Of all the problems the Philadelphia Flyers dealt with during the 2022-23 season, one of the more alarming developments is the play of 26-year-old defenseman Ivan Provorov. His play has spiraled out of control to borderline abysmal levels, which has only turned up the heat on a pot that has been at near boiling over levels for over a year now. The question of his future in Philadelphia is at the forefront of most fan’s minds these days, but before you give him a one-way ticket out of Philadelphia, let’s hear both sides of the argument.
Pros
Maybe… he wants out
There are few people as dedicated to their craft as Ivan Provorov. It’s undisputed that he’s one of the hardest workers on and off the ice when it comes to training. The image of Provorov crying on the bench after the Flyers were eliminated from the 2018 playoffs where he destroyed his shoulder is all you need for his show of heart. But what if the current situation the Flyers have found themselves in over the last few seasons have beat him down to a point where he’s checked out as well? “Why should I play hard if nobody else does?” Has to be a thought that has crossed his mind at least once over the course of the few seasons. If the Flyers are comfortable being losers, maybe a split is best way forward for all involved.
A valuable trade piece
In terms of trade value on the Flyers roster, Provorov is pretty high on that list. With major holes to fill at center and on the right side of the defense, dealing Provorov gives the organization the best chance to land a cocktail of assets in return. If a trade is the way things go, at least there should be plenty of interest on the market for the 26-year-old.
Deep on the left side
Left-handed defenseman is one of the few positions the Flyers have some depth at. there’s a bit more skepticism about the quality now than there was this time last year with Cam York, Travis Sanheim and Nick Seeler at the NHL level with prospects Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae knocking at the door, but York and Andrae are still expected to be higher-end players sooner rather than later and one of Sanheim and Zamula should be good enough to hold down the third line spot.
Cons
Is it premature to deal him?
The biggest argument against trading Provorov is simple- We’ve seen him be great in the past. He was a top guy as recently as 2019-20 when he spent the season playing with Matt Niskanen. He posted a 17-goal, 41-point season in 2017-18. Provorov was supposed to tandem with Ryan Ellis season from 2021 on, but he played all of four games before retiring unexpectedly. Does it make him a number one defenseman if he needs a solid partner to work? Maybe, maybe not, but he can take his game to the next level when deployed with a quality partner. Moving on from him after two seasons working without a legitimate line mate seems like a bad idea.
Who replaces him?
Even with an abundance of left-handed defensemen on the team and in the system, none have ever handled the responsibility as the number one defenseman. Sanheim struggles to rise to the occasion even on the second pair, and Cam York has played almost exclusively on Provorov’s right side for much of his short NHL career.
He’s eighth in the NHL in average TOI over the last five seasons with 24:31, second in total minutes behind only Brent Burns, 17th in shorthanded TOI, 12th at even strength TOI and fourth in blocked shots with a whopping 700. That’s not something that you can just snap your fingers and replace.
Instant regret
Fans love to point to players that leave Philly and find success elsewhere then blame the team for being unsuitable for player development, and with a player the caliber of Provorov, if he gets put on a competitive team with a partner that brings out the best in him, it’s almost a guarantee he reverts to the star we’ve seen in the past. If you’re crapping on his play now and demanding he gets traded… be careful what you wish for.
Conclusion
The Flyers are in the ultimate no-win situation with Provorov. He’s their most important defenseman who has completely checked out for a flurry of reasons, yet his trade value isn’t at its peak and the salary cap remaining flat limits the deal the Flyers could make for him anyway.
Keep him and get a pouty prima donna whose play is vastly underwhelming from what we know it could be, or trade him for a sub-optimal return and watch him flourish on a team that is constructed much better than the Flyers.
Basically the entirety of this move boils down to two things- whether or not the Flyers get fair market value for Provorov in a trade and whether or not Cam York is ready to be the top guy.
One of the biggest reasons Provorov failed was the fact that the organization failed to insulate him with a proper partner (and really the entire defense corps), so for them to deal away Provorov for a draft pick or two and to coronate York with no quality partner on the right side just sets them up for the same situation with their 22-year-old defenseman.
At the end of the day, the Flyers are about to (hopefully) go through a summer with major roster shakeups, so Provorov shouldn’t be “untouchable” if a deal comes across Briere’s desk that’s too good to refuse. That being said, he’s one of those guys that has a high likelihood of success if he ends up on a good team. Unless there is a king’s ransom to be had in return, trading Provorov just may not make sense at this point.
Though it could just be time to part ways with him. He’s caused the franchise quite a headache both on the ice and off it for the last few years and he could simply have worn out his welcome. He has been here for seven seasons already after all. It’s a tall task for rookie GM Danny Briere’s first move in his new role to deal away their top defenseman for fair market value and somehow craft a new defense without him, but if they’re not willing to build around him, which is clearly the case, liquidating him for assets and starting anew on the back end is just the best way to go.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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