It's no secret that the Philadelphia Flyers do not exactly have a fantastic defense. But what would allow them to extract the most value possible from their limited blueline in a playoff chase?
Entering the 2015-16 season, the biggest weakness of the Philadelphia Flyers was obvious - a totally underwhelming blueline corps. In fact, there was a good case to be made that it was among the worst in the NHL on paper.
Think back to how the Flyers' defense looked back in October. The depth chart consisted of a 38-year old veteran best suited for second pair duty, a 33-year old in his first NHL season, an offensive-minded blueliner cast aside by two of the most creative offensive head coaches of the era, a throw-in trade piece from Tampa Bay, a 25-year old with four years of AHL experience, a veteran many league observers thought was finished as an NHL player in 2014, and Luke Schenn.