Philadelphia Flyers
14 Forwards of 8 D-Men: Where do the Flyers Lean vs. What They Should Do
As training camp winds down and the regular season is right around the corner, the Philadelphia Flyers are faced with a big question. Should they keep 14 forwards or 8 defensemen?
After a wave of roster cuts on Tuesday and the decision to reassign Jacob Gacher and waive Lane Pederson on Wednesday, the Flyers have just one more cut before their roster sits at 23 active players. Who will that final cut be?
Nikita Grebenkin feels like the only safe bubble player. He has been skating within the team’s expected top-six, and has even gotten power-play time in practice.
Jett Luchanko and Rodrigo Abols may not have as safe a spot. Both centermen will be competing with Adam Ginning, Dennis Gilbert, and Noah Juulsen for the final four places on the team.
One would think that the simple solution is to cut one defenseman and move on. However, the choice is a bit complicated. Will it be 14 forwards, keeping both Luchanko and Abols? Or, will it be eight defensemen, sending one of the centers to the AHL (or juniors)?
Read More: The Final Push: Flyers Roster Battle
Where Do the Flyers Lean?
On Tuesday, Flyers’ head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters that the ideal move is to keep eight defensemen, for the sake of quality practices. He did not say that’s what the team will do, but it’s telling as far as where he leans.
So, if the Tocchet wants eight D-men, that would mean either Luchanko or Abols gets reassigned. Knowing that the only option for Luchanko is to go back to Guelph makes it an even harder choice. After the camp Abols had, he could definitely be scooped up on waivers. It seemed like an impossible situation to read, but Tocchet made it a little clearer.
Tocchet on Luchanko, specifically the last game, and what he needs to show to make the team: “I actually really liked his last game. He utilizes speed really well. Obviously, he’s an intelligent kid, 19 years old, right? Whether he’s on a team or not, we’ll see, but there’s a lot to like about him.”
Now, here is what Tocchet said to the media today about Abols: “He wants to be an NHL player. It’s my job to give him feedback on how to be an NHL player... I think there’s more there for him to be an NHL player. I don’t think he’s got the job with what you said, saying he’s an NHL player right now. He’s trending to that, and we had a talk today about that.”
From those comments, it seems the Flyers are leaning towards keeping Luchanko and developing him in the NHL, as well as eight defensemen, and waiving Abols with the intention of assigning him to the Phantoms.
What They SHOULD Do?
This morning as I was walking into the Flyers Training Center, I asked myself the question: What should the Flyers do? I thought about it for a moment and came to my final thought shortly after.
I was operating under the assumption that Rodrigo Abols was making the roster because, well, he absolutely earned it. So, my conclusion was that of the three defensemen fighting for the final spots – I’d even include Egor Zamula in this group – there are none worth sending Luchanko back to Guelph to keep.
So, my answer was to keep Luchanko. However, it grows more complicated. Now, I am operating under the assumption that Abols’ spot is not as secure as I once thought. It actually makes me think that it’s him who’s in the final conversation instead of Luchanko. It would truly be a shame if Abols missed out on making this team because Luchanko can’t go to the AHL, or because the team wanted to keep three sub-par defensemen.
Abols earned the right to be on this team, so the Flyers SHOULD keep 14 forwards and 7 defensemen.
Now, who should be cut? It can’t be Juulsen because he’d be one of two right-shot defensemen until Ristolainen returns. That leaves Ginning and Gilbert. You could probably get both players through waivers, so that should not be a concern. It all comes down to who played best.
Gilbert has the most NHL experience of the two, but in my eyes, Ginning had the better camp and deserves a chance to stick in the NHL. Will he do it? Who knows. Regardless, he should make the roster, with Gilbert being the final cut.
What do you think the right move is?
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The ABSOLUTE WRONG thing to do would be to send Luchanko back to junior. It would not improve his skill set to play against inferior competition. He brings great speed to a team that really could use more. Even if he has to play 4th line minutes, let him play against men and stiffer competition in the NHL. Just do not play him with Deslauries. Hathaway and Devorak would not be bad linemates to learn about playing NHL games. Abols has been playing mostly against AHL competition. The guy works hard. If I were the Flyers I would keep Abols and put Deslauries on waivers. NO ONE will pick him up at $1.7M a year. Send him to Phantoms.
If Tocchet is adamant about keeping 8 defenseman, keep Abols and waive Deslauriers. He’s a stiff and Hathaway and Seeler can be the fighters when needed
I actually believe if the Flyers were to waive DLo, they’d be smart to call. Someone would trade for him. He’s an asset to protect young players.
As much as it sounds like Abols deserves a spot if the Flyers are truly playing for the future I don’t see him being around in 2-3 years. Luchanko needs to stay. Not convinced how important it is to have 8 defensemen for “practice” which seems infrequent during the season. I don’t see much of a path forward for Gilbert – so, my vote would probably be to go 14 & 7 with Gilbert going down
My thoughts exactly!
Keep both Luchanko and Abols. Deslauriers can sit and play once in a while. Why sacrifice one of those two young forwards to keep an eighth not very good defenseman? Play Ginning as the sixth with Juulsen or Gilbert as the seventh.
So Abols is close to a NHL player? Frickin Deslauriers barely counts as an NHL player! Wait, how about this, Nic D is an NHL player, but, he is a crappy NHL player! Yes, have some balls and waive him, also I agree Gilbert is out as well.