Mark Streit, an offensive-minded defenseman, should fit right in with the high-scoring Philadelphia Flyers. Whether his fantasy stock will rise or fall remains to be seen.
The 35-year-old signed a four-year contract Friday with the Flyers, who have finished top-10 in the League in goals-per-game for six consecutive seasons. Only Kris Letang (26), Andrei Markov (25), Cody Franson (25) and Ryan Suter (24) had more games with at least one point than Streit (23) during this past 48-game campaign.
Mark Streit is tied for the NHL's worst combined rating over the past two seasons, and it's not a given that his performance in that category will improve next season in Philly. (Photo: Gregory Shamus/NHLI)But here's the other side to the story: The former New York Islanders captain is tied with Eric Gudbranson for the NHL's worst combined rating (minus-41) over the past two seasons. The Flyers also posted a worse goal differential (minus-8 in 2012-13) than the Islanders (even). Therefore, it shouldn't be assumed Streit's rating will improve significantly.
Streit (11 PPP in 2012-13) saw 3:45 of power-play ice time per game in 2012-13 with the Islanders but will not be guaranteed those type of minutes with Kimmo Timonen (17 PPP in 3:48 PP TOI per game) under contract with the Flyers for one more season. The Islanders' first power play unit included Streit and Lubomir Visnovsky, but the Flyers sport a much deeper forward arsenal than New York.
The veteran should bring stability to a Philadelphia blue line that lacked it when Timonen, Andrej Meszaros, Nicklas Grossmann and Braydon Coburn were injured. Streit was sidelined for the entire 2010-11 campaign with a shoulder injury but has not missed a game since.
That said, Streit, a borderline top-20 fantasy defenseman in 2012-13, only warrants keeper consideration in deep leagues. There's also a full offseason ahead for Philadelphia general manager Paul Holmgren to work with, so the team's makeup could be altered by the time training camp opens.
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