Flyers Need to Pursue Offensive Defensemen to Finish Rebuild

Aside from Cam York and Travis Sanheim, there wasn’t much to like about the Flyers’ defense entering this season. Even the latter was coming off a brutal 2022-23 campaign, but a lot has changed this go around. Instead of the depth being a weakness, it has actually been a strength.

Starting with some of the roster regulars, the since-departed Sean Walker played exceptionally with the Flyers. Acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings last offseason, he went from a perceived depth piece to a second-pairing defender who returned a first-round draft pick in just a few months.

The same has gone for Nick Seeler. He didn’t play hockey at all in 2020-21 and was a frequent AHL player before that, but he was given a chance by the Flyers in 2021-22 and hasn’t looked back. He reached new heights this season, playing the most minutes of his career and playing well in them.

Rasmus Ristolainen, despite being a more notable name, was not very good for the most part in his first two seasons as a Flyer. He struggled as a whole before his 2023-24 campaign and was more reliable for his big hits than his on-ice defense. Again, that has changed this season.

Getting into some full-time AHL players, both Adam Ginning and Ronnie Attard have filled in for the Flyers admirably for the three defenders above. All of them have yet to play in a game past the trade deadline, but those two have held down the fort. Their on-ice defense has been superb — that says a lot for players who haven’t had a lot of time to adjust, especially considering all but one of the teams they’ve faced could realistically end up winning the Stanley Cup.

These stellar performances should be partially attributed to head coach John Tortorella, but associate coach Brad Shaw also deserves some kudos. He has essentially been the brains behind the defense in each of his last two seasons with the Orange and Black. But why is that important?

Well, Tortorella reportedly left his job with the Columbus Blue Jackets after the 2020-21 season because he wanted a role in management. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together in that it’s pretty realistic for him to try and do that with the Flyers and a young management group that could use some experienced leadership. Since they are rebuilding and already have a replacement at head coach ready in Shaw, that might occur.

If Shaw lasts for a while with the Flyers, these trends can continue. The Flyers won’t have to worry much about who is on their defense as long as they have enough bodies to make it work. He and the Flyers are the masters of getting only the best out of defensemen.

The issue with these replacements, though, is that they don’t have high-end offensive talent. If the Flyers can get good to great depth minutes from just about anyone, it will make up for any on-ice deficiencies defense-wise for gifted defenders offensively. The Flyers’ defensemen don’t provide too much offensive firepower right now, so they are at a point where they should make sacrifices to make that happen.

It’s usually a big risk, big reward play to spend big assets on players with skill but without a complete game, much like Jamie Drysdale at this stage, but the risk is lessened with the Flyers’ situation. They are at a unique spot where they can afford a “liability” or two on defense. If the whole team was purely two-way defensemen and defensive defensemen, there wouldn’t be enough goals being scored. The benefit of having great depth no matter who plays is that a defender can provide that instead of adding a star forward.

Flyers Likely in Need of Two Major Defensemen for the Future

Looking at what the future might entail, the Flyers have had a good start to their rebuild but nothing is complete. Looking at their future defense, one thing is clear: they lack a true number-one defender. Not every Stanley Cup team needs to have one of the best defensemen in the league on their team, but that at least has to come with several great players.

In the Flyers’ case, both York and Drysdale could end up being that. The former has a more responsible all-around game, while the latter is more of what the Flyers lack on the offensive front. In any case, two top-four defensemen seem to be in order in the long term. Below is that visualized:

Both Emil Andrae and Oliver Bonk are probably more notable for their offense than their defense, but neither of them has the top-end skill the Flyers should want. Defensemen like Victor Hedman, Cale Makar, and Shea Theodore for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, and Vegas Golden Knights respectively have all won Stanley Cups in the 2020s for a reason — they are all capable of having point-per-game seasons as defensemen. Some of those teams had multiple defenders who were around 60. The Flyers are a bit lacking there.

The major difference between many Stanley Cup teams and those who aren’t are players who can make things happen. Defensemen aren’t usually thought of in this light, but better stretch passes, an ability to make scoring from the blue line a regular occurrence, and pure end-to-end speed can all make a defenseman one of the best offensive players for a team. Makar of the Avalanche does all these things at an extraordinary level — there’s a reason why their team is so good.

High-skill defensemen pick up the slack for forwards, and that’s sort of the vision here. If he lives up to his potential, someone like Drysdale could be that for the Flyers. But having another could pay huge dividends. In the current day, the Flyers aren’t a very scary team in the offensive zone. They don’t finish on their chances very often and they don’t have a high-end player who can create opportunities regularly. A defenseman can be that.

For another one of the Flyers’ future defensemen, having another offensive defenseman might not be a bad idea. Going back to the Avalanche example, they had three highly talented offensive players on their defense when they won the Cup in 2022: Makar, Sam Girard, and Bowen Byram. Their identity was talent throughout their roster. For them, they really couldn’t have too much of a good thing. They made it their philosophy, and that might be something the Flyers should consider, too.

The Flyers have four first-round draft picks over their next two draft classes and a few veteran players whom they could trade to get even more. Skill is a very dire need for the Flyers both in the present and in the future. They could take a big swing on some scoring defenders as they try to become a Stanley Cup contender.