Premature Speculation

One of the biggest questions the Philadelphia Flyers face going into the season is how the Top 6 will line up. The Flyers currently have no top line left winger and too many top 6 centers. MVP candidate Claude Giroux is a lock as the top center and Jake Vorachek and Wayne Simmonds are the top right wingers on the team. The other half of the top six are up for grabs. Brayden Schenn and Vincent Lecavalier are expected to take two of the top spots, but in what roles?

Ron Hextall has said that he likes pairing two forwards together on a line. It is all but guaranteed that Giroux and Vorachek will play together. The third line has Sean Couturier and Matt Read. Hextall said that Schenn and Simmonds are developing chemistry. That leaves Lecavalier, Michael Raffl, Jason Akeson, and RJ Umberger left to figure out the left wing assignments. This will be up to the coach, Craig Berube.

In regards to Vinny Lecavalier, it depends on what Hextall wants to do. He does not seem like someone that will let a contract dictate playing time, or would put that pressure on a coach. Lecavalier has said that he feels most comfortable at center and has not preformed well at wing. Giroux and Couturier are cemented in at two of the four center spots. Lecavalier played on the fourth line in the playoff, centering Zac Rinaldo and Adam Hall, but are they going to pay him $4.5 million a season (and $6 million this year) to play 7-10 minutes a night? More importantly, are they going to waste $4.5 million in cap space on 7-10 minutes?

With this in mind, it would seem that the best way solve this would be to play Schenn with Giroux and Vorachek on the top line. He would be out of position, but it would be a “promotion” in a similar way that Paul Holmgren was “promoted” to President.  He may not earn it, but other factors dictate it as a move that must be made. The organization cannot afford to keep Lecavalier hidden. They must play him to build up trade value.

Lecavalier was never a strong defensive player, and, barring a Steve Yzerman-type turnaround, will never be. At best, he can be average defensively in the right system. Likewise, Wayne Simmonds is not a great defensive player. If those two will play together, the third man on the line must be able to pick up the slack and be a good backchecker with above-average skating. Two players fit that description, Michael Raffl and RJ Umberger. Raffl played much of last season on the Giroux line, but would fit better on the second line with two natural finishers, which is not his strong point.

Training camp is not even close, (56 days until the preseason, but who is counting?) but the roster can be figured out.

B. Schenn-Giroux-Vorachek

Raffl-Lecavalier-Simmonds

Umberger-Couturier-Read

Rinaldo-Center not named Laughton-Akeson

The fourth line has the most flexibility for a player to make the team as a non-roster camp invite. Scott Laughton, barring a massive trade, will start the season in Lehigh Valley, centering the Phantoms top line. Chris VandeVelde seems to be in the best spot, but the team typically signs an older, defensive first center, like the still unsigned Adam Hall. It is still far too early to project a lineup, but given the cap space, the Flyers have few moves that can be made until they are able to place Chris Pronger on LTIR.