At 989 consecutive games, Keith Yandle’s iron-man streak might finally be in jeopardy. The Philadelphia Flyers are 21-35-11, sit 7th in the Metropolitan Division, 13th in the Eastern Conference, 27th in the NHL, and only have 15 more torturous games remaining on the schedule.
Since the trade deadline has come and gone, the Flyers have added quite a bit of youth to their lineup with the likes of Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, Hayden Hodgson, and Ronnie Attard. With Nate Thompson set to return to the lineup for the first time since November 26th, Mike Yeo has decided to let the youth battle it out with the veterans with only a month left. He mentioned that no one has their name penciled in the lineup and that they all have to go out there and earn a spot; a little redundant considering where we sit in the season and the fact that Yeo most likely doesn’t return as head coach.
Nevertheless, one decision that seemed far-fetched because of the notoriety, might be coming to fruition in the next-coming days. Keith Yandle, whose play had deteriorated since Justin Braun, before his trade, got promoted back to the top pair with Ivan Provorov after Ryan Ellis got injured, was seemingly on cruise control until the end of the season. He broke the iron-man streak earlier in the season and some thought once that happened, the Flyers would finally scratch the defenseman. That didn’t happen and the Flyers continued trudging along with Yandle, Nick Seeler, and Kevin Connauton featuring aplenty.
Once the trade deadline passed and Yandle remained, it seemed like the Flyers were just going to finish off the season with #3 getting past 1,000 consecutive games. With Kevin Connauton finding himself in the press box once the Flyers were able to ice 12 forwards and Nick Seeler making way for Ronnie Attard’s NHL debut on Saturday, Keith Yandle might be in trouble. It’s taken the Flyers 67 games to finally come to the realization to at least have a conversation about it but progress nonetheless.
Elliotte Friedman alluded to the fact that the Flyers are internally discussing what to do with Yandle as they want to inject more youth to the roster. They only have one more AHL call-up remaining and it seemed like a forward was bound to get the call, but with Yandle possibly making his way to the press box, the equation has changed.
Some potential names that could be used for the final call-up include: Wade Allison, Isaac Ratcliffe, Wyatte Wylie, and Egor Zamula. Allison has dealt with his fair share of injuries but is still one of the more promising names in the pipeline and on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Ratcliffe had his audition earlier in the season and played relatively well for most of it until he tailed off near the end and got sent back down to the Phantoms. Zamula was brought up to the NHL when the Flyers were dealing with several COVID-related cases and needed to field as many healthy bodies as possible. In terms of prospects, he is the most NHL-ready defenseman they have that’s not already on the roster, has been touted for several years, and he only played in one game but he got more ice-time than Rasmus Ristolainen and Justin Braun in their 6-2 thumping against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Wylie was a 5th round pick in 2018 and has spent the last 2 seasons with the Phantoms, accumulating 24 points in 72 games.
The Flyers don’t need Seeler, Yandle, or Connauton today, tomorrow, next week, or next year. They are purely depth pieces on the best of days but the Flyers once again over-utilized not-so-great players because they lacked depth and the sensibility to scratch or cut them. If you’re playing players like Cam York and Ronnie Attard on the back-end and then have a slew of young players in your forward group, why even discuss the possibility of keeping struggling veterans on the roster and in the lineup? 15 games left in the season means nothing to certain veterans but everything to young players trying to pave their way into the NHL. With one more call-up remaining from the minors and the possibility of Bobby Brink signing his contract and then making his debut somewhere down the line, the Flyers need to embrace the final month with all eyes pointing towards the future instead of the present or the past.
Friedman made mention that there are some younger players who need to play and some veterans hoping for new contracts, which might muddy the plan for the remaining month. Since Yandle’s name is coming to the forefront and conversations are being had between both parties, what veterans are hoping for new contracts? The only players that are without contracts that fit that bill are Yandle, Seeler, Connauton, and Nate Thompson. The Flyers have already re-introduced Thompson as he will play on Saturday, Seeler and Connauton remain out of the lineup, and Yandle is in limbo. Chuck Fletcher better stay far, far away from any of these names during free agency as the Flyers don’t need to bring any of them back into the fold.
Yandle missed the last two days of practice due to an illness, so maybe that’s all there is to it for the time being. However, it’s rather telling now that Friedman has articulated the rumour and that Yeo has even mentioned that the Flyers are currently discussing a plan with the veteran rear-guard. For Flyers fans who have had to endure this season and Keith Yandle as a whole, it’s sort of a see it to believe it situation because it seems too good to be true.
