Blueline Opportunities Abound

On the first day of the Flyers' 2023 training camp, head coach John Tortorella said there is a "land of opportunity" for attendees to earn NHL roster jobs, whether for opening night or over the course of the upcoming season. To varying degrees, this is true for every position on the ice but perhaps none more so than on defense.

While it's possible that the Flyers could enter the 2023-24 regular season with a veteran-heavy blueline, Tortorella stressed on Thursday that he wants to give playing opportunities to the younger blueliners on the organization's roster; growing pains and all.

"Let's face it, guys. On our back end, Provy's gone, Tony's gone, Brauner is gone. It's a very young back end." Tortorella said, referring to the offseason departures of Ivan Provorov via trade, Tony DeAngelo via buyout, and Justin Braun via retirement from the NHL.

As camp opens, there are no set-in-stone defense pairings. There's likely to be a lot of experimentation during practice sessions and exhibition games. Likewise, unlike previous seasons in which Provorov was a virtual lock to lead the blueline in ice time, the field now is wide open for candidates to earn extended minutes. Last year, DeAngelo was the primary option at the point on the first power play unit. Now, there's at least one, and possibly two (PP1 and PP2) regular roles to be claimed. 

"There's going to be nights where [the defense] is a horror show," Tortorella admitted. The coach added, however, that he ultimately sees the players on the defense corps growing into their roles and serving the bigger-picture goals of the Flyers' rebuild.

In terms of roster inventory and depth, the Flyers enter camp with the following defensemen available who either started 50 or more games at the NHL last season or have 240 or more games of career NHL experience to their credit.

Cam York (Age 22): Entering camp, York has a golden opportunity to become the Flyers' point man on the top power play unit, and to see his average overall ice time increase by several minutes per night after he averaged 19:39 per game in 2022-23. He's played much of his early NHL career on his off-side (right defense) and it remains to be seen whether he ends up playing more this season on the left or right. For example, if York is paired with incoming veteran Marc Staal, the young defenseman is likely to remain primarily on the right. If his partner is returning vet Rasmus Ristolainen or incoming veteran Sean Walker, the left side is open for York.

Marc Staal (Age 36): Last season with the Florida Panthers, Staal dressed in all 82 regular season games (18:12 average TOI) and all 21 playoff games (20:56 TOI) for the Eastern Conference champions. Coming to the Flyers this summer as an unrestricted free agent, Staal has been reunited with Tortorella, his former New York Rangers coach. There's no question about what the player's role will be -- penalty killer, shot blocker, blueline partner to a more offensive-minded/ puck moving and younger player. Rather, the question is how many games and minutes Staal will play. 

Tortorella pledged on Thursday that he won't over-rely on Staal to the point of "blocking" younger left-defense options from playing.

"Marc Staal is going to play a major role with the [younger guys], even if Marc isn't playing in some games along the year. As I said to him, he's not going to get in the way of the kids, as far as us developing the kids. There's going to be some nights he's not going to play.  But he's going to be just as important on those nights and those days leading up to games when he's not playing than he is putting the uniform on," Tortorella said.

""He's going to be a mentor. He's going to be an offshoot of the coaching staff with a lot of the youth," He's a great pro and it's a huge asset for us just to have him around the locker room."

The plan with Staal was laid out clearly by Tortorella. However, hockey has a way of altering plans on the fly. If the Flyers outperform the pundits' predictions, it may be very tempting for the ultra-competitive Flyers head coach not to keep rolling with his team's most experienced NHL defenseman.

Travis Sanheim (age 27): The 2021-22 Barry Ashbee Trophy winner as the Flyers' top defenseman is looking for a resurgence following the 2022-23 campaign. Sanheim and Tortorella recognize the importance of Year 2 together, especially with the blueline in a state of transition and Sanheim himself entering the first season of an eight-year contract extension signed prior to last season.

