Tocchet Teases Potential Flyers Lineup Change; Who Else Should Draw In?

The Philadelphia Flyers got a spark from Alex Bump in Monday night’s loss. Bump had not played in two weeks, and after scratching Matvei Michkov , Bump made his NHL playoff debut and scored his first playoff goal.

As mentioned earlier, the spark was not enough with the Flyers falling 3-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins , who forced the series back to Philadelphia for Game 6.

Simply put, the Flyers did not have a complete lineup. Many players were quiet once again. Maybe the Flyers will look to their scratched players for a spark, like they got from Bump.

During his Zoom availability on Tuesday, head coach Rick Tocchet teased a potential lineup change for Wednesday’s Game 6. “I’m not going to lie to you, it is in the discussion to maybe put him in, ” said Tocchet about rookie defenseman Oliver Bonk.

Could Bonk, 21, make his second career NHL start in the playoffs?

Breaking this down a bit, I am not fully sure what to make of it. I do think Bonk is going to be a good NHL defenseman. But I am not so sure a pivotal Game 6 is the time for him to play in his second career game.

It’s going to be a high-pressure game. The Flyers’ backs will be against the wall because, for the first time in the series, it feels like all of the pressure is on Philadelphia. It feels like a high-stakes situation for a 21-year-old to play in his second game, even if he played well in his debut.

Emil Andrae did not have a great Game 5. I can see taking him out of the lineup, but I don’t think Noah Juulsen has been bad enough that Tocchet has to resort to Bonk.

Read More : Flyers Analysis: What Changed Between Games 1, 2, & 3 and Now (+)

Who else should draw into the Flyers lineup

Now, Tocchet certainly did not commit to playing Bonk on Wednesday. He teased that he was thinking about it. In my opinion, Juulsen should get the nod here. He is one of those players who, if you’re not noticing him, he’s playing well. That’s been the case with Juulsen.

The next obvious one is that the Flyers need to find a way to get Matvei Michkov back in the lineup. It cannot turn into a thing where he misses a string of games. While yes, he is struggling, Michkov still has the creativity and offensive talent to make a difference. Sometimes players just need a game off to break through. Game 6 is too big a game not to have that sort of X-factor in the lineup.

As for who he comes in for, you cannot take Bump out. Especially not after he was the Flyers’ best player on Monday. This is a hard one. I think this would come between Denver Barkey and Garnet Hathaway . In a different situation, the quick answer is Hathaway comes out. But this has been a physical series. The Flyers have struggled since losing their rat-like tendencies. Game 6 may be the kind of game where you need someone who can get under the skin or stand up to the opponent like Hathaway. Either way, Michkov has to come back in.

Lastly, I still wonder about the goalie. Game 4, with Dan Vladar a little banged up, was the perfect chance to give Sam Ersson a game. They didn’t. Then, before Game 5, I wrote that I would play Ersson in that game, citing the fact that if you get post-break Ersson, you could close the series out, but if he lost the game, then you have a rested Vladar for Game 6 at home. Vladar played, but he looked like he was starting to run out of gas.

Now, it poses the question of whether you trust Ersson enough in a Game 6, knowing you’d have a rested Vladar in Game 7 if needed? Or, do you just keep Vladar in goal for the entire series?

It’d be a less-than-ideal time for Ersson to draw in, but you have to wonder about it.

Read More: Flyers Playoff Blog: There Should be Confidence in Sam Ersson

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