Every day there seems to be a new piece of information regarding the state of the Philadelphia Flyers and trade rumours of key pieces either at the trade deadline or beyond. For months we have been discussing Claude Giroux trade rumours, Rasmus Ristolainen extension rumours, and even the possibility of moving a key piece at the draft like Travis Konecny or Travis Sanheim. For the most part it seemed like everything was status quo; Giroux should and will be dealt for future pieces, Ristolainen was going to get an extension whether we liked it or not, and Konecny or Sanheim were just rumours because the Flyers re-tool needs to be extravagant and large.
As the losses are piling up and the trade deadline quickly approaching, the rumours keep getting weirder by the minute. First it was leaked out that Rasmus Ristolainen had rejected a 6-year deal worth upwards of $38 million, only for that to be debunked since he signed a 5-year deal worth $25.1 million; essentially taking a pay cut, in terms of market value, to stay with Philadelphia.
Then the Giroux rumours were heating up with a handful of teams interested but a source leaked out that some teams are wary if Giroux’s heart will be in it since he’s head over heals for the Flyers and the city of Philadelphia. Probably a tactic for opposing teams to try and bring the price down from what is believed to be a player, a prospect, and a first round pick. Giroux has struggled since the All-Star break scoring 3 goals and 7 points in 14 games, but it’s a little bit of a stretch to say his heart wouldn’t be in it for a Stanley Cup run; possibly the only chance he’ll get in the near future.
Focus has shifted away from Konecny for the time being after teams like Los Angeles and Toronto were generating interest for the young winger. Travis Sanheim’s meteoric rise since Alain Vigneault’s firing hasn’t gone without notice around the NHL since his interest level is picking up as well. The Flyers seemingly extended Ristolainen in part because of Sanheim and they really like the idea of Ristolainen-Sanheim being the second pair moving forward. There’s interest no doubt, however the Flyers would have to be flummoxed by a trade offer so large that they couldn’t reject it.
A new name that has popped up is Ivan Provorov and that has a lot to do with his drop in performance since 2019-20. The Flyers have entrusted the former 7th overall pick in 2015 with the keys to team’s defense. He eats the most minutes, he plays in all situations, he’s out there with the goalie pulled, and is tasked to go head to head with the other team’s best. In large part that is also because the Flyers don’t have anyone else to entrust those same situations or minutes. Sanheim is good but he isn’t a top pair defenseman at the moment, Ristolainen had issues with being a top pair defenseman in Buffalo, and Justin Braun, Keith Yandle, Nick Seeler, and Kevin Connauton are either bottom pair defensemen or AHL-calibre players.
Provorov has had different defensive partners on a near-yearly basis starting with Andrew MacDonald, Shayne Gostisbehere and Robert Hagg at times, they’ve tried Sanheim, he then had a very good year with Matt Niskanen, before flaming out with Braun the last year and a half. Ryan Ellis was supposed to alleviate a lot of the pressures for Provorov but his injury-status has derailed any thought of a presumed top pairing, at least for this year.
Is Provorov a bad defenseman? No. Is Provorov a great defenseman? At the moment, no. Can he still be a good number two? Absolutely, if given the right partner. That seems to be the issue right now, that the Flyers need to pair up Provorov with the right partner. That’s problematic in a sense but it’s not the be-all-end-all either that these trade rumours are suggesting.
Philadelphia has been a graveyard for goaltenders for nearly three decades but it’s been pretty bad for defensemen as well, specifically in the last 5-8 years. Every year it seems to be the same talking points that either the defense is letting down the goaltending or the goaltending needs an upgrade. With Carter Hart between the pipes for the foreseeable future, the issue seems to be the former rather than the latter. The swiss-cheese defense has been an issue since the Hakstol era and it hasn’t changed all that much except for the outlier season of 2019-20.
There’s going to be a lot of interest in Provorov if the Flyers choose to go that route. Elliotte Friedman recently stated on The Jeff Marek Show that the Flyers are looking to drastically change their defense next year. Rasmus Ristolainen was the first domino and with Ryan Ellis in the fold, the Flyers are going to look to upgrade any way they can. Provorov’s name has come up a lot lately, he mentions that if he wasn’t a high pick than the Flyers would have scratched him by now, he is apparently tough to deal with at times, and there’s belief that he has rubbed his teammates the wrong way with some of his comments.
