The Flyers will be closing up shop for a few weeks when the season takes a roughly three-week break for the Winter Olympics in Italy. A few Flyers — including Travis Sanheim and Dan Vladar — will be making the trip across the pond to represent their respective countries. But for other Flyers, the break can’t come soon enough.
Philadelphia’s winning percentage the last month has almost mirrored their power play efficiency. And that could mean nearly everyone will be happy to get away for a bit and try to reset. Yet, there are three Flyers who are probably counting the hours until they finish the game Thursday night against Ottawa and head for some R&R (resting and resetting). Here they are in no particular order.
Sean Couturier
In a six-game span in late November and early December, Couturier had three goals. The last of them was Dec. 7 in a loss to the Avalanche. And barring Couturier burying a chance against Washington or before the Ottawa game Thursday night concludes, Couturier will be in the midst of a two-month scoring slump. He’s been relegated to the fourth line opposite Nic Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway. Couturier had four games where he registered a point in January, the last one in the impressive 7-3 win on the road against the same Avalanche. But he’s been struggling mightily of late, and it’s a bit sad to see for the 33-year-old center. With five goals so far, Couturier is probably going to have to go on a post-Olympic tear just to hit 10 goals, which would still be a career low for a season not plagued by injuries.
For a few games, the addition of Denver Barkey to Couturier’s line with Owen Tippett provided some oomph or punch, making the trio and especially Couturier look like his old self. Yet that seems to be in the rearview mirror now. With the end of this season marking the halfway point of his eight-year contract, the Flyers should be grateful the rising salary cap ceiling will make this cap hit take up a slightly smaller percentage than it does now. That is if things remain status quo. Maybe with the time off, Couturier can refocus and find his game when the Flyers pick things up again later this month.
The longer the streak continues, the more attention Couturier gets for his contract and the four years still left on it after this season. Which will lead to more speculation about a buyout sooner than later. It’s not the season Couturier or the team wanted for him. But ignoring what’s becoming the elephant in the room isn’t practical either for both sides.
Noah Cates
When one center is in a slump, it’s something you can withstand without falling apart. But when two centers are in a funk at the same time, it’s logical to think the Flyers are hitting a wall. Noah Cates scored on the West Coast swing just after the Christmas break in a 6-3 win over Vancouver. Like Couturier, Cates is still looking for his first goal of the calendar year.
He has two assists in the last 13 games, and is probably gripping his stick a lot tighter of late like a lot of other Flyers. And clearly nobody has been impacted more by the loss of Tyson Foerster than Cates has. It was something head coach Rick Tocchet alluded to on Monday briefly addressing the tough time the center is having.
Despite the underlying metrics roughly the same as last year, Cates looks to be a bit out of sorts without both Bobby Brink and Foerster between him. There’s no crystal ball to suggest Foerster would’ve made a vast difference in terms of what Philadelphia stands now in the Eastern Conference. The one thing that is evident is that Cates has been looking for some of that chemistry or synergy ever since Foerster left in the game against Pittsburgh.
With any luck, Cates is able to regroup and figure out a way to make the most of the remaining third of the schedule. He’s on pace to just be roughly around his 37 points of last season, perhaps with slightly fewer goals but with a few more helpers. Ideally, he can turn a corner of sorts and go into the summer feeling good about himself and his game. And probably realize he’s closer to seeing Foerster back on his wing.
Sam Ersson
Not to belabor the point, but Sam Ersson had his struggles. While he’s still 50/50 to be the backup this week, Ersson is looking more and more like he’s not going to be in the long-term plans with the Flyers. With Dan Vladar signed for another year, the team will have one spot locked up most likely. As well, Philadelphia is probably a little weary of having Aleksei Kolosov or Carson Bjarnason playing 30 to 35 games next year.
Which means they could go for an aging veteran on a cheap contract. In short, there’s no guarantee Ersson is here next year. While there was a shine to his season starting off, that has lost its brightness the last few months. If it wasn’t for Aleksei Kolosov being unable to stop much of anything outside of consistently piss poor play, Ersson might have found himself on the outside looking in earlier this year.
Between the almost constant subpar save percentage in most starts, and the fact Ersson seems incapable of making a key save at a key time in games, the Swedish keeper could use some time off. It’s doubtful he gets more than a handful of starts the rest of the way provided Vladar stays healthy.
Yet if he can reset and mentally get rid of whatever negative thoughts he had the last few months, Ersson could still salvage the season somewhat with a decent homestretch. It might not lead to a contract extension in Philadelphia. But it could be enough to help him start the next chapter elsewhere with a fresh start.