Make no mistake: a bounceback season from Sanheim in 2023-24 is absolutely critical to the Flyers' success both in the immediate term and the bigger picture. For one, he's likely to see his minutes expand even further from his 20:19 career average and the 20:24 he averaged last season. For another, with Provorov gone, it's vital that Sanheim take leadership in playing in a variety of game situations. Even if the 2023-24 Flyers defense corps is a "blueline by committee", Sanheim may very well have step up as the de facto "committee chairman" when it comes time to play the most crucial minutes.

Rasmus Ristolainen (age 28): A veteran of 682 NHL games , Ristolainen is coming off one of his better NHL campaigns after overcoming a slow start to the 2022-23 season. Over the course of last year, Ristolainen simplified his game -- concerning himself more with his positional play and defensive stick -- and had some success in doing so.

In his two seasons with the Flyers to date, Ristolainen has played more frequently with Sanheim as his partner than with any other Philadelphia defenseman. While it's very likely that Ristolainen and Sanheim will still see time together, it remains to be seen if they will be each other's primary blueline partner in 2023-24.

Likewise, it also remains to be seen exactly how Ristolainen will be deployed. Will he see regular power play time? If so, will it be out at the point or at netfront? While a member of the Sabres, before the arrival of Rasmus Dahlin, Ristolainen posted four straight seasons with 40-plus points. Much of this stemmed from extensive power play use. With the Flyers, he's sporadically been part of the power play. Overall, last year, Ristolainen finished the season with 20 points (3g, 17a).

At 5-on-5, what sort of matchups will the veteran Finn be asked to play the most regularly? Will he often be asked to hold the fort against other clubs' number one line or will it vary by opponent and how a particular game is going?

Ristolainen, who keeps in excellent physical condition, has been a minutes eater in his career (23:07 overall, 19:01 in 2022-23). Last season's slightly reduced deployment seemed to benefit Ristolainen. But necessity and infusion of young defensemen as 2023-24 progresses may result in Ristolainen absorbing a heavier workload again. He will turn 29 on October 27.

Nick Seeler (age 30): Seeler, an unrestricted free agent next summer, has been a pleasant surprise for the Flyers over his two seasons in Philadelphia. He's primarily played in a third pairing role and been generally effective in doing so. Last season, the Minnesota native dressed in 77 of 82 games and averaged 14:29 of ice time. The previous year, Seeler was more in the seventh defenseman mold, dressing in 41 games.

Apart from a stunning highlight-reel goal he scored last season, Seeler is a no-frills type of veteran defenseman. He has the versatility to play either side of a defense pairing. With the overriding goal of the 2023-24 season being to give young defensemen more playing time, Seeler could see reduced time in 2023-24. However, last season, the player made it hard to justify removing him from the third pairing as he was one of the more consistent Philly blueliners. 

Sean Walker (age 28): Acquired from the LA Kings in the three-team deal that sent Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Walker has twice played 70 games in an NHL season. The right-handed shooter, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, averaged 14:50 of ice time last season and 16:54 for his NHL career to date. 

Walker, ideally, fits more of a third-pairing profile than a key minutes eater. However, he's periodically been asked during his career to play a little higher in the rotation. He has some bite to his game and some puck skill.  It is possible that Walker and/or Seeler could dress regularly on the Flyers' third pairing, but it's also possible that Tortorella and assistant coach Brad Shaw could experiment with Walker alongside Sanheim or York.

Egor Zamula (Age 23): Zamula has appeared in a combined 26 NHL games over the last three seasons. He has good puck-moving upside and above-average skating ability. His NHL play to date has been inconsistent but there have been solid games along the way in fairly limited ice time (14:48 overall, 13:23 overall). 

Zamula is no longer exempt from waivers. He's also coming off a significant injury, as he underwent shoulder surgery in April of this year. The injury prevented him from appearing in the Calder Cup playoffs for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Emil Andrae (Age 21): One of the most highly regarded defense prospects in the Flyers system, Andrae will play his first full North American season in 2023-24. He finished the 2022-23 season in the AHL with the Phantoms after the completion of his Swedish Hockey League campaign with HV71 Jönköping. Andrae is 5-foot-9 but has a fireplug build and is rather fearless on the ice. Andrae's primary assets are his offensive skill and puck-moving abilities. Long term, the Flyers see him as a power play regular.

