There’s been a lot of debate and talk as to why Emil Andrae is being sent down to the AHL. When you take into account that the Flyers have three defensemen they’re looking at to run the power play in Jamie Drysdale, Cam York, and Travis Sanheim, it was always going to be an uphill battle for Andrae to crack the lineup.
While I think Andrae has a future in this league, he’s still too inconsistent. Tocchet, Briere, and Jones are building this team to compete in the playoffs, and that requires some size on the backend. Noah Juulsen and Adam Ginning provide exactly that. They’re here to help kill penalties and provide the physical presence championship teams need.
The Real Competition
While I agree their camps haven’t been as good at times, you have to realize that Emil Andrae was never in competition with Juulsen or Ginning. He was in competition for time on the power play and a roster spot as a guy who can play top-four minutes. That’s how his game will translate to the NHL—it won’t be as a 5/6 penalty-killing defenseman.
In the last game of the preseason, you can see that Andrae was given the most power play ice time on the team to see if he could spark something. He went 0-4, including not scoring in the overtime 4-on-3. And honestly, they didn’t even really get any good looks.
Breaking Down the Power Play Struggles
Clip 1 – 2nd Period
The power play breakout is messy as he rushes the pass, and it’s only saved by Luchanko entering the zone. At 55 seconds into the clip, you’ll see a 4-on-4 situation with the play down low and Andrae up top being the odd man. The Power Play is all about finding mismatches and when you find that mismatch you want it to be in a prime scoring position.
Ideally, as this puck gets moved around, you want to sneak into the zone a little deeper. When he takes this one-timer, his skates are practically on the blue line and no one is within 10 feet of him. This isn’t the look that’s going to generate a quality scoring chance. If the four forwards are going to play below the top of the circle, the penalty killers are going to collapse, and that’s your time as a defenseman to sneak into that area to get a good quality shot off.
The one-timer is an easy save and clear for the Bruins as the power play expires.
Clip 2 – 3rd Period
Right off the draw when the Flyers get possession, it feels like the set play they were looking for wasn’t available. Instead of walking the blue line or making a quick direct pass, he sends it down low, which turns into a 50/50 puck. After years of watching the Flyers’ abysmal power play, we can’t be putting our forwards in the position to compete for 50/50 pucks. The slightest amount of pressure causes him to throw this puck away.
After he turns the puck over and the Bruins clear, it’s time to regroup. As he moves the puck up, he’s the trailer option if the winger doesn’t see the space or pass to make heading into the zone. He’s gotta be moving with speed to take advantage of the flat-footed Bruins in order to set this up. However, he fumbles the pass and it’s an easy poke check for the Bruins, resulting in another turnover.
If he can’t be counted on to bring the puck into the zone on the power play as the last option, he’s not going to see time on the power play.
The next regroup isn’t much different. His pass to the winger is right into their line change, and it turns into a 2-on-1 against him. From an optics standpoint, his inactive stick—just staying in the middle—seemed lazy. NHLers are too good for you to just bend down and lay your stick down. You need to try and bait the pass or pick it off. Or at least if he’s going to try and take away the pass, maybe either commit to the pass or go at the puck carrier to force a harder pass.
He’s lucky the goalie bailed him out on this one. All in all, three times on the power play he had the puck, and not once in his minute on the ice did this power play look even close to a threat.
Clip 3 – Overtime
Okay, with a minute and thirty seconds left in the overtime period, the Flyers get one last chance with the man advantage, and Andrae gets the entire time. I personally think the Flyers need to move this puck quicker—more one-touch passing trying to get guys out of position. However, again, when the Flyers do move it down low and the Bruins collapse to the net, rarely is Andrae in a position low enough to be a scoring threat.
Goalies at this level are too good to blast from that far away if they have a good sight line to the puck.
The Bigger Picture
Again, I want to say that while this is just one game of preseason footage, you know the Flyers are also looking at last year’s performance when evaluating as well. Andrae may very well turn into a great player in this league, but as of right now, he’s just not that guy.
He’ll get his looks and chances during the season as injuries inevitably happen. But the Flyers just aren’t in a position to dress Cam York, Drysdale, and Andrae—especially as we see more and more teams try and replicate Florida’s model of success, which is physically outcompeting and bullying you down low.
The decision to send Andrae down isn’t about giving up on him. It’s about recognizing that his pathway to NHL success runs through power play production and top-four minutes, and right now, he hasn’t shown he’s ready for that role. Better to have him dominating in Lehigh Valley than struggling to find his footing in Philadelphia.