The Flyers failed to win at least 50 percent of their faceoffs all through the preseason.
Other than Claude Giroux, they were pretty awful on draws, which is why coach Dave Hakstol said it would be a practice priority this coming week.
Winning draws isn’t always about the two guys taking the faceoff, but the other players around him assigned to hunt the puck down. Those are the battles the Flyers lost in the preseason.
On Saturday, R.J. Umberger and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare exchanged words and had to be separated by teammates during one faceoff drill.
They were the “hunters” after the draw, lined up opposite each other outside the circle.
“A lot of times, the center gets the blame on faceoffs but it’s a five-man group,” Umberger said. “You’ve got to out-battle the guy you are lined up against. Be able to jump quicker and get to those pucks.
“Our jobs as wingers is to get in there faster and help them. I’ve had a lot of coaches say that is how you can tell if a player is ready to play the game. How they do off the faceoff and they are on their toes."
NHL
Hockey is about puck possession. Winning the puck instead of chasing it.
It was during the stick tie-ups that Umberger and Bellemare went at it.
“We try to be more competitive in practice,” Bellemare said. “We’re losing too much, not on the draws, but the second battle. When pucks are tied up, we need other guys to win those pucks.
“This happens every year with me. I am not a tough player. I can’t rely on my play at 70 percent. I have go 110 percent every day on the edge. But it goes away as fast as it comes in.”
Umberger enjoyed it.
“There’s competition and we both tried to get in there,” he said. “Belly is very competitive person. Nothing out of normal there.”
Lines and D-pairs
The Flyers are virtually identical to last year: Claude Giroux centering Michael Raffl and Jakub Voracek; Sean Couturier centering Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds; Scott Laughton centering Matt Read and Umberger; Bellemare centering Chris VandeVelde and Ryan White. The defensive pairs have changed from last year because of addition and subtraction: Nick Schultz with Mark Streit; Michael Del Zotto and Brandon Manning; Evgeny Medvedev and Radko Gudas.
Cap hits
If you look at who the “extras” who were on the Flyers in practice Saturday, it was Vinny Lecavalier ($4.5 million cap hit) and Sam Gagner ($3.2m) at forward; Luke Schenn ($3.6m) and Andrew MacDonald ($5.0m) on defense. That’s $16.3 million in cap money not playing.
Waivers
The Flyers did not have anyone on the waiver wire and if the club follows past practice, they will waive a player on an off day, which is Sunday.
Among the high-priced players out there was Edmonton’s Nikita Nikitin, who carries a $3.55 million cap hit. Bryan Bickell cleared waivers from Chicago with a $4 million cap hit.
So, what’s the harm with the Flyers' exposing Luke Schenn at $3.6 million? Who is going to take that cap hit? No one. It now appears Schenn will be exposed since Hakstol said he has no plans to change his current defense.
If Schenn were claimed on waivers, then essentially, the Flyers would have traded James van Riemsdyk for nothing. Does past history here factor at all with Hextall?
“Doesn’t matter,” Hextall replied. “We’re going to put the best team on the ice on Thursday night. Whatever move we make it’s going to be what we feel is best for the team and the franchise right now.”