The Flyers are just about set to kick off their series against the Hurricanes, and while the lineup for Game 1 is more or less set, we know well how quickly things can change in a series like this on a personnel level. Hopefully, the Flyers are able to keep cruising, and their active players remain productive and, even more critically, healthy, but on the off-chance that things go sideways in some way, before we get too deep into this, let’s take a few moments to take stock of which players are filling the Flyers’ pool of black aces, and what they might be able to offer this series.
The rotation
Garnet Hathaway
One of the positives for the Flyers as they keep rolling is that they have some built-in depth on their roster. They have a large group of players who have been recalled from the Phantoms to remain in their mix, but just the same, they have a good handful of players waiting in the wings who have played more active and regular roles on this team throughout the whole of the regular season.
Hathaway has been a factor for the Flyers already in these playoffs, having played in the first five games of the series, before taking a seat for the final game on Wednesday, in order to move Matvei Michkov back in, and keep a productive Alex Bump in the mix. Hathaway’s physical, agitating style worked quite well against the Penguins, but it’s more of an open question how he’d fit in a more wide-open series. That said, the Hurricanes now have a familiar face in their mix in Nic Deslauriers, and if they opt to bring in a bit more of a physical presence in this round, one would imagine the call to move Hathaway right back into the lineup would be an easy one to make.
Carl Grundstrom
Beyond that, the Flyers also have another good utility piece in Grundstrom to potentially give them a different look in this series. If an injury arises, there’s some flexibility in his game to play up in the lineup, as he’s done reasonably well so far this year, but he remains one of the better options to jump in and give the bottom-six a bit of a boost.
He doesn’t bring the same physicality as Hathaway would, but the tradeoff is that they get a bit more offensive potential, if the look they’re chasing is well and truly rolling all four lines. The Flyers have been doing some ongoing tinkering with that line, and it will be interesting to see if they’ve finally landed on a look they like, or if we might see Grundstrom sliding in there at some point.
Emil Andrae
And finally, while it looks like the Flyers are going to roll with Noah Juulsen in that platoon spot on the third pair for Game 1, Andrae remains a solid option to get back into the mix as the series goes on. The first round was a little rough for him, as he got banged up to start and then had a less than stellar showing in his return to the lineup in Game 5, but there’s still a lot of potential in what he can offer in a matchup like this. Playing against these Hurricanes, the Flyers are going to need to pick up the pace and get their possession game going to a greater degree, and these are areas of the game that Andrae tends to support well. Surely a lot will depend first on how things shake out in this first meeting, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Andrae given another shot in a game or two.
The next men up
Oliver Bonk
If the flyers were to find themselves in a position of needing to dip into their pool of black aces, Bonk would all but certainly be the one of the first players called upon. The team had already suggested that he could have been an option to get into the mix during their last series, and even though that didn’t ultimately come to pass, one imagines that he’s still retained his spot at the top of their depth chart.
While Bonk is still far from a finished product developmentally, there’s a lot to like in the well-rounded style of his game — he certainly offers a nice bit of offensive pop, but he’s put in some good work as well through his short season with the Phantoms to continue to advance his defensive awareness and to take a step forward in terms of his overall pace of play. Add into that the fact that he popped in a big way in his Flyers debut at the end of the regular season, and it’s clear that he’s done a lot to get himself into the good graces of the NHL coaching staff already.
Jacob Gaucher
This group of black aces is a robust one, but for all of the extra players that the Flyers have waiting around in the wings, the pool of centers isn’t an especially robust one. They have a few pieces they could shuffle around in their more active rotation, but a couple more injuries piling up could mean Gaucher getting the nod.
His foot speed is the one major thing that could be an issue, especially against the Hurricanes, but he’s gotten a bit of experience with the big club over the past couple of seasons, and held up well enough in a fourth line role for them this season, in his four games played.
Garrett Wilson
Alternately, if the Flyers need to make a change in their forward mix and wanted to go the veteran route, Wilson would be an easy call to make. Wilson’s been a good soldier in the organization for a number of years at this point, with six seasons with the Phantoms under his belt, and after being around the big club for close to two months (and getting in for three games at the end of the regular season) he’s clearly embedded himself well within the group.
