The defense of the Flyers should be their greatest strength for the upcoming campaign. The Flyers have invested a lot in their
top defenseman and rightfully so.
When the faces of your division rivals are the likes of Sydney Crosby
and Evgeni Malkin it is extremely difficult to outscore your opponents as
witnessed with the Flyers’ last two Stanley Cup Playoff defeats.
With a constant mix of inconsistent
defensive zone play, the Flyers were forced to revamp their lineup from top to
bottom and it all started with the addition of Chris Pronger.
No one knows
if Chris Pronger will be able to play out his contract but for the immediate
pressing future, this was a great move by the Flyers’ front office. Pronger was the first to admit that he
is not going to be the savior of the Flyers but rather it takes a team that is
committed to playing with passion and grit night in and night out. This is the attitude that the Flyers
must have and this has been the staple of Pronger’s career.
A lot of
things have to fall the Flyers’ way this season but on paper, they may have the
best defensive unit in the Eastern Conference now that Pronger has
arrived. Their top-four defenseman
should be able to thrive in a shutdown role with Pronger, Timonen, Coburn and
Parent. With less ice-time, both
Carle and Jones will look a little less suspect on the back end. If you throw in the newly acquired
head-hunting defenseman Tollefsen, the Flyers look as good, if not better, than
any defense in the East and arguably in the league.
Note:
The Flyers
also announced that they have signed Blair Bletts to a professional tryout
agreement. So, when I said the
Flyers were looking to be a tougher team to play against, this is the type of
move that solidifies this notion.
The New York Rangers had the best penalty-killing unit in all of hockey
last season with much of the credit leaning towards Betts. With great penalty killing comes a great
faceoff specialist, two important needs for the Flyers. These are the types of moves that will
hopefully have our best players on the ice for key situations and not worn down
by the end of the season. Although
Betts is not very exciting, he is the type of player that has proven the Devils’
organization geniuses in acquiring key role players.
