It wasn’t a great week for anyone, really, on the Flyers, as the team went 0-3-0 on a West Coast roadie, scoring five total goals. One of the few players that produced was Sean Couturier, who jumped to the No. 2 spot, while the guy responsible for Couturier’s production remained at No. 1.
In other notable moves, Sam Gagner makes his last rankings appearance (for now), R.J. Umberger tells everyone about his NMC, Shayne Gostisbehere went cold and poor Matt Read was scratched.
The Rankings:
-
(last week: 1) Jake Voracek - It might sound crazy considering he had one goal in his first 30 games, but Voracek is four behind Claude Giroux for the team lead in points. And he’s doing that with a shooting percentage of 3.7%. Voracek has 10 points in his last eight games and is helping Sean Couturier actually produce regularly. That in itself is worth the No. 1 spot.
-
(last week: 3) Sean Couturier - Life is good for Couturier. He led the Flyers with three points and eight shots in his last three games and has seven points in his last seven games. More importantly, Couturier now has 15 points in 31 games this season, putting him on pace to tie his career high of 39 set in 2013-2014.
-
(last week: 2) Shayne Gostisbehere - Remember back in mid-November when Ron Hextall said he would have liked Gostisbehere in the AHL for a longer period of time? Now the GM is moving salary cap mountains to keep Gostisbehere with the big club. Ghost has gone cold though, with no points, six PIMs and five shots in his last three games. Incredibly, it’s his first three-game pointless streak since joining the club.
-
(last week: 10) Wayne Simmonds - Despite a pair of key assists and playing an impressive career-high of 23:13 TOI on Saturday, it wasn’t a dominant week from Simmonds. Three shots in three games and no instigators.
-
(last week: 5) Claude Giroux - With a fluky goal off the draw against the San Jose Sharks, Giroux avoided a six-game scoreless streak. Still, he’s ice cold with one goal in his last seven games. On the positive side, it’s not as bad as it looks -- Giroux had 13 shots in his last three games, so the slump is likely more puck luck than anything.
-
(last week: 6) Brayden Schenn - Giroux’s line struggled to produce all week and that doesn’t exclude Schenn. His goal against the Los Angeles Kings, which was a greasy crease score on the power play, was his first point in five games. He has two goals in his last 16 games.
-
(last week: 9) Michal Neuvirth - He missed a start due to illness this week but came back strong against the Kings, giving up just two goals for the third time in his last four starts. It doesn’t get less stunning to see that 37 games into the season, Neuvirth remains atop the NHL goaltender leaders in save percentage with .937.
-
(last week: 11) Michael Del Zotto - Injured for most of the week with a wrist injury, MDZ returned against the Kings with a defense-high 21:59 TOI. Not easing him back in shows how much coach Dave Hakstol loves Del Zotto as his No. 1.
-
(last week: 8) Evgeny Medvedev - He averaged 21:26 over the last three games (good for third on the team) but added six PIMs and six shots. If you’re not a physical defender and have more penalty minutes than shots, it hasn’t been a fantastic week.
-
(last week: 4) Steve Mason - The starter took a giant bite of two West Coast losses, giving up four goals against the Anaheim Ducks and Sharks in back-to-back starts. He has a .910 save percentage on the season and 7-10-5 record. Woof.
-
(last week: 12) Radko Gudas - In his last three games, the always-imposing Gudas played 20:10, 21:11 and 15:11. That low point is with both Del Zotto and Mark Streit in the line up. Less of Gudas is probably better for the Flyers than it is for the player.
-
(last week: 7) Matt Read - You’d think four points in his last six games (his best stretch since last March), and plus possession numbers, would be good enough to keep Read off the scratch sheet. But in a strange decision, the Flyers played with seven defenders and R.J. Umberger, while Read sat in the press box against the Kings.
-
(last week: 13) Michael Raffl - There was a time when Raffl scored three goals in six games and seemed to be back as a legitimate attacking threat. Well, that didn’t last long. Although he scored his fifth goal of the season against the Ducks, the oft-overlooked black hole of offense on the Flyers roster is struggling to produce once again with one point in his last five games.
-
(last week: 19) Nick Schultz - With two assists in his last five games (yes, two!) Schultz amazingly doubled his point total on the season. He still won’t reach the 15 total points he had last season that helped win him a new contract.
-
(last week: not ranked) Mark Streit - Returning from the awful-sounding pubic plate detachment, Streit played two games and averaged 16:57 TOI. He didn’t manage a shot, but c’mon, his pubic plate was detached. Give the guy a few games to get warmed up.
-
(last week: 18) Luke Schenn - Somehow, Schenn managed to go the last three games without a shot on goal. And incredibly, it’s the second time in his last nine games that he’s done that.
-
(last week: 16) Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - When the penalty kill is doing well, Bellemare gets all the credit. So now that the PK stinks, he needs to get some blame. On the three-game road trip, the Flyers PK allowed a ridiculous six goals out of 12 times shorthanded. Yuck.
-
(last week: 17) Chris VandeVelde - He got knocked out cold this week after hitting his head on the ice following a check from the Sharks’ Brent Burns. Lucky for VandeVelde, he didn’t miss a game.
-
(last week: 15) Ryan White - All you need to know about White’s last three games is that he had 22 PIMs, no points and no shots. The West Coast chewed him up.
-
(last week: 14) Scott Laughton - Believe it or not, there was some consideration that Laughton (waiver exempt) would be the one sent down to make room for Streit and Gostisbehere. He had one shot, no points and played an average of 10:09 TOI in his last three games. Only R.J. Umberger played less.
-
(last week: 21) R.J. Umberger - When you have to explain to the media that you have a no-move clause, it’s probably not a good sign. Many wondered why Sam Gagner, not Umberger, was waived and sent to the minors early in the week. Umberger explained that it was because he has a NMC that apparently no one knew about. He played a team-low 8:38 against the Sharks.
-
(last week: 20) Brandon Manning - The Flyers dressed seven defenders against the Kings and Manning wasn’t one of them. That just about explains his standing on the roster.
-
(last week: 22) Sam Gagner - Poor Sam. In the last two years he’s been traded by the Edmonton Oilers and Phoenix Coyotes (both lottery teams at the time) and waived midseason by the middling Flyers. NHL expansion can’t come soon enough for this guy.
24. (last week: 23) Vinny Lecavalier - With Gagner gone, the Flyers held onto eight defenders and 13 forwards. So, logically, if any forward got hurt in the short term, Vinny would be the replacement, right? Nah. With Read out on Saturday, the Flyers dressed seven defenders and kept Vinny on the sidelines.