It was a day of change on the blue line for the Philadelphia Flyers.
In the morning came the unfortunate news that veteran defenceman Kimmo Timonen had suffered a significant health problem:
Suddenly down a key defenceman for an indeterminate length of time, the Flyers moved quickly to add an insurance policy in the event that Timonen is unable to play in 2014-15, signing offensive rearguard Michael Del Zotto:
Assuming Timonen isn’t going to be available next season, where does that situation leave Philadelphia on the back end?
Timonen had been likely to assume a top-four role with the Flyers, presumably in partnership with Braydon Coburn on Philly’s top pairing; the two have spent most of the past five seasons together and have good results. But as Del Zotto assumes Timonen’s spot on the roster, it isn’t likely that he’ll also step into the Finnish rearguard’s role at even strength.
Del Zotto, at his best, was a second-pairing even-strength defenceman with the Rangers. In 2013-14, his ice time fell and he slipped to the thir ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
Breaking Down the Flyers’ Defense After Timonen Injury and Del Zotto Signing
August 5th, 2014 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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