Philadelphia Flyers Season in Review: Ryan Poehling

Philadelphia Flyers Season in Review: Ryan Poehling

it’s the locked on Flyers podcast for Tuesday June 4th your daily dose of Flyers news analysis and high quality content that is uh really intrigued by what Ryan paling has brought to the Flyers yeah yeah big surprise you’re lockon Flyers your daily podcast on the Philadelphia Flyers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey there and thanks for making lock on Flyers your first listen every day I am Rachel Donner you can find me on Twitter at riam I’m here as always with Russ Cohen who’s on all your favorite social media apps at sportsology we are at lockon flyers on Instagram threads blue sky and Twitter as well today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks with any winning five bet visit fanduel.com lockon to get started you can find us over on YouTube or on the SiriusXM app or anywhere you listen to podcast subscribe to get our latest episode as soon as it’s available here on the locked on podcast Network your team every day just a reminder of our weekly poll we’re doing all off season uh we announced it yesterday in terms of a top end Flyers Prospect with the greatest chance of crack in the lineup for game one this fall so make sure you check that out Link in the show notes I do want to talk about the Memorial Cup Final though Russ because who Bo oh boy what a game that was um that was yeah defeated London for the championship four to3 and uh Saga went up three nothing in this game and London fought their way back Sagen wins with a 21 seconds left in the game with that game-winning goal just what a tremendous game from start to finish yeah this is why the Moa Cup’s one of the great tournaments it really is fun uh it was interesting though in between what the second and third the way they were talking about it like well we’ll see if London can get back in it and they yeah they got back in it man um they got back in it and then some because they had a great chance of winning too it just yeah one of those games it’s you know it came down to it and it was super exciting yeah I would just like to say that I had said multiple times that I just had this gut feeling about s you did that um that there was just something after the OHL playoffs that yeah did not sit right with them and they were going to take this opportunity as hosts to really make a statement and and they did um so thrilled for them um as far as our guys on London not so thrilled for them I’m sure it’s a really tough loss especially the way they went down but um I I definitely think this is also something that builds character it does I mean I I you know as far as that one game and I had seen some of the other games I I felt that was one where Bon still played really well like he was a oh yeah but Barky did not have a good game he was not much of a factor and so that’s he has to work on yeah he has to he has to get stronger and become more of an offensive force and by getting you know he does need to work on his skating a little too he’s still not quite there as far as one of those guys so yeah there’s there’s things to work on but yeah I did for sure Bonk was still like really good the entire game and then and that that’s very good to see because in the end he’s the he’s the better Prospect he’s the prospect they have to hit on big Barky it’s nice if they hit on him right exactly and and bunk had two assists in the game and factored heavily in that comeback um made some really solid plays so I I was really thrilled about his performance in that game uh just as kind of a draft side note I did Sam Dickinson got absolutely roasted on one of those uh goals for Sagen um scat I know well I know that’s the thing it’s like I just felt like that defense play he just got completely worked and yeah there’s a there’s a whole thing in my head i’ I’ve had Dickinson you know like 12 I’ve had him 10 I’ve had him 13 I’ve had him 10 you probably have it all outlined in the in the in the sheet and I don’t know if he’s still GNA be in my top 10 at the end he probably will be but it’s just this is why that guy drives me crazy and and Zan perk was good yeah I didn’t feel like he was great I didn’t feel like he was great in that game but but he’s been really really really solid in the playoffs thing about perk is you know is his defense like you know there is a factor where if he isn’t this super high offensive guy then what do you have and this is where the Flyers have to be careful in the draft because as an example where Travis sanheim was drafted you expected him to be more of an offensive guy and it’s actually where he’s turned into more of a puck moving defensive physical guy with still some offense but if you draft 12 and get that guy you’re not happy you you needed you need that guy to be better than that so like that’s where you have to be careful of some of these super high offensive uh defenseman is what do they actually do on defense that matters still right and I feel like you know the guys that obviously had the biggest impact were already drafted and yes and signed right so you know you look at Sagen uh Josh Bloom is signed by the Canucks but he was I think he was drafted by Buffalo he was originally he’s older he is an older player right he is older yeah for that’s I’m saying like the older more seasoned guys right really had the bigger impact here I would say like Easton Cowen again on