The Flyers have been a pit of despair since their Stanley Cup run in 2010; always chasing that pinnacle of success in any way they can but never coming close. They attempted a botched rebuild in the middle of the decade but that failed as well, and now we’re in the Chuck Fletcher era with a GM who has never shied away from making a big move; good or bad.
Provorov had a career high 17 goals, 24 assists, and 41 points in 2017-18 and was on pace to break those numbers in 2019-20, where he scored 13 goals, 23 assists, and 36 points in only 69 games before the COVID shutdown. After the sudden retirement of Matt Niskanen, he has never looked the same, always trying too hard to make an extra move, and always trying too hard to rectify a past mistake, instead of just playing his game. He has the capabilities to score and chip in offensively but the Flyers need to stop putting him in situations that he can’t handle or shouldn’t handle. It’s not a knock on the young defenseman, he has a lot of time to grow and develop into the stud the Flyers were hoping for but at the moment it’s obvious that he’s struggling in whatever role the Flyers have him playing.
They just recently took him off the power play after his struggles reached a boiling point. With the recent call-up of Cam York, the extension for Ristolainen, and still rostering Keith Yandle; the Flyers figured they could take the load off of #9 and have others chip in offensively. Cam York got a power play assist in his first game back against the Florida Panthers and hit the crossbar on a shot attempt against the Carolina Hurricanes’ #1 ranked penalty kill. I am still of the mind that Travis Sanheim deserves a shot on the power play but the Flyers act slowly on personnel changes, so it’s nice to see something different even if it’s too late into the season.
Is trading Provorov necessary? Depends on the return because at the moment his value has reached an all-time low that there’s not a great chance the Flyers get anything of that much value in return. They will get decent prospects or players but nothing that would match Provorov’s potential. Potential is a tough word to use because the Flyers have been banking on the potential of a lot of players over the years but have been severely disappointed. They are also an organization that tries to turn their prospects into something they’re not. They play them in situations they can’t control, they can’t succeed in, and they try to completely re-route their direction as a player. We’ve seen that with Shayne Gostisbehere and we’re seeing it with players like Morgan Frost.
Provorov is still signed for another 3 years at $6.75 million AAV; good term, good money, good for market value whether they trade him or keep him. He is still only 25 years old and the hope is that the return of Ryan Ellis can catapult him back to his 2019-20 form, but that’s banking on the health of an injury-prone defenseman. They only played 4 games together but it’s crazy how good he looked in just those 4 games.
The potential is there, the skills are there, the tool-set is there but both sides, Provorov and the Flyers, have to look in the mirror and realize who they are and what they have. Stop playing him in situations he can’t handle, taking him off the power play was overdue, the turnovers have to stop and if you bench him or scratch him it will be a wake-up call for a defenseman that has never had to deal with something like that so far in his young career. Use Sanheim more if you have to, use Ristolainen more if need be, Cam York needs to get his feet wet, the season is lost and experimentation right now wouldn’t hurt in the slightest.
Knowing Fletcher and how he approaches situations like this, it’s very possible that we have seen the last of Provorov after this season. The Flyers are constantly looking to make big moves, whether warranted or not, and with Fletcher still at the helm, it only makes a move like this that much more of a possibility. The Sanheim rumours have some legs but only because a lot of teams around the league are looking at the Flyers like a wounded animal, ready to pounce at any moment on “lost” talent. Provorov’s continued downward spiral, on top of his locker room antics, and tough-to-coach vibes only make a trade that much more possible but it could be something the Flyers quickly regret.
On a different team, playing a slightly lesser role, Provorov will become the player the Flyers expected. The coaching carousel hasn’t helped anyone on the organization, the change in GMs hasn’t been any easier, and the personnel turnover can’t generate enough consistency or chemistry for anyone. It’s tough to hold out hope for a turnaround considering how much he has fallen since 2019-20 and if the Flyers are to make a big move, a player of his calibre will most likely be involved because of the money, talent, and the need for “change”. Elliotte Friedman’s comments only reverberate what the Flyers have been saying all year; an aggressive re-tool is coming so buckle-up as almost no one is safe.
