The Flyers bounced back in a big way on the second leg of their back-to-back games on Monday night with a 4-0 win over the Sabres. The night belonged once again to goaltender Sam Ersson, who has been stellar since his recall before the holiday break. The 23-year-old Swede stopped all 28 shots fired his way for his first career shutout on Monday and he is now 4-0 in his first five career starts.
While the goaltending was outstanding in the win, Philly provided the early run support for Ersson as they scored three, first period goals in the win. The Flyers fourth line picked up the opening tally and has now scored in back-to-back games. Joel Farabee and Noah Cates each notched a goal, while Travis Konecny added a couple of two first period assists to keep up his sweltering scoring pace. Wade Allison would tally an insurance marker from a nice pass from Kevin Hayes in the third period to ice the game for the Flyers.
Don’t look now “bad for Bedard” crowd, but Philly has won five of their last six games.
Flyers and Ivan Provorov to bid adieu?
Eliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek dropped an interesting tidbit yesterday on the 32 Thoughts Podcast regarding the future of defensemen Ivan Provorov in Philadelphia. The sense that Friedman has gathered from those close to the situation is that both parties appear to be unfulfilled with the current arrangement and that a trade may be the only way to get both what they want. Friedman also stresses though, that he doesn’t believe that a trade is imminent.
When renowned hockey journalists like Friedman and Marek float this kind of info, it’s typically with good reason. Last year, we’ve heard Provorov’s name bandied about in trade discussions so that part is not necessarily new. However, the Flyers should proceed with caution when it comes to moving a 25-year-old, top pair defensemen, regardless of what language they choose to use (rebuild v. retool, etc.) to describe their next course of action.
Ultimately, if it’s Provorov who would like to move on then the Flyers should do their best to accommodate that request, but it can not be to the detriment of the team either. A trade would need to help the club in both the short and long term.
In addition, Provorov currently occupies a spot in the Flyers defense corps that Philadelphia would be hard pressed to replace if he were dealt. His 24 minutes of average time on ice would be putting others on the defense core in the precarious situation of playing above their means.
Gifted rookie Cam York has flashed good potential but has not yet appeared in even 50 NHL games and is just 22 years-old. Tony DeAngelo and Rasmus Ristolainen have never shown a penchant for defending at a top pair level thus leaving only Travis Sanheim – who signed a massive eight-year, $50 million ($6.25 million cap hit) contract that will last through the 2030-31 season – as a player that could assume the responsibility. While Sanheim owns a wealth of puck-moving acumen and does do some things better than Provorov, assuming top line assignments on a regular basis may not be one of them.
Philadelphia shouldn’t be in a hurry to find that out, as Provorov is reasonably under contract for two more seasons at a 6.7 million AAV.
If a trade couldn’t net the Flyers a combination of draft capital and a centermen with scoring line potential in a similar age range, then riding out the rest of the deal seems like a better course of action here, albeit an unpopular course.
While it could be true that the Flyers should be doing everything in their power to expedite their rebuild at any and every cost, the club should still be mindful of robbing Peter to Paul in this situation too.
They can’t afford to fumble a Provorov trade if there is even one to be made.