the uh on the London side along with Bon you know I think had had a huge was terrific yeah no question yeah C Cowan was terrific and um Owen Beck as well yeah Beck’s terrific I like Beck a lot yeah he’s a Montreal guy right yes yes yeah so that’s when comes to shove in a game like this you know the bigger stars come to play and that’s really I think the story of that game yep no I agree but it was fun it was good good that NHL Network covers and we could see it in the states yeah absolutely uh the Stanley Cup Final is Set uh I think like for me even though it logically the fact that Edmonton is there it does make sense based on how they were playing in the playoffs I just think there’s this me mental hurdle I couldn’t get over for the longest time of like well when are they going to collapse it’s just that has been their story and they didn’t this playoff I got over the hurdle you know because pre-season I picked them to make it to the conference final I didn’t pick anybody for the cup right and then I bailed on them I would say halfway into their slump not not right away I went a long time and then but then I saw that hey this was becoming a different team when they made the coaching change and it’s not it’s really na Block’s a good coach but it’s not all him Paul Coffey made a tremendous difference here uh with their Puck moving but also their overall team defense really really improved Evan bushard really took off to what I thought he would be when he was drafted so those things matter and now we’re seeing like a different Conor McDavid like now he’s more matured he’s a little bit more um battle tested you know you saw him at the end with TNT with Gretzky that was a good moment I’m sad that there’s no TNT anymore in the playoffs I can’t hide that that’s just you know sorry ESPN TNT just has a better uh panel show than you do there’s just no way around it yeah yeah uh yeah I do think that for the Edmonton side of things I think you’re right about coffee and the the coaching there on the team defensive side of things that has been such an Achilles heel for them and the fact that coffee was able to figure out a structure that worked that I think that fed into the bending confidence as well because knowing you have a stronger defense in front of you that’s playing better I think allows the goal tending to play better which was the other weak point which as it turns out isn’t as weak when you’re playing a better team game yeah I mean they only had 10 shots on goal so he had to be great last night and he was Stewart Skinner so yeah that’s you know it’ll be an interesting series I I I have some thoughts but I need to look at some things first obviously you have a lot of time till it starts a lot of time and we have a lot of time until it possibly ends too a lot of time well there’s also a lot of miles between those two CI 2400 miles yeah it’s crazy I’m actually not covering for the first time yeah this is the first time in years I’m not GNA actually be out on the cup feet but that’s all right I’ll watch it from home yeah yeah we will talk more about it as we get closer to Saturday Saturday’s first game so uh we will do that then in the meantime we have our own Flyers player to talk about in Ryan paling who made an impact on the team this year for sure and we are going to get into that coming up next it’s winner take all time in the NBA and NHL and FanDuel is giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any $5 winning $5 bet that’s 150 bucks to bet on spreads lines player props and more keep going with the Celtics keep keep going with them visit fanduel.com locked on to make every playoff shot count FanDuel America’s number one sports book we will be having our mailbag on tomorrow’s show so make sure you get those questions in you can email us at lockon Flyers Gmail send us a message on Twitter or comment on our YouTube channel as far as Ryan paling goes uh I what a fascinating history for him because you know he was drafted 25th overall by the Habs in7 uh he was at St Cloud State was on the USA World Junior Squad and I think you know had a really promising future ahead uh when he was younger and of course he was super famous for getting a hat trick and the shootout winner in his NHL debut with Montreal but he did struggle there um quite a bit and was bounced back and forth between Laval and Montreal uh to some degree and they just decided there wasn’t a place for him anymore so he got traded to the pens uh along with Jeff Petri and that mik mat deal uh back to Montreal so you know in that season with the pens 14 points in 77 games which was not ideal and um we saw in his exit interview this year he had mentioned that you know he was surprised that he didn’t get a qualified offer from Pittsburgh uh but he had and sort of had to scramble to get a deal for this season and he wound up taking a deal with the Flyers and um I think that it’s uh it’s it’s been a really good fit for him it’s been a good fit uh there’s a whole change that’s happened though with the career Arc I would say of what paling could have been before the postc concussions I thought know he was probably going to be a 20 goal Center you know with speed be good defensively and everything and the defensive part is still there and um now he’s being asked to block a ton of shots blocked a hundred shots I mean that’s that’s something where he wasn’t doing that a lot before uh he’s hitting a little more but he can’t