leighton, but I don't think his days with the Flyers are over just yet.

As another aside, let me also say that I don't see Boucher or Leighton having any trade value at any point this season. If the Flyers don't want three goalies, it means someone is going to the minors and nothing is coming back to the Flyers.

Other searing insights:

-JVR is getting scoring chances more consistently, and is scoring some garbage goals. I didn't necessarily see him as that type of player giving his skating and stickhandling, but maybe that's where his NHL future lies? His career could still go either way, but I couldn't help but notice he was on the ice in the final minute as the Flyers clung to their one goal lead against the Wings. That may be a better sign than the goals (and all the posts he's been hitting).

-The lines are back to status quo. I wouldn't have minded seeing them mixed up a little longer, but the Hartnell-Briere-Leino line is maximizing the output of each of those three. Not sure what is best for Richards, Giroux and Carter though.

-Meszaros trade sure is looking good right now. I've said it before, but Carle's days as a Flyer may be numbered (beyond this season that is).