Look guys, I agree with most of what you are saying. There is one problem, its hard to be a "franchise" player if your not getting the time, and if there are better players than you in certain situations. Franchise should be your best player. Want to call him top pairing, 1D or 2D, fine I wont argue against that. Franchise, IMO, not yet. He needs more time, and I'm not referring to the 1st PP time either he could become franchise on the 2nd PP or even just during even strength. But I think he needs to improve and at his age that is totally possible.
No Flyer fan said he was a franchise Dman right now. That was the OP. We say he is a #1 because we see him play everyday and know his value.
And to comment on the PP....Ghost. That's all that need to be said really, but I will expand on this.
Ghost is 1st in PP points for Dmen this year.
Ghost is 2nd in PP points the last 2 years behind only Hedman.
Ghost is 3rd in PP points the last 3 years behind only Shatty and Burns.
And to expand that, he is 4 behind Shatty in 15 less games, 6 behind Burns in 26 less games.
Ghost is arguably the best PP Dman in the league.
When Provy entered the league, Ghost was coming of of a Calder runner up season and had cemented himself as a top PP Dman in the league. And the Flyers only use 1 Dman. There was, and has not been, any reason at all for the Flyers to remove Ghost from the top unit and put Provy there. Why make the change is Ghost is a top guy there? And Ghost being there means Provy plays more ES and plays the PK instead.
And now here is the part that hypocritical. You say that he can't be a franchise Dman if there are better options at certain situations. Why is that logic not used when Dmen don't play the PK? Werenski only plays 43 seconds of PK time. Why? Because there are better options. So he can never be a franchise Dman. Karlsson plays the 5th least PK minutes in Ottawa. Is he not a franchise Dman? Of course he is. But Ottawa has better options to play defense on the PK, freeing him up for offense. Provy gets the 18th most PK minutes per game in the entire league. He is infinitely better defensively than any other Dman for gets the "hard" minutes.
In the end, he is a #1. The term "franchise" is even more subject to interpretation. But for me, not Dman at age 20 should be dubbed "already" a franchise Dman. That is something that comes with time and having good years over and over again. So far, Provy has had a good rookie year, and is having a good 2nd year...playing as our #1Dman while lugging around Andrew MacDonald as his D partner....an achievement in itself.
