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7 Comments (3 conversations)
luketd
great breakdown. one thing charlie noted for a long time is that maybe Torts got into his head and when he got the 2nd call up he was overthinking too much. Hopefully with a strong offseason Andrae can come into Training Camp as a favorite
guadzilla
At 23, the guy isn’t a kid anymore. IMO, if learning to play in a structured system causes him to “overthink” things, then that’s either a poor reflection on his mental fortitude or a sign that he needs more AHL time (although by now, he’s had enough time there that further seasoning wont really do much more).
guadzilla
It could also be that both Andrae and Zamula’s stats look better because of the system that they are playing in – this team’s performance hasn’t matched up to its analytics for long enough that it isn’t really a statistical aberration anymore.
Andrae is a decent but fungible defender, nothing more, nothing less. That, depressingly, sums up most of the players on the D, to be honest (there still being hope for Drysdale to become more than this, though). Who in the team is a shut-down defender? Or the PP QB? Or the guy who can legitimately evade the first forechecker and bring the puck out of the zone?
Daniel Bompadre
I don’t know if I buy the argument that it’s just the system as it doesn’t seem to be impacting all their defensemen. The team’s performance is largely driven by their awful goaltending and abysmal power play—I’m of the belief that if you fix those two items, this is a playoff team as is today. Not a cup contender by any means, but makes it over the line.
I wouldn’t be out on Andrae so quickly. Defensemen take a longer time to get into rhythm (Sanheim took a noticeable step at age 26), and as mentioned in the article his first half results were incredible. I still believe that player is in there.
If you’re looking for roles, all of Zamula/Andrae/Risto posted very good defensive stats this year. You can play that style by committee. They’re still missing a strong PP QB (which could be Drysdale still), and they haven’t really had a puck-carrying defenseman for awhile (Sanheim is quite good at it, just doesn’t do it a lot, Drysdale does it a lot but could have better success rates). They still could use an “alpha” first line defensemen but they’re actually decent in terms of depth. There’s no every-day lineup sore spot.
guadzilla
I am not out on Andrae, to be clear – apologies if my post came across as that. I just think he is a supporting player – not a foundational piece. Which isnt a bad thing: depth is what wins playoff games, after all and the Flyers have fielded very competitive .
As for the team – I agree with you that this was a playoff team with better goaltending. But i see that as a triumph of their structure. I’ve said this before but the last time i saw such solid puck support and gap management on a Flyers team was probably the Terry Murray days. IMO, it is this solid structure that has made the team more competitive than the pure talent on its roster would indicate. That also makes the analytics of each player better than pure talent would otherwise warrant.
guadzilla
*Flyers have fielded very competitive teams despite their roster holes on the strength of that depth
jerzyte
I watched the Phantoms playoffs. The best Dman that I saw was Helge Grans. Andre was Ok, but Grans was a playmaker and defensively responsible. I Would put him over Andre.