The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Flyers fired coach Alain Vigneault near the beginning of the season after a dismal start, and Mike Yeo has mostly lead the team to the same results. In their last 10 games, Philly averages a 46% xG Share at 5v5, just as they do over the course of the full season. That’s part of the reason why the Flyers are handicapped at about 4-to-1 underdogs in tonight’s clash. In addition to being one of the league’s worst 5v5 teams, the Flyers also underwhelm on the man advantage, scoring just 4.19 goals per 60 minutes played 4v5. They’ve scored just 19 4v5 goals: Florida has 42. At least the penalty kill isn’t… as abject. Woof.
The Big G
Shouldn’t be a secret to anyone reading this that the Panthers are sniffing around Claude Giroux’s surroundings in Philadelphia, highly intrigued about adding the prolific forward to their ranks. In addition to years of excellent play, Giroux has racked up lots of playoff experience the rest of the lineup lacks. The Flyer has racked up 73 career playoff points in 85 games, including 24 goals.
Some of the greener teams in recent years, especially the Colorado Avalanche and Toronto Maple Leafs, have stalled in the playoffs when their inexperienced players stop scoring altogether. That wouldn’t be a concern with Claude Giroux; he knows how to score as much as necessary to win crucial games.
Giroux, of course, is a forward. Is this the area the Panthers should be most concerned about improving upon at the deadline? It’s a 25,000$ question with no definitive answer until Bill Zito strikes again.
Enter Sanman
A couple of dismal seasons in a row have dragged down Travis Sanheim’s individual metrics. When the picture moves towards team-relative metrics, all of a sudden there’s a far different picture. The young defenseman can show off a +6.78 xG% rel and a +7.39 GF% rel this year, which rank amongst the 80th percentile in the league (The top 10 is at about 10%). Sanheim clearly raises his team’s level whenever he steps on the ice.
Chuck Fletcher could make Sanheim available soon, as his team appears ready for a reboot. Large money due to other figures on the blueline (who are frankly not as good) might make Sanheim expendable in the eyes of the Flyers hockey ops. And frankly, they’re prone to making some stupid trades. Watch this space.