get crazy with the hits or he might get be back in trouble uh again in the future so he’s got to temper that and he’s getting more ice time than he used to at 15 minutes so I think what you got out of him this year is like that’s what you’re getting you know between 28 and 35 points every year and that’s fine but it’s not fine if you’re putting him at second line center right so that’s where John Chella has to sort of manage this but he’s a good guy to have on the team and we liked it we both liked the signing and he definitely outpaced what we thought he would do for that signing but again it’s also has to do with the money so that at some point will come into play it’s not going to be in play right now what’s in play is where does he match up against other teams right and and where and where does he fit in the lineup as a and so you look he came here on a Prov a deal at 1.4 million right he gets the contract extension in January to 1.9 which I think you know is a really good deal it’s a two-year deal I think it’s a great deal on both sides I I really do because for that kind of role for him to be a fourth liner with some third line time which is his ideal position in my opinion that’s a good amount to pay for that for the flyer side and he palen gets rewarded for his effort so I I really think this is a pure win-win deal for him now one of the other things he said uh at his exit interview was about like this is the first season he’s had without an injury to deal with and that was huge for him in terms of you know figuring out what a full season in the NHL looks like for him physically and mentally and I think you know that is going to help him a lot this offseason in terms of training and preparation for next year yeah no question that that gives him a leg up on what he had at least mentally going into the season with the Flyers and now you know going into another season with the Flyers definitely um you know he’ll he’ll be on better footing and that’s good I mean that’s that’s a positive for him right and so you we talk about his role and and what his expectations were going to be you know we thought he’s just a foresee I mean not ju not just but you know what I mean like he like he’s a good forc good forc he started with Hathaway and delorier of course we saw that change over the course of the Season thank God because yeah yeah even though that line got touted I think we saw that deloria’s usefulness was not exactly up to Snuff and so you wanted to put pathway and pink frankly in better positions right yeah deloria’s play dipped quicker than gamestock GameStop stock it it so you know I think the other interesting aspect of it is that when those the usage of him changed and when he moved up a little bit but also got some additional ice time his productivity increased and so yeah you know you look at his second half of the Season versus the first half of the Season it is a remarkable increase there and you so you look at you talked about his ice time was 15 minutes for the season the so if you divide the first and the second half of the Season by calendar not by his games because he he played 77 games so he had 36 games in the first half of the season and 41 in the second half so he played all possible games in the second half of the flyer season which is important to note first half of the Season 1342 average ice time second half 16008 big difference right yeah big so you look at what happened as a result of that increase in ice time he went from 11 points to 17 points in the second half of the season points per game was then 36 to 0.41 his shooting percentage went up 8.3% to 11.1% which is pretty remarkable right yeah and then um just to put icing on the cake you know we talked about his face offs a a lot over the season 47.2% in the first half to 50.4% in the second half so it’s face offs even got that yeah no all that was good you know it’s the one thing is there’s this thing in the in the corporate world where you could rise to your level of incompetency right you keep there’s things you could do that and it really is true it doesn’t mean you’re bad or bad at your job what it means is you know there’s a point like if they would have made me like I don’t know general manager of one of the companies I was working at that was too much that’s a bridge to far for the kind of talent I have and there’s a bridge too far for how far you could push him up the lineup and and when John was experimenting with that was when you were seeing like his mediocre play so that’s why you know third fourth line fine third line shouldn’t be for a long time can’t be second you can’t have him on second line center it’s just not fair to no and because you look at the matchups right because we saw that in terms of his overall play the faceoffs uh were evident inter when he was facing off against better quality competition it wasn’t working but when he was in his sweet spot it really was and I think that’s you know when you uh want to say is this season a success or not you look at their sweet spot and say did they succeed at a level that they should succeed and with Ryan failing 100% yes yeah no question and that’s why yeah you keep them in that spot you got something really good here you don’t have to worry about them and and that’s a big deal yeah and I think that’s you know specifically why we want to talk about him now in like our end of season wrap-ups we don’t really talk about every single