Once more, we are stepping into the shoes of general manager Chuck Fletcher as the summer of exotic adventures continues. If we remain on the same path as our last article, the Philadelphia Flyers traded the final year of James van Riemsdyk’s contract and have around $15 million in open cap space. If the Flyers need to unload some more money and are looking to shake things up even further, they might consider moving on from Oskar Lindblom’s $3 million AAV. Any big time free agents that the Flyers are going to have their eyes on will need to be an overpayment because 1) market value sky rockets during free agency, and 2) the Flyers aren’t necessarily a top destination for marquee free agents. We know they’re not moving Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier, Ryan Ellis, Joel Farabee, or Rasmus Ristolainen, and we’re under the assumption that any trade involving Ivan Provorov or Travis Konecny would break even with salaries coming in return. That really only leaves Lindblom and based on how the Flyers have been using him since the trade deadline, one has to wonder if his future in Philadelphia is in question.
Oskar Lindblom was a 5th round pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and slowly made his way into the NHL after playing several years with Brynas IF Gavle of the SHL. He impressed very early on in his first AHL season when he scored 16 goals and 34 points in 54 games before getting called up to the big club where he donned the Orange and Black for 23 games. Due to the fact that he didn’t play in 25 games, Lindblom’s official rookie season came in 2018-19 where he played in 81 games and scored 17 goals. There were flashes of what he could do and there was definitely some excitement for the 2019-20 season. In 30 games before being diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, Lindblom led the team with 11 goals and was really clicking with Sean Couturier.
Lindblom made an incredible recovery and even appeared in two playoff games in the COVID bubble. It was a tear-jerking story and a great turn of events as things were looking up for the young Swede. 2020-21 was not too kind on Lindblom, as there wasn’t much of a chance to get his stamina and agility back to normal with no training camp scheduled. The shortened season was rough for all of Philadelphia, but Lindblom especially as he was still trying to recover and return back to form.
This season has been a mystery mired with inconsistency. Alain Vigneault seemingly stunted several younger Flyers including Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, and even Lindblom. The before and after for all three players are staggering, especially for Sanheim and Konecny. In 22 games with Vigneault behind the bench, Konecny had 5 goals and 10 points, Sanheim had 0 goals and 3 assists, and Lindblom had 0 goals and 1 assist. After his dismissal and the promotion of Mike Yeo, Konecny has 8 goals and 27 assists in 47 games, Sanheim has 7 goals and 19 assists in 48 games, and Lindblom has 11 goals and 12 assists in 49 games.
Lindblom’s splits deserve a second look because after his disastrous start to the season where he only collected one assist in 21 games, he then went on a run where he scored 10 goals and collected 10 assists in the next 34 games. His most recent 15-game skid has him at one goal and two assists with his ice time fluctuating by the game, and a healthy scratch potentially upcoming for the debut of Bobby Brink. He was rotating with Patrick Brown at Monday’s practice and even though Mike Yeo has said that Lindblom’s been playing banged up lately, one has to wonder if that is the whole reason.
He rarely features on the power play anymore, five-on-five he has found himself in the bottom-six and specifically on the fourth line, and with so many new faces joining the roster, his spot is no longer reserved even over players like Nate Thompson and Patrick Brown. The Flyers love Thompson and Brown as they represent those depth pieces that Chuck Fletcher loves to rave about. Thompson in particular is on an expiring contract and the Flyers have been giving certain players an extra run lately to see if they fit into their future plans.
All we know right now is that the Flyers are going to be aggressive in the summer but we don’t know what that entails, for obvious reasons. They are going to be targeting top free agents like Johnny Gaudreau and Nazem Kadri but will they want to jump aboard the Flyers’ ship? Players like Gaudreau and Kadri are having career years right now and can easily fetch upwards of $9 million, and in the case of Gaudreau maybe even $10 million. If the Flyers deem this to be the right course of action, then freeing up every bit of money is going to be essential. Based on how sparingly they’re using Lindblom right now, in a lost season that would only help certain young players, what changes next year when they try to compete yet again with expensive players sitting in the top-six or top-nine? Paying Lindblom $3 million to play fourth line minutes wouldn’t make much sense, financially and otherwise. His production has been as streaky as James van Riemsdyk’s and he has had games where his ice time has hit 10-11 minutes with the likes of Thompson, Brown, and even rookies getting more looks; just something to think about.
