With the James van Riemsdyk signing, there has been plenty of talk about how he improves the Flyers top-6 and their power play. The only discussion about the PP I've seen, however, is whether of not JVR takes Sean Couturier's place on the first unit or not. I'd like to offer a different idea that could possibly improve the power play as a whole, instead of just the first unit. I will preface this by saying that this makes more sense if you view the power play as 1A-1B situation instead of PP1 and PP2.

Last year the Flyers first unit was Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Couturier, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Jake Voracek. I know Nolan Patrick took Simmonds spot later in the season, but Simmonds still led the team in PP goals, so for now he will be listed as a member of the first unit. This group scored a total of 39 goals, which accounted for 72% (39/54) of the teams power play production. The second unit last year consisted of some combination of Patrick, Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny, Valtteri Filppula, Michael Raffl, and Jordan Weal. Sometimes it even included guys like Dale Weise, Jori Lehtera, and Brandon Manning! They were responsible for the other 15 goals. Again, we all know that Patrick ended the year on PP1, but that just makes the second unit look even worse than it already is. Anyway, you get the point, as soon as the Giroux Crew left the ice the power play was essentially over.

Looking ahead to next year it looks like one of two things will happen:

The first unit will be remain the same as the end of last season (Giroux, Patrick, Couturier, Gostisbehere, and Voracek) JVR will take Couturiers spot on PP1. As fans we obviously don't know what the Flyers are going to do until we see them on the ice, but the off-season is long and speculating is fun!

For the past couple of years the the setup of the Flyers power play has been pretty consistent. It includes:

Right-handed forward at the left facoff dot (Giroux/Danny Briere)

Right-handed forward in front of the goalie/side of the net (Simmonds/Patrick)

Left-handed forward in the slot (Couturier/Brayden Schenn/Scott Hartnell)

Left-handed forward at the right facoff dot (Voracek/Jaromir Jagr)

Left-handed defenseman at the point (Gostisbehere/Mark Streit/Kimmo Timonen)

The structure the Flyers use has been in place for years, with the only real changes being the personnel being used. Overall, it has been fairly successful, with the exception of the second unit, obviously. The only problem I see with this going into next year is that, typically, only one defenseman is used on each unit. That is not specific to the Flyers though, that's pretty much the norm for the rest of the league as well. My problem with that is the Flyers have three defenseman that could be serious contributors on the power play. Those three being Gostisbehere, Provorov, and Travis Sanheim (assuming he makes the team this year).

We all know how good on the power play Gostisbehere is, racking up 7 goals and 26 assists. Provorov, on the otherhand, excelled at 5v5 by scoring 15 of his 17 goals at even strength along with 21 of his 24 assists. With that kind of even strength production it's hard to imagine that Provorov can't contribute more than he has on the power play (2g 3a). Last, but certainly not least, we have Sanheim. Flyers fans have been screaming for him to be on the team all season, and he should be a full time Flyer heading into the 2018 season. In the AHL, Sanheim has 56 points in 98 total games. We've had very brief moments in the NHL were we saw what Sanheim is capable of, and it should be a no-brainer to give this kid some power play time. The problem we come to though, is that between the two units, the Flyers typically only like to use one defenseman on each, so where does everyone fit in?

What if instead of last years unit of Giroux, Patrick, Couturier, Gostisbehere, and Voracek, we did something like Giroux, Patrick, JVR, Provorov, and Gostisbehere? It would look something like this:

Giroux at the left facoff dot

Patrick in front of the goalie/side of the net

JVR in the slot

Gostisbehere at the right facoff dot

Provorov at the point

The key changes here are bringing in JVR, moving Gostisbehere to the left dot, and adding Provorov at the point. While removing Voracek and Couturier from this unit may seem like they are being punished, that is not the case. Like I have said before, the point of this is to balance the power play units, and that can't happen if one unit is overloaded with all of our best players. Before I dive into my reasoning and thought process, here's what the 1b unit would look like:

Konecny at the left facoff dot

Couturier in front of the goalie/side of the net

Simmonds in the slot

Voracek at the right facoff dot

Sanheim at the point

Basically what I was thinking was that on the 1A unit Giroux would continue to be the QB and really nothing would change much in how they operate. Giroux controls the play along the wall, and has several passing options, just like he has for the past couple years. Moving Gostisbehere to the right dot is actually something we've seen before, albeit in very small doses, but he seemed comfortable. For example, in the game against Dallas on 12/16/17 we saw him and Voracek switch places which resulted in Gostisbehere scoring a goal. Putting Provorov at the point was an easy decision because of how well he can get shots on net. Of his 390 shot attempts last season, 203 ended up of goal (52.1%). For comparison, Victor Hedman (last years Norris Trophy winner) attempted 439 shots, with 216 being on net (49.2%). Now that isn't much of a difference, but being better than the current Norris Trophy winner in getting shots on net is nothing to scoff at. Keeping Patrick in Simmonds old spot is an obvious decision to make. We all saw how well he did there at the end of last season. Lastly, Putting JVR in the slot/in front of the goalie is where he thrives, so as the old saying goes; if it ain't broken don't fix it.

The 1B unit requires a more of an adjustment from the players being used. Let's talk about Voracek to start. He had a fantastic year last season and played great on the power play, which is why he would be the QB on the 1B unit. His passing and his ability to protect the puck should make for a great leader on this unit. He has almost all the same options Giroux has on the 1A unit, but flipped. Both power play units are essentially just mirrored versions of each other, the only exception being both point defenseman are left-handed. For this unit to work I felt that it was best to keep Voracek, Couturier, and Simmonds together to be the "veteran presence". I know that phrase has caused a lot of Flyers fans to drink last season, but this time it doesn't refer to Lehtera, Manning, or Weise. Anyway, Voracek, Couturier, and Simmonds are all great players, if we mix in Konecny, who had a great season last year, and Sanheim there's no reason why this unit shouldn't at least be effective while on the ice.

At the end of the day the decision about the power play is up to the coaching staff, and we have to hope that they find a way to make this team as good as they possibly can. But as I said before; we don't know what the Flyers are going to do until we see them on the ice, but the off-season is long and speculating is fun!