player on the team but but when you’re having a rebuild like the Flyers are right now and the kind of rebuild that Danny Brier is putting together you know to take a chance on a younger guy in terms of a a free agent like him who’s 25 versus you know signing a grizzled vet to shore up your lineup you know just to throw in a guy like paling I think was a really good move that absolutely paid off it was but that’s why when he moved up and was playing 3C and I felt like he was doing a good job that’s when I got burnt that you know wasn’t going to be someone like uh linski or someone playing 4C and he just put cier there and I was just like what are you doing like that was just that that part really bothered me but that has nothing to do with Ryan paling no but it had to do with if paling was going to be slightly better than some of the other four season League you got you had an opportunity there to try and develop another player and you didn’t do it that’s the whole thing if Ryan paling was going to be the 4C he was the best 4C in the organization but once he was good enough to play 3C you had some other guys that could have possibly played 4C that didn’t get a chance that’s what I’m getting at yeah yeah I just I think that you know when we’re just kind of narrowly looking at Ryan paling season we can’t really take that into account but it is it is a fair point uh to be clear but um I think that you know I want to look a little bit at this phase-off statistic thing too because that’s something like I said we did talk about a lot over the course of the season in terms of the Flyers and faceoffs and who was taking them and when and why you know he took the most faceoffs in the team on for the second half of the Season only right third MO third most for the entire season and a remarkable number of them were in short-handed situations he took the most on the team All Season by a mile in short-handed situations and that is a key defensive responsibility and you know you look he got above that 50% Mark in the second half of the season so I think that that you know was a I think a little bit of a bright spot in the Flyers face off picture for the it was a bright spot I mean that’s a big deal especially when you’re short-handed if you know you can win the face off and get the puck out of there quick that helps you and that definitely was helping their PK that’s part of it that is part of the secret secret sauce in there yeah and that’s why you know you look at his season long face off percentage it’s 49.1 that doesn’t tell the whole story here and that’s why you know you have to break it down a little bit here especially with the kind of second half of the Season he had and what kind of faceoffs uh was he taking and and knowing that a lot of them were short-handed I think makes a big difference yeah know it does makes a huge difference all right well there’s a lot more to talk about with him uh in terms of some other aspects of his play and then looking ahead to this off season and next year goals we’re going to talk about that coming up next all right one of the big things about Ryan paling is his speed right we’ve seen him you know try and score on the rush and it doesn’t exactly work when your linemates aren’t fast enough to keep up and you don’t really have anybody to Dish to and while like I said his shooting percentage did go up and scoring go up for the second half of the Season you know he’s not a big goal scorer right so you need support with him so you need at least one other skill guy on his line even if it is a fourth line you need somebody that can take a shot right yeah somebody could take a shot but they has to be able to move up the ice with him when he’s streaking up the ice yeah that’s a big deal so like of the regulars on the team he was sixth in Rush attempts per 60 yeah about right I would say so the other thing he’s not a big penalty taker either no no I mean he wasn’t going to win the lady b but you know right because unfortunately the combination of the lady Bing is you got to score a fair amount of points and he just didn’t do that part but he did the other part well I mean his you know the fact that he wasn’t taking stupid penalties was noticed yeah I think so so that’s like something especially when you have like a a third fourth line guy is not going to get you in trouble and then be a huge part of your penalty kill like I I think that is also a huge part of his game uh that I don’t think gets talked about enough either no I agree so in terms of things to work on like what would you say I would say still see if you can bring out a little more goal scoring uh maybe do work on your your Rush attempts because sometimes you know he would miss on those yeah I mean that’s something where he could try and work on that maybe come up with a new move uh that goalies don’t know because he’s been in a league A while you know that could add a couple more goals on for the year uh beyond that k get better on faceoffs it’s not like you know he’s at top of the league with that uh maybe on a short-handed side he could be but yeah he definitely could improve on that I think those two things are big and just if he could stay healthy so he’s gota you know he’s got to continue to sort of build his body up hard uh with some extra muscle to be able to fend off but again some of that is with your head too and you can’t do anything about that but I I think he can have a really good