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Philadelphia Flyers signing Christian Folin could be underrated move

By Benjamin Gabrych

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 05: Christian Folin #5 of the Los Angeles Kings checks Wayne Simmonds #17 of the Philadelphia Flyers during a 2-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on opening night of the Los Angeles Kings 2017-2018 season at Staples Center on October 5, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 05: Christian Folin #5 of the Los Angeles Kings checks Wayne Simmonds #17 of the Philadelphia Flyers during a 2-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on opening night of the Los Angeles Kings 2017-2018 season at Staples Center on October 5, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia Flyers recently signed Christian Folin to a one-year deal.

After inking forward James van Riemsdyk to a five year contract, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall made a much more smaller move by signing defenseman Christian Folin to a one-year deal.

With 6-foot-7 defenseman Samuel Morin recovering from a knee injury that will keep him out until February 2019 and Brandon Manning leaving in free agency, the Flyers had a need for a depth defenseman, and Folin fits that mold.

Folin, 24, stands at 6-foot-3 while weighing 204 pounds, and is a right-handed shooting, defenseman from Gothenburg, Sweden. He played college hockey for UMass-Lowell from 2012-2014, where he put up 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 76 games during two seasons for the River Hawks.

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The Swede was highly sought at after his 2013-14 season as an undrafted college free agent. The Flyers were actually one of the teams vying for Folin’s services in the spring of 2014 and were one of three finalists to sign him, but he ultimately chose the Minnesota Wild.

Folin spent four seasons in Minnesota, where he put up 22 points in 118 games with the club, but he did not receive a qualifying offer from the team in the 2017 offseason

After becoming an unrestricted free agent, Folin went on to sign a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings, where he put up 13 points (3 goals,10 assists) in 65 games with Los Angeles last season.

The Swedish defenseman also had some interesting goals scored in the 2017-18 season. He scored a goal from center ice against Nashville and had a puck pinball off two Lightning defenders into the net against Tampa Bay.

Folin is also a willing candidate to lay the boom on opponents when needed. He jumped from 69 hits in 2016-17 to 167 hits in 2017-18. He will stick up for his teammates and isn’t afraid to drop the gloves every once in a while.

Folin’s Role

In my opinion, Folin won’t be anything more than a stay-at-home, seventh defenseman for Dave Hakstol and the Flyers. He has never averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time in his career, with the one time he did was for one game during the 2013-14 season.

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Folin’s giveaway total was double what it was two seasons ago in just 43 seconds more aTOI, which is slightly concerning to me. However, Folin is a big-bodied player and shoots right, which is something Philadelphia lacked on the blue-line last year.

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