The drastic and surprising improvement of the Philadelphia Flyers over the course the current season is due surely to numerous factors and one of those has to be defenseman Nick Seeler. Back in 2021 when Seeler signed with the Flyers, not much was expected of him. He was, at the time, a twenty-eight year old defenseman that had already moved through a few teams in the NHL and was just signed a one year deal in the offseason to fill a void in the Flyers’ defense. He captured the attention of Flyers fans in his first game with the team when he fought 6 ft 7 Jamie Oleksiak, a Seattle Kraken player that was much larger than him. Not much else was achieved by Seeler as the Flyers had a terrible season, but he did his job moderately well enough in the eyes of Philadelphia Flyers General Manager at the time, Chuck Fletcher, and earned himself a two year contract extension taking him into the 2023-2024 season. This extension turned out to be a gift from Fletcher as Seeler has become an absolute rock of a player for the team that continuously has a positive impact.
Seeler currently has a +13 rating with only 7 points (7 assists) through the thirty-seven games played so far this season. Those stats tell you that Seeler is doing his job as a defenseman on a high level. Having a +13 rating is incredible when you have not scored a single goal, which is the piece that affects that stat. Forward Travis Konecny is only a +11 while he has 18 goals. Since footage of a defenseman’s impact on a game when they are not scoring points is not plentiful for the public, we have to rely on what a stat like this tells us.
This basically means that Seeler is positively impacting the team in two ways. The first being the team scoring while he is on ice so one can draw the conclusion that Seeler is playing well by doing the small parts of the game to make sure offense is generated leading to goals. This is battling along the boards for the puck, moving the puck along the ice, and keeping the puck in the offensive zone. This stat also tells us that the second way he is impacting the game with such a high rating is that the opposing teams are not scoring while Seeler is on the ice. That means that he is breaking up passes, blocking shots (he leads the team with 96), and battling for the puck in the defensive zone.
Away from stats, Seeler’s impact on the current team can be ascertained by his presence and passion. A prime example of this can be seen when the Flyers played the Detroit Red Wings back on December 23rd. The Flyers were getting pummeled by the Red Wings and losing 5-1. Red Wings player Christian Fischer checked Seeler knocking him off his feet. Seeler immediately got back up and fought Fischer. The ensuing penalties and bad officiating resulted in Seeler getting tossed from the game. The five-minute penalty to Fischer for fighting was not announced and Seeler very openly voiced his displeasure to the officials causing him to get tossed.
This fight and passionate response by Seeler sparked the Flyers offense to score five goals and take the lead.
Seeler’s great performance has warranted the attention around the league as teams begin to prepare for the playoffs. Elliotte Friedman has reported that at least one team was interested in Seeler and his defensive partner, Sean Walker. This further proves that Seeler has become a great player for the Flyers and is impacting the team positively. A strong defensive pairing would go along way in the playoffs.
Currently, the Flyers have a 55.4% chance of making the playoffs themselves as they are 4th in the Metropolitan Division just one point behind the New York Islanders and three points behind the Carolina Hurricanes. At the end of this season, Seeler will become a UFA. Should the Flyers trade Seeler now that his trade value is at an all time high and allow him to positively impact the team some more by garnering another piece for the rebuild in the New Era of Orange? Or should the Flyers hang onto Seeler as the team continues to develop?
Stats courtesy of State Muse.
Playoff odds courtesy of MoneyPuck.
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