off season here and improve you know seven to 10 points maybe next year yeah I think so and your point about the faceoffs yeah if if he really is going to stay in the third or fourth line role next season which is where we both think he should be he’s going to be facing lower competition so that faceof win percentage in theory should go up yes um one of the things he talked about at his exit interview was power play time and that he really likes it and he’s been more of an even strength penalty kill guy but you know the Flyers power play is fraught for sure as we have talked you know it’s so weird because it’s like you know almost everybody should have gotten a chance on the power play this year as awful as it was and they didn’t right so I get what he’s saying so it’s not like the Flyers are so good on the power play you can’t break into it anybody could have broke into it but not everybody had a chance so I get it right so he had a little bit of a chance but not a ton and so you know maybe if there’s skills he can work on to make himself more of an attractive guy you know in terms of Puck cycling in terms of Zone work I think would benefit him if he wants the Zone I think he still might not be able to be that guy um but but yeah if he was to play the bumper maybe that would be something but yeah unfortunately the Zone work there’s still probably three guys ahead of him right and and so I think that that’s just something he can work on if that’s something he wants I don’t know that it’s going to come to fruition but right that’s his path there because we know he can get up ice on the rush but then after that that’s that’s why he’s not in the in the power play very much right so I think there is that um I think as far as his output for next season I’m looking at maybe 15 goals 20 assists would be ideal if single game yeah I think that’s his Zenith that 35 points I think would be his Zenith so I’m with you yeah so I’m hoping that that’s uh something he can work toward I think I would like to see the Flyers utilize his speed a little bit more and that’s the tough part like I said about play playing on the fourth line is you tend to not have that skill and speed with you but they’ve got to find a way to use it because he can get down the ice very quickly it’s it’s just a matter of having the support you know to Dish Dish off to and so I’d like to see him used a little bit better so that we could utilize his speed better no that’s fair I I’m with you I think he does need to be um utilized a little better I think there’s things he could work on uh maybe there’s even some things in his mental game that could get him to score more like I said on the rush so yeah work on those things the speed’s good uh the strength is pretty good I think probably could get a little stronger uh because if you’re going to continue to if he continues to play on the fourth line and you have to go up against like guys like Matt Rio or something then then maybe he needs to get muscle right I mean that’s just a fact well hopefully the Rangers have learned their lesson about when and how to use ring but who knows Peter lavet you know we we know what his issues are too so yeah yeah we do um yeah and I think that you know it’s very clear that he feels like he’s found a hockey home here that yeah he chose the flyers for a reason in terms of the opportunity that you know they were in a rebuild and he was the one younger free agent guy that they went after and so this was like a perfect opportunity for him he earned that second contract and like he could really establish himself as a key part of this team moving forward yeah no question he’s got a real foothold in the league now where a couple years ago he was you know Two Steps from being out of the league yeah so as far as longterm like we know he has the two-year deal do you see him as being part of the team moving forward yeah I mean if he’s you know not going to price them out um if his next contract is like 25 275 for two three years yeah i’ probably still keep them around because you need versatile guys like that and by then there’s a better idea of who’s going to really be able to stick with the team who’s not maybe there’s some guys in the lineup there that won’t be there because they’ll get traded so yeah I think I think I’d think about holding on to them yeah I think so too but uh here’s to bigger and better things for Ryan paling uh definitely one of the bright spots on this Philadelphia Flyers team this season H that will do it for today’s show we will be back tomorrow like I said if you have a mailbag question get those in on Twitter at lockon Flyers you can email us at lockon Flyers Gmail or comment on our YouTube channel I am Rachel I’m on Twitter riam that’s our m i r i a I’m russum at sportsology SP o r TS o l o g y lockon has launched the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel on YouTube that’s also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channels app 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On today’s show Russ & Rachel discuss Flyers forward Ryan Poehling’s season in review. We look at his rise to the 3rd line, the new contract, and usage over the season.Then we look at goals for next season including maximizing his skills, scoring benchmarks, and longevity with the Flyers. We also get into the Memorial Cup final, the Stanley Cup Final, and more.

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