Philadelphia Flyers Add RW Dale Weise, C Boyd Gordon
Philadelphia Flyers General Manager Ron Hextall wasn’t even mentioned in any rumors about big Free Agent names.. and that’s probably for the best.
- Milan Lucic – 7 years – $6 million per season – Oilers
- Kyle Okposo – 7 years – $6 million per season – Sabres
- Loui Ericksson – 6 years – $6 million per season – Canucks
- David Backes – 5 years – $6 million per season – Bruins
- Andrew Ladd – 7 years – $5.5 million per season – Islanders
The Philadelphia Flyers’ were wise to avoid deals such as these. With a good core and improving prospects it doesn’t make sense to add a veteran player on a huge contract. The reality is the players listed above will be productive for two or three years, and then like nearly all early to mid-30-year-olds, decline rapidly. These contracts might make sense for Stanley Cup Contenders, but the Flyers certainly aren’t one of those teams.
Instead, Hextall focused on adding to the Philadelphia Flyers’ bottom six forward group, and not destroying a good financial situation. Dale Weise is a disciplined checking forward who can put up some points when called upon, and Boyd Gordon is a straight-up defensive centerman. Since these guys will almost certainly fit in bottom half of the line-up let’s take a look at how they compare to last seasons’ depth forwards analytically.
Depth Forwards Ranked By Even Strength Shots For/Against Ratio (SF%)
| NAME | EV PTS | PP60 | PIM60 | SF% | PDO | OZS |
| COUSINS | 9 | 1.48 | 0.66 | 54.0 | 102.0 | 57.0 |
| WEISE | 19 | 1.39 | 1.75 | 51.9 | 100.9 | 56.8 |
| GAGNER | 13 | 1.28 | 2.47 | 49.5 | 101.5 | 48.3 |
| AVG NHL LINE 3 | 21.15 | 1.36 | 2.19 | 49.1 | 99.4 | 46.5 |
| AVG NHL LINE 4 | 10.61 | 1.05 | 3.69 | 48.2 | 99.1 | 45.9 |
| LAUGHTON | 21 | 1.88 | 3.05 | 48.0 | 101.4 | 54.3 |
| GORDON | 3 | 0.30 | 1.01 | 47.3 | 96.8 | 24.6 |
| UMBERGER | 9 | 1.46 | 2.44 | 46.8 | 102.1 | 52.2 |
| WHITE | 16 | 1.01 | 6.61 | 45.2 | 98.3 | 51.2 |
| BELLEMARE | 14 | 0.89 | 1.61 | 44.8 | 97.9 | 50.1 |
| VANDEVELDE | 14 | 0.89 | 1.51 | 44.5 | 98.6 | 50.0 |
Dale Weise
Weise did a great job at Even Strength last season where he scored 19 points. His 1.39 points per 60 minutes was almost as high as Nick Cousins‘ limited sample and slightly higher than the average NHL 3rd-liner. The fact that Weise put up that number after getting shafted in Chicago makes it more impressive. FYI: He had just 1 point in 15 games with the Blackhawks after the trade deadline.
He was the beneficiary of zone starts slanted fairly heavily in the offensive side of the rink (56.8% OZS% – offensive vs. defensive face-offs) so he wasn’t trusted to be a great defensive forward. His possession stats were also good as his team took 51.9% of the shots while he was on the ice.
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The Philadelphia Flyers’ depth group struggled to generate shots and prevent opposition chances last season. Weise’s possession stats are a good indicator that he may be a positive influence in the bottom six. Most importantly Dale’s a guy who plays hard but is not undisciplined. He took just 1.75 penalty minutes per 60 minutes played at even strength (PIM60). A very similar ratio to Bellemare/VandeVelde’s, and well under Ryan White‘s astronomical 6.61 PIM60 ratio.
Boyd Gordon
If you’re questioning Gordon’s offensive production (3 points at even strength) you should take a look at his zone starts. The Coyotes gave him one offensive zone face-off for every three in the defensive end (24.6 OZS%). That was the 7th worst ratio of any forward last year. Despite that Gordon fared better than Umberger, White, Bellemare, and VandeVelde in possession. That in itself is impressive since all of those four had 25% more offensive zone starts with the Philadelphia Flyers relative to their totals.
Boyd’s offensive production is worrisome, but it should be noted that he scored on just 1 of his 50 shots (2%). That’s well below his career average of 6.7% so a slight bump in scoring should be expected. He’s not been signed for offensive production, though, he’s going to be used purely as a defensive center.
Gordon will probably get a more balanced workload with the Philadelphia Flyers, but heck even 40% offensive zone starts relative to defensive would be a significant for him. If he can take the defensive responsibility off the hands of Giroux and Couturier he’ll be doing the Philadelphia Flyers a great service. More offensive opportunities for those two and their lines means a lot more potential goals.
Next: The Flyers: the Metro Division, Entry Draft, and Free Agency
The Philadelphia Flyers also added a few depth players over the weekend. Defenseman Will O’Neill, and forwards Andy Miele, and Greg Carey will be penciled in for the Flyers’ AHL affiliate the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. They’re all accomplished scorers at the AHL level, and it’s a move by Hextall to try and improve the product at the minor league level.