Nolan Patrick’s appearance before the media Sunday wasn’t the first time he bemoaned the statistics most people use to define him. He’s tried to live up to the expectations of being a lottery pick in spite of what is typically a low point total for a player drafted second overall.

He ended up with 13 goals and 18 assists in 72 games in his second season with the Flyers, the same number of goals and one more assist than he had as a rookie. He was expected to take a step forward, and by those metrics he didn’t take a big one.

“Production wise, everyone looks at the number (of total points) and that’s something everybody judges your year off of them,” he said. “In the second half I played some really good hockey and kind of found my game. First half wasn’t good enough but played well in second half.”

So how does Patrick judge himself if not by traditional offensive numbers? Part of his game, and it was advertised this way before the Flyers drafted him second overall in 2017, is strong play in the defensive zone.

That tends not to show up in goals and assists.

“When I’m playing good, I’m skating and can feel it right from the start of game,” Patrick said. “You’re watching video on all the time on the mistakes you’ve made. When you re-watch your game, you notice things a lot more than as they’re happening during a game. Sometimes I’ll watch footage and think I played worse or better than I did. That’s kind of how I would judge it, just watching footage. I think there is another gear I can get to.”

Hearing that there’s more the Flyers haven’t seen yet is good news for general manager Chuck Fletcher but after missing out on the playoffs for the fourth time in seven years and not having won a playoff series since 2012, the Flyers need to have a big offseason.

That might include getting a No. 2 center if Fletcher doesn’t think Patrick is ready to cut it. Thirty-one points typically isn’t enough for that role even if Patrick’s game goes beyond putting the puck in the opposing net.

If the Flyers choose to drop Patrick down to third on their depth chart behind top-line center Sean Couturier, they might look at players like Brock Nelson or Kevin Hayes in free agency or perhaps trading for someone that could fill that role.

“We’ll certainly look (at free agency and potential trades), but Nolan has the capability of being a No. 2 centerman,” Fletcher said. “Whether it’s next year, time will tell. It’s hard to project with young players. He’s just 20 years old. What I like about Nolan is he’s got a pretty good game outside of points. By that I mean he is a pretty smart player defensively. He’s responsible. He works really hard. I think there’s attributes there where he can help a team even when he’s not producing. There’s certain things he needs to work on, like he needs to improve his shot. I think he’s a quality playmaker. He comes through the middle of the ice with speed. He’s one of the few players on our team when he’s on his game, he’s coming through the middle of the ice, he’s backing people off and he can make plays. I think improving his shot would help a little bit, maybe make defenders respect that area of the game and give him more opportunities to do things.”

Last season Patrick had five goals on the power play, when he took over for an injured Wayne Simmonds. When the Flyers signed James van Riemsdyk last summer, Patrick wasn’t going to see much time on the first power-play unit and it showed in the stats when he had only one goal this season on the man advantage. On the other hand, that means he improved slightly at even strength from his rookie season.

The biggest thing that Patrick may need to fix is his own personal slow starts. He finished with 20 points in his last 34 games, way up from 11 points in his first 38 games.

“I try to have big summers training wise and come in ready,” Patrick said. “I thought I was in great shape when I got here. I think it’s just a mental thing, maybe overthinking it.

“If the points aren’t coming, if I’m playing a good two-way game and making good plays in defensive zone, that gives me confidence as well. It’s not just scoring and getting points. Probably that and being good on both sides of puck and doing things consistently.”

Dave Isaac; @davegisaac; 856-486-2479; disaac@gannett.com