Sophomore Slump

By Michael Rushton

Last season was the year of the rookie.

Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, and Dion Phaneuf all helped usher in the new post-lockout NHL era with sensational freshman seasons. Ovechkin scored 52 goals, had 106 points and won the Calder Trophy as the league's best rookie. Crosby was hot on his heels with 102 points while Phaneuf, a defenseman, finished a plus-five with 16 power-play goals.

Even the Stanley Cup-winning Carolina Hurricanes got in on the act as then rookie Cam Ward manned the pipes for a majority of the playoffs and was the postseason most valuable player. Ward wasn't even the best rookie goaltender during the regular season. That distinction, arguably, belonged to Henrik Lundqvist up in the Big Apple.

The Flyers themselves weren't without some talented first-year players. Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, R.J. Umberger and Freddy Meyer all made solid contributions in what ended with a first-round exit from the playoffs.

Carter and Richards we had heard about. Two players the Flyers wouldn't trade. One a bigger, more powerful center, the other, a playmaking future captain. That duo, paired with the likes of Umberger, Meyer and Randy Jones made the Flyers' future look bright.

But while Crosby (14 goals, 41 points), Ovechkin (18 goals, 37 points) and Phaneuf (seven pp goals, plus-16) have all kept it up this season, Philadelphia's sophomores have not.

Allow me to throw two more stats your way: 12 goals, minus-32. Those are the combined numbers of Richards, Carter, Umberger and Meyer as of Wednesday morning. Richards and Carter have just one goal a piece. Both are hurt.

Meyer, meanwhile, is struggling to keep his head above the water. The unfortunate 25-year-old has just one veteran defender manning the blue lines with him and way too much is being asked of him.

Last year, the Flyers were too old and slow. Now they are too young and inexperienced.

To be fair to the Flyer youngsters, Crosby and Ovechkin are special players; game-changing talents that show up every now and then.

But two goals?

The Flyers are a mess right now, this we know. The biggest problem for our young guys is there are just too many of them. So how do we fix it? The Flyers have two options.

First, they could bring in some cheap veteran help. Nothing spectacular, just experienced skaters they can get for later draft picks or Triston Grant type players. That would be the short-term solution. Yes, it would take minutes away from Ryan Potulny and Ben Eager, but I'll live with it.

Or, they can decide to take their growing pains in stride and let the players develop on their own. The draw back there is that without veteran leaders to help out, Philly runs the risks of stunting its player's growth. That is the long-term solution and probably take the Flyers out of the postseason picture for a few years.

Only time will tell which path the Flyers will take.