Andrae has the opportunity to spend time in the NHL in 2023-24. How much time he plays in the NHL and how much is in the AHL with Lehigh Valley remains to be seen. The rookie is waiver exempt. 

Ronnie Attard (Age 24):  The hard-shooting right handed defenseman was an AHL All-Star Game selection last year with the Phantoms.  He's a power play candidate at any level and also has some physicality to his game. Attard has appeared in 17 NHL games to date, with 15 of the appearances coming late in the 2021-22 season and the other two late last season. 

Attard, who brings a lot of exuberance and desire to learn, has had to learn to play within structure rather than being a rover.  It's been a multi-year process that may not yet be fully completed. Attard is waiver-exempt this season. However, if he has an excellent NHL camp, there's a chance Attard could earn his way onto the opening-night Flyers roster. If not, he could be recalled at some point within the 2023-24 campaign.

Adam Ginning (Age 23): Drafted by the Flyers in the second round back in 2018, Ginning has slow-cooked in Sweden's SHL and the American Hockey League. Last season, however, Ginning made his NHL debut near the tail end of the campaign. 

Ginning set a Phantoms rookie record last season with a traditional plus-24 rating. He plays more of a traditional "defensive defenseman" type of game with some physicality to his game but is not devoid of some skill. His ideal usage is as the partner of a puck-moving type. Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere came to deploy Ginning as the Phantoms' shutdown defenseman last year. 

Helge Grans (Age 21): The Flyers acquired Grans from LA as part of the Ivan Provorov trade. A second-round pick by the Kings in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Grans had a promising rookie AHL season in 2021-22.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound defenseman, a right-handed shooter, was periodically paired with Andrae on Sweden's national under-20 team. The two also played together this September in the second of the two Rookies Series games the Flyers prospects played against their counterparts from the New York Rangers. While much of the attention was focused on Andrae, Grans quietly played a very solid game as his partner.

Grans, at 21, is still largely a bundle of intriguing raw materials. He's big, mobile and has some puck skills with above-average shooting potential. His hockey sense is regarded as average but he has a solid work ethic and strong willingness to learn. Some of his coaches to date have said the player needs to take better advantage of his natural size and athleticism.

Grans, who is entering the final year of the entry-level deal he signed with the Kings, is waiver-exempt this season. He may be a long shot to make the Flyers out of training camp. However, the organization will keep a close watch on his development this season. It's not out of the question that Grans could make his NHL debut at some point in 2023-24. If he ever puts together the various nascent elements to his game, Grans could eventually emerge as an NHL regular. For now, he's still developing.

Victor Mete (age 25): Coming off lower-body injury issues that cost him the second half of the 2022-23 season while with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mete has flown under the radar as a reclamation project for the Flyers. He was signed this summer as a free agent to a one-year, $775,000 contract.

Drafted out of the Ontario Hockey League by the Montreal Canadiens in the 4th round of the 2016 Entry Draft, Mete was  a fine offensive-minded and puck-moving defenseman in junior hockey. He's appeared in a total of 247 NHL games for the Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Maple Leafs. 

Mobility is perhaps Mete's strongest asset.  He has some of the best wheels of any defenseman in the Flyers' training camp. His offensive game has not yet gelled as hoped at the NHL level but it should be noted that he notched four regular season goals for Montreal in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season and then had a pair of playoff assists (at the Flyers' expense) in the 2020 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in the "bubble". Although he hasn't put pucks in the net, Mete has 40 career regular season assists to date, as he is a skilled passer who sees the ice well. Defensively, Mete relies on finesse. 

Mete, who has spent most of his pro career to date in the NHL, is far from a lock for the Flyers' opening night roster. If he does make the team, it could be as the sixth or seventh defenseman his way back up to the NHL level as a member of the Phantoms. That will depend on Mete's play, the collective health of the blueline corps and the progress of the under-25 prospects.