The Eagles have Dallas week.
Is this Pittsburgh week for the Flyers?
With an April game rescheduled for this week, the Flyers play three straight away games against the Flyers on Tuesday (19:00 ET / NBCSP), Thursday (19:00 ET / NBCSP) and Saturday (13:00 ET / NBCSP) Penguins.
Let’s take a look at the latest three Flyers thoughts before the intriguing set for three games.
1. Flyers tires in Pittsburgh
The Flyers are 11-4-3 with 25 points and the Penguins are 11-8-1 with 23 points. Both clubs meet for the first time since their season opener for two games in which the Flyers toiled with a combined score of 11-5.
There is always intrigue with Flyers Penguins matches, but there are some fresh and fun storylines in this series.
Former Flyers general manager Ron Hextall is now GM of the Penguins. Last weekend, Hextall brought Chris Pryor on board as its new director of player personnel. Pryor was Hextall’s right-hand man in Philadelphia and spent 20 years in the Flyers organization. He was critical of the team’s renewed reconnaissance efforts under Hextall and the talent evaluation of the franchise in the early 2000s.
When the Flyers play the Penguins this week, Hextall and Pryor will see many players who have researched, drafted and developed in Philadelphia. Pryor’s handicrafts go back like Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier.
Hextall brought one of their 2014 Flyers concepts to Pittsburgh last week when the Penguins demanded Mark Friedman of the pardon. The Flyers had to get Friedman through pardon if they wanted to put him in their taxi team. Friedman has yet to make his debut in Pittsburgh; maybe it’s coming this week against the Flyers.
‘We knew we were taking a risk, but we wanted to have the opportunity to play maybe [Nate] Prosper if necessary, “Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said last Friday. To do this, we had to make Mark available. He’s a good, young player and he’s being picked up by Pittsburgh. We wish him all the best. I talked to him after he was picked up, he was excited. We wish him nothing but the best. ‘
2. Pas in Konecny
Travis Konecny skated Monday and is on his way to Pittsburgh to rejoin the Flyers after a 14-day period on the NHL’s COVID protocol list. The Flyers’ 2020 All-Star is expected to take part in the club’s morning skating on Tuesday and is considered a playing time decision.
It’s just a premonition, but it seems plausible that Nolan Patrick could play a game in Pittsburgh. Vigneault said last Friday that he could rotate staff at the back and front due to the team’s jam-packed six games in nine days.
In the last 11 games, Patrick has become pointless with four strokes. The natural center has played right wing on the Flyers’ second line with Kevin Hayes and Giroux for the past three games. Vigneault moved Patrick to the right wing “to help him get started here a little bit,” the head coach said last Tuesday.
Konecny is a right wing and a clear candidate for the second line. The first line is to stay together and the third line of Oskar Lindblom, Scott Laughton and Jakub Voracek was good in the Flyers’ two-game whip from Buffalo. Vigneault also likes the effectiveness of the fourth line, centered by Connor Bunnaman.
In the Flyers’ 3-0 win over the Sabers on Sunday, Patrick plays 13:30 minutes and only 3:22 in the third period while the Flyers close matters. Patrick will probably move back to center in the bottom six at some point. It was very positive that Patrick is healthy and has played all 18 games after missing 2019-20 due to a migraine disorder. Prior to the start of the season, Patrick had not played an NHL game for more than 650 days.
“It took me a while to find my game and I feel like the last few games, I was leaning in the right direction and playing more confident and getting closer to the top of my game,” Patrick said last Friday first match on right wing. “It’s hard to miss the amount of time, of course, but I feel good and enjoy being back.”
Vigneault put 24-year-old defender Philippe Myers down for a game at the weekend. Allowing Patrick to watch a game and recover both physically and mentally is not the worst thing for the 22-year-old.
3. The Ekholm buzz
Tony Androckitis of InsideAHLHockey.com reported that the Predators were looking for AHL subsidiary Lehigh Valley’s game last Saturday night.
Athletics’ Pierre LeBrun recently noted how Nashville (10-11-0) is looking for a new tool, and 30-year-old defender Mattias Ekholm could be one of his biggest trade chips. LeBrun has identified the Flyers as a team he sees as a potential fit for Ekholm. According to CapFriendly.com, Ekholm has a cap of $ 3.75 million and could become an unlimited free agent after the 2021-22 season.
There is still time before the NHL deadline, which is April 12th. March will be a telling month for the Flyers, who are now healthy at the back and coming to a halt from behind. They looked a lot more like the club that rose in the 2019-20 series in the regular season.
Long story short: give it some more time and we’ll see around April if the Flyers need outside help for defense.
More on these topics here with the Flyers Talk podcast
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