While the offense isn’t there for him in the same way that it used to be, Wilson could still be an effective piece on the fourth line, bringing a bit of stability, and a bit of physicality, to boot.
Aleksei Kolosov
Though the Phantoms missing the playoffs was a disappointment for their group, it has been a positive for the Flyers, in that they’re now able to keep two extra goalies on the roster, physically with the team and not have to worry about scrambling to get someone called up if some disaster situation were to arise.
Though his last showing for the Flyers did not go smoothly — three goals allowed on the first three shots of the game before being pulled early against the Rangers in January — Kolosov’s relative experience makes him the natural choice to slide into the backup role, if an injury were to befall one of Vladar or Ersson.
The dark horses
Oscar Eklind
Right off the top, Eklind does seem like a longshot to get into this series, purely given the fact that he’s never suited up with the Flyers for any games in his two years in the organization, much less for any NHL games in his professional career. Even though he’s a little older (27) and has a lot experience playing professionally at the SHL and AHL levels over these last five seasons, and there’s a lot in the blend of size and stylistic netfront presence to feel like he’d be effect at least in a broad playoff setting, being thrust into an NHL debut in the middle of a playoff series does feel like too great of an ask under normal circumstances.
That said, he was a consistent and productive player for the Phantoms this year, and his inclusion in this group seems more like a well-earned acknowledgement of that work done at the AHL level, and that’s certainly still something.
Helge Grans
On the back end, the Flyers have the most depth within this group of extra skaters. Grans, now having crossed into to AHL veteran despite still only being 23, factors in as one of their more experienced options.
It’s been a pretty wildly up and down season for Grans — his preseason was poor and cost him a chance to make the Flyers’ opening night lineup, and while he did have some very solid stretches for the Phantoms this season, a few rough games while key members of the management group were in the house likely hurt his chances of getting an in-season recall — but there’s still a player here with good potential hold up in a stopgap NHL role.
David Jiricek
If this were a power ranking of dark horses, Jiricek would surely be towards the top, knocking on the door to more legitimate contention to get into the mix for the Flyers in these playoffs, given his pedigree, his place in his development, the offense he can offer when his game is really clicking, and his NHL experience (85 games over four seasons). These are all elements working in his favor, but also given the fact that Jiricek’s play style can be sometimes mistake prone, one could imagine the Flyers having some reservations about throwing him in against particularly the Hurricanes squad who feasts on big mistakes. Add in the reminder that the younger Bonk has already been name dropped as a player the team would consider getting a look at in the playoffs while Jiricek, who did get recalled along with him to get into that final game of the season, received no such nod himself.
There will be plenty of time for Jiricek to make an impact with this squad, but the playoffs while he’s still getting familiar with their system likely won’t be it.
Hunter McDonald
Rounding out the group of black ace defenders is McDonald who, though he doesn’t have the same experience as a Grans or a Jiricek, still presents as an interesting option if the situation would demand that they reach this deep into the well. McDonald’s still polishing out his game, but he put in a lot of really good work over the course of this season with the Phantoms to mature his defensive game and rein in his discipline issues from last season, without sacrificing his effectiveness as a physical presence.
What’s more, McDonald is their only left-shooting option on the back end (beyond Andrae), which might keep him more seriously in the conversation, if a situation arises where they need to call on a depth defenseman and find themselves overly concerned about the handedness balance.
Carson Bjarnason
And finally, a fourth goalie is a good thing to have in the mix for a team heading deeper into the playoffs, but given the fact that Bjarnason has only just played his first season in the AHL (and served as the lesser used goalie in the Phantoms’ rotation, at that) and his struggles down the stretch of that rookie season, it’s hard to imagine Bjarnason getting into this series in anything short of an abject catastrophe.
This isn’t a dig at Bjarnason, of course, but rather just an acknowledgment that there’s still a lot of work left to be done to develop his game to a point where he’d be better prepared to step into NHL action. There’s loads of runway ahead of him, he’s just not there yet.
