So we wrote our game preview earlier with the knowledge that Roman Lyubimov would likely make his NHL debut in Chicago tonight, and … OK, cool. You can argue it’s good, even.
Lyubimov was one of the better forwards in training camp among the bottom-six, and he certainly earned his spot on the team to start the season. You could understand deciding to sit him to start the year, however, particularly with Brayden Schenn out of the lineup for the first three games due to suspension. It’s early, you’re short a guy, and you want to go with those you know. Lyubimov has never played in the NHL, so it’s a bit riskier than running with guys who have played in the NHL before.
That said, after two games it’s good to see Lyubimov get into the lineup here tonight against the Blackhawks. He will indeed get to play on the fourth line with Boyd Gordon and Chris VandeVelde.
Wait, VandeVelde? We expected him to be the odd man out tonight with Lyubimov coming in. To any objective observer, CVV is the weakest of any of these bottom-six forwards so that would make sense. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Nick Cousins, Matt Read, Dale Weise, Boyd Gordon, VandeVelde.
So it’s a little annoying that VandeVelde will remain in while, as it turns out, Cousins will find his way out of the lineup this evening. If you’re trying to build the best roster, one theory is that you simply go with the best players at your disposal, and I don’t think many would disagree that Cousins is better than VandeVelde.
But this is likely a roster move justified by special teams in coach Dave Hakstol’s eyes. VandeVelde is among the team leaders in penalty kill time, and the penalty kill is probably the one thing he does that’s above average. Cousins, meanwhile, has been a power play contributor here in the early going, but that was always going to change when Brayden Schenn came back from suspension anyway.
We worry that there’s some blind loyalty going on here between Hakstol and VandeVelde, who were together at the University of North Dakota. CVV has been seemingly untouchable since Hakstol became coach, and despite his spot on the penalty kill, there are definitely other players here that could fill that role.
But hopefully this is just one of many combinations the Flyers head coach tries out as the beginning of the season rolls on. Lord knows there’s more talent on the bottom-six than we are used to, and it might take a while to find the combination that helps the Flyers best win hockey games.
