“YOU ARE THE WORSE COACH I EVER MET” Star player disparaging Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella.
Saint Louis — Making the connections between the dots is easy. With the addition of Jamie Drysdale to the roster last week, the Philadelphia Flyers have strengthened their blue line and now have the ability to acquire further assets without significantly hurting their roster. Sean Walker is a pending unrestricted free agent.
Both Walker and Drysdale are right-handed shooters of similar size, but Drysdale was obviously brought in as a major player for the Flyers’ future; he was eight years younger than Walker, had greater offensive skill, and was in the first year of a fair three-year contract. Even prior to the Drysdale deal, trade rumors regularly highlighted Walker, who was on an expiring contract.
However, Walker seems to be taking everything in stride. Before the game in Minnesota on Friday, he claimed that Drysdale “fits in really well.” It goes without saying that we want to play that aggressive style, and his skating ability and ice vision will be very helpful to us. You can immediately see his legs and how simple it is for him to skate up the ice and enter plays. He ends plays even when playing defensively.
Walker remarked, “It is what it is.” “I’m just focusing on my game to help the team win games and trying not to think about it, and we’ll take it from there.” Anything that occurs happens.
Though it appears that Walker is the most likely to be dangled at this point, he is not the only prospective unrestricted free agent on the blue line. His teammate for the majority of the season is Nick Seeler, the kind of tough, gutsy depth blueliner playoff clubs lust for. It only makes him more appealing because he is signed to a league-minimum contract.
Due to illness, Drysdale has missed the last two games, including the Flyers’ 4-2 victory at Enterprise Center on Monday over the St. Louis Blues, their fourth straight victory. The Flyers should once again have eight healthy defensemen when he returns. For coach John Tortorella, having a lot of healthy bodies is one of those “good problems,” but it will also unavoidably force him to make some difficult choices. Tortorella is unlikely to want to start Walker or Seeler out of the starting lineup, as Egor Zamula has been the focal point of a power play that has recently been more successful.
