2023-24 Player Review: Garnet Hathaway locked down the bottom six

One of the minor moves of the Flyers 2023 summer was signing Garnet Hathaway to a two-year deal worth $2.375M per year against the salary cap. Hathaway was an undrafted player who broke into the NHL with the Calgary Flames and made a name for himself across four seasons as a bottom six Washington Capital.

The 32-year-old came to a young Philadelphia team and played a consistent role in the lineup as one of only four Flyers to play all 82 games this year (along with Joel Farabee, Cam York, and Scott Laughton).

Hathaway and his linemates didn\'t exactly set the world on fire, but they also didn\'t get routinely buried. The Flyers were outscored at 5-on-5 during his time on the ice, but he managed to squeak out more shot attempts than his opponents during that same time.

Hathaway was also a mainstay on the penalty kill, playing 122 minutes of shorthanded time (plus an additional 13 against an empty net) for one of the best kills in the NHL this season. He was, along with Scott Laughton and Ryan Poehling, one of coach John Tortarella\'s go-to penalty killers and he largely succeeded in that role.

Three Questions

Did he live up to expectations?

I suppose so; he’s a bottom six guy who brings some pesteriness and energy to the checking lines. And it seemed like he understood his role here because he set career highs in penalties in minutes with 132 (his previous career high was 88) and hits 326 (previous high was 268). Hathaway is one of those guys who it felt like for years was always so frustrating against us in Washington and the feeling of having him on our side was about as expected. He was aggressive on the forecheck, often laid some hard but clean hits, and scored at an average rate for a guy in his position.

What can we expect from him next season?

More of the same. If it’s worse, it’s probably a result of age—he’ll be in his age 33 season in ‘24-’25—or decreased role as a result of a step up in Flyers play. Though the latter there seems unlikely; he’s exactly the kind of guy the Flyers would outgrow and still stick with. If it’s better, it’s because it’s a contract year for him and he’s going to need to play at a certain level if he’s going to get a contract that’ll keep him in the league.

How do we grade his 2023-24 season?

He’s the same guy he’s been since he broke into the league and he played at a level around what we could expect from a $2M a year thirtysomething, but he also provided the same level of production that we could probably get for cheaper. We can’t really quantify what Hathaway brought to the team in the locker room and on the bench and in all the other facets of being a member of a team, though I think it’s safe to assume thanks to his role as a fixture in this year’s lineup that it was positive.

Grade: C

All stats via Natural Stat Trick and hockey-reference.com.

Talking Points