Jakob Pelletier was seen as an intriguing part of the return from the Calgary Flames in the trade that sent Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee off to Alberta. The 24-year-old winger was a former first-round pick, had unreal scoring talents in the AHL and was never really given a true opportunity on the team that drafted him. The Philadelphia Flyers were supposed to be a new environment to truly see if he could be a long-term option for a team in the middle of a rebuild.
Unfortunately, head coach John Tortorella is still unsure just how to use him and doesn’t really want to hand him a larger role right now.
Pelletier has averaged just 8:46 of ice-time in the 12 games he’s played for the Flyers — and has earned a total of two assists during that time — and has not stepped an inch on the ice during any power play or penalty kill. That’s a very limited role, stapled to a fourth line with minor-league veteran Rodrigo Abols and fighter Nic Deslauriers. Therefore, a whole lot of questions is being asked about Pelletier’s future role and overall desire to see him play more, has started to grow.
For Tortorella, he’s at a little bit of a mental standstill.
“I want to see some plays made. He has made a couple plays along the way. It’s tough for me to continue to get a read on him because we’re in these close games and he doesn’t get much ice time,” Tortorella said Wednesday afternoon.
“But I can see — the thing I love about him is his enthusiasm, his skating. He’s a quick player. Little worried about the size, I’m not sure what role he fits. Is he big enough to check? I don’t think he’s going to be a prolific scorer in the league. I’m trying to figure all of that out. The fourth line has given us some shifts; has been scored on a little bit along the way so I have to pick and choose where I put them in. Pelts is one I continue to watch and we’ll see where it goes.”
Pelletier is 5-foot-9 but the scouting report on him is that he plays bigger than his actual size. As Tortorella mentions, he is a quick-moving player and has largely avoided big, massive checks through his career.
So, if Tortorella is unsure what he can do, why doesn’t he just hand him a bigger opportunity to see it? The Flyers are certainly not making the playoffs, so why not experiment and answer some questions heading into a summer where you have to either sign the pending restricted free agent to a new contract, or not even send him a qualifying offer and he becomes a 24-year-old on the open market like Ryan Poehling was?
Rightfully, PHLY’s Charlie O’Connor gently pushes back on Tortorella’s assessment of Pelletier not having enough ice time. Because after all, Tortorella is in charge of who gets the most ice time.
“That’s the fine line. Each game we play, we’re trying to win. I know it’s a situation where winning is ‘Yeah, you win, but where does it take you?’ I just can’t approach it that way. I don’t know how to approach a team that way,” Tortorella said. “But, we’ll see. I think Lycksell has done some good things — I was thinking of switching there at one point but Lycksell has made a couple of good plays. So, why don’t I continue to look at him? It’ll all come into play as we play the games and see where we’re at and where the momentum of the games are at, to see if I can find him more.”
There are some half-truths in there. The Flyers have not played in a whole lot of close games. In the 12 games with Jakob Pelletier in the lineup, the Flyers have a 4-7-1 record and while the underlyings are not abysmal — just slightly under 50 percent shot attempt share at 5-on-5 — and Philadelphia has an overall shot on goal advantage through those games; when it comes to actual goals, there have been limited “close” games.
But it is true that Olle Lycksell, partnered with Ryan Poehling and Bobby Brink right now, has not looked out of place. And while his name is a bit older as a farmhand, he is still just two years older than Pelletier is. Does Lycksell have a massive future with the Flyers? Probably not. So, we might as well find out if the guy who has produced in every single league but the NHL, and has first-round pedigree, does.
We’re not going to argue that Pelletier is a little bit of a peculiar player. He has bottom-six energy without having a bottom-six frame (arguable if that even matters). But, it is just a little frustrating to have this significant unknown mystery of a player just hanging out with two forwards who wouldn’t be on any NHL team trying to win games, and playing less than nine minutes a night.
It’s purely anecdotal, but you want to know the one time Pelletier played a prominent role on a team this season? Back when he was in Calgary, the only time the 24-year-old played over 18 minutes in a game was on Jan. 13 against the Chicago Blackhawks and he scored two goals and three whole points in the game. Obviously, Chicago is a bad team, but still!
We also get Tortorella will never treat any NHL game as an experiment. Playoffs are out of the question but he still wants to win games and will stick with whatever is working and will not break up a line just to find something out about a different one. But, what if he did? Is putting Pelletier in Lycksell’s spot all that dangerous? Tyson Foerster has two points in his last nine games. Is that something that deserves security in the lineup?
We don’t want this lineup to be a free-for-all and just throwing interesting combinations together for the sake of it, but it feels like we’re missing out on seeing what a newly acquired player can do with this team and what role he can play when this team is good again.