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Meltzer's Musings: Four Pleasant Surprises in a Disappointing Season |
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There has not been much about the 2014-15 season that has gone the way the management and coaching staff of the Philadelphia Flyers planned or hoped before the season. Entering the season, the team internally had every expectation of making the playoffs again and being a solid road team that at least matched last season's 18-16-7 record.
It hasn't happened, for a variety of reasons.
However, amidst the rubble of a season gone awry, there have been some pleasant surprises. While not nearly enough to redeem the season, they merit mention. Here are four things that have surpassed expectations.
1. Voracek contending for the Art Ross Trophy. Entering this season, people already knew that Jakub Voracek had emerged into a fine NHL offensive player. An elite one in serious contention for the Art Ross Trophy? That was not quite expected.
The pre-All Star break portion of the season was dominated by Voracek and Claude Giroux, who were incredibly consistent in their production. Although Voracek's point-production pace has slowed down considerably after he led the league in scoring for several months, he is still just one point behind Sidney Crosby.
No Flyer has ever won the scoring title, although Eric Lindros lost out to Jaromir Jagr in 1995 via tiebreaker (goals scored). For a variety of reasons, individual scoring is down leaguewide again. Even if Voracek does not win the scoring title, it has been an outstanding season for him on an individual basis.
Just look at the names with whom Voracek is neck-and-neck for the award: Crosby, John Tavares, Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Bäckström. He is some pretty lofty company.
As for Giroux, who was a Hart Trophy finalist last season after a very slow start to the campaign, the Flyers captain is in the league's top 10 in scoring this season. He may only have one even-strength goal at home this season -- a shocking stat -- but that's more an anomaly than an indictment of his play from an offensive standpoint. Besides, a power play goal counts just the same on the scoreboard, and Giroux has eight of those at home.
Giroux has played three more home games this season at Wells Fargo Center than Pittsburgh's Crosby has at Consol Energy Center but their accumulated home stats are otherwise virtually identical. Both have 35 points. Giroux has nine goals to Crosby's eight. Crosby has 27 assists to Giroux's 26. Crosby is a plus-two at home, Giroux is minus one.
These are negligible differences, folks. Giroux is still very much an elite NHL player.
2. Michael Raffl on the brink of 20 goals despite missing 15 games. As a first-year NHL player last season, Raffl showed his versatility in being deployed in a variety of different roles. He skated well, competed for the puck, showing a physical element to his game that caught some off-guard and adapted to the styles of a variety of different linemates.
One thing the Austrian struggled to do, however, was put the puck in the net. Even when he played on a line with Giroux and Voracek, it often took quite a few scoring chances for him to bag a goal.
Prior to the start of this season, Voracek told the media that he thought Raffl -- who shows good hands in practice but lacked the payoff in game situations a year ago -- had the ability to be a late-blooming 30-goal scorer in the NHL. People laughed, thinking Voracek was joking.
No one is laughing now. While 30 goals is a very high bar to set for a role player in a league where hardly even the game's supreme goal-scorers make a push for 50 goals, Raffl is one goal away from 20 despite missing 15 games due to a foot injury and, later, pneumonia.
Raffl has found what works for himself offensively. He gets to the "greasy" areas and picks up his share of rebound, deflection and goal mouth scramble goals. He has also found some shooting sweet spots on the smaller-rink game, such as his nicely finished tally in Wednesday's win over Chicago. These are all things the 26-year-old can continue to build upon in the remaining games of this season and hopefully carry over into 2015-16.
With the loss of Wayne Simmonds for the remainder of the season, Raffl may get a chance to have a spot on the top power play unit. He may be deployed as the net-front player (Simmonds' spot) so as to keep everyone else's duties the same or else Brayden Schenn could move net-front and Raffl could work puck-support and sliding between the circles (Schenn's usual spot).
3. Effective fourth line. The duo of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Chris VandeVelde has quietly given the Flyers a fourth line that be reliably rolled out for regular shifts as well as helping out on the penalty killing end of special teams. They forecheck very well and Bellemare brings an element of speed as well as being fearless. Bellemare actually has a little more offensive game to him than he's shown during the season but he has adapted his game to his assigned role and has done well with it.
VandeVelde, who has unexpectedly scored nine goals this season, is probably going to win the teammate-voted Pelle Lindbergh Award for most improved player from the beginning to end of the season (Raffl won last year, and the award is never repeated). He looked like a fringe NHL fill-in/ AHL top nine forward previously but has taken advantage of his opportunity this season.
4. The play of Ryan White. Signed as a free agent last summer to a one-year deal, White missed all of training camp and the first half of the season after tearing a pectoral muscle in off-season training. When he finally entered the lineup, White has brought some elements -- grit, physicality and tenacity -- the club sorely needed. He is sturdy and plays bigger than his listed 6-foot-0, 200 pounds. What was not expected was the five goals he's chipped in over 27 games.
White will be a free agent again this summer. If what he has shown in his abbreviated season on his one-year contract reflects what he can bring over a healthy full season, the Flyers could do much, much worse than to sign him to a contract extension. However, he may opt to test the market this summer.
Overall, the resurgence of defenseman Nick Schultz has also been a pleasant surprise. In his case, it has been a matter of getting back to a previous standard of play he established in Minnesota before a couple of rough seasons made him a bargain-bin free agent last summer. The Flyers have already signed Schultz to an extension.
The play of fellow free agent signee Michael Del Zotto has also been one of the encouraging developments this season. Del Zotto's case is perhaps more dramatic than Schultz's because Del Zotto is by far the more dynamic talent and is younger but it is similar in terms of being a story of a player who rediscovered what made him effective before.
Del Zotto will be a restricted free agent this summer. Do not be surprised if a big chunk of the money saved by trading Braydon Coburn to Tampa Bay is used to try to lock up Del Zotto in a multi-year deal. On a one-year deal, the Flyers could get Del Zotto much cheaper for next season (because they currently have the leverage) but the player would have all the leverage beyond the 2015-16 season if he signs for one more year, has a strong season and then tests the open market as an unrestricted free agent.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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