Confirmed with Link: Nate Thompson obtained from Montreal for ‘21 5th

[GKJ]

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[DancingPanther]

I'm trying to find out how to feel about Thomson. He's vanilla. xGF% and CF% are around 48 each, so just about league average. Relative possession and xGF numbers on his Habs team we towards the bottom, though he did hover in the middle of the pack in relative HDCF which is something. Worth noting he was deployed much more often in the Dzone but I never weight that too heavy when looking at these numbers- if you're good enough you'll bring the puck to the O zone and keep it there.

Looks like he played with Cousins and Lehkonen mostly in MTL seeing about 10-12min each night on the 3rd and 4th line. I dunno. 12 pts; 8 primary (4 goals). Gets a huge meh from me. Hardly an upgrade over anything right now, gives some injury depth to save us from Andy Andyoff and Bitch Stewie at the very least.

For a 5th rounder I can't complain too loudly. This isn't something I'm sharpening the pitchfork over....but now that Grant is added to the mix? Creating a logjam of dead weight....don't like that

 

[Johnk0728]

He is a veteran 4th line Center who kills penalties and can take draws. Adds forward depth.... I have no problem with the move. He is probably an upgrade from Bunnaman or at least should be.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Flyers add depth at center, get Nate Thompson, Derek Grant

The Flyers are holding their own in the best division in the NHL and the Metropolitan Division started beefing up early Monday morning, the day of the league’s trade deadline.

Flyers general manager and team president Chuck Fletcher saw the New York Islanders add Jean- Gabriel Pageau, whom Fletcher had targeted, the Washington Capitals add Ilya Kovalchuk, the Carolina Hurricanes add Vincent Trochek and the Pittsburgh Penguins add Patrick Marleau.

With little cap space to work with, Fletcher added Nate Thompson from the Montreal Canadiens for a 2021 fifth-round pick and Derek Grant from the Anaheim Ducks for South Jersey native Kyle Criscuolo and a fourth-round pick in 2020.

Thompson, 35, is a pending unrestricted free agent with a $1 million cap hit who has four goals and 14 points in 63 games for the Canadiens while averaging 12:48 of ice time. He has 62 games of playoff experience, mostly with the Ducks between 2015 and 2017.
Grant, who turns 30 in April, is also on an expiring contract worth $700,000. He has a career-high 14 goals with the Ducks averaging 13:52 of ice time.

It’s unclear exactly how Alain Vigneault will alter his depth chart
moving forward. Connor Bunnaman seems destined to be headed to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, although he did practice with the Flyers Monday.

Grant may end up either being the third- or fourth-line center, which would make Thompson either a fourth-line center or extra body. Scott Laughton, who prefers to play wing and the Flyers prefer to see him there, may end up moving out of the center position with the moves.​

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Flyers add depth at center, get Nate Thompson, Derek Grant

The Flyers are holding their own in the best division in the NHL and the Metropolitan Division started beefing up early Monday morning, the day of the league’s trade deadline.

Flyers general manager and team president Chuck Fletcher saw the New York Islanders add Jean- Gabriel Pageau, whom Fletcher had targeted, the Washington Capitals add Ilya Kovalchuk, the Carolina Hurricanes add Vincent Trochek and the Pittsburgh Penguins add Patrick Marleau.

With little cap space to work with, Fletcher added Nate Thompson from the Montreal Canadiens for a 2021 fifth-round pick and Derek Grant from the Anaheim Ducks for South Jersey native Kyle Criscuolo and a fourth-round pick in 2020.

Thompson, 35, is a pending unrestricted free agent with a $1 million cap hit who has four goals and 14 points in 63 games for the Canadiens while averaging 12:48 of ice time. He has 62 games of playoff experience, mostly with the Ducks between 2015 and 2017.
Grant, who turns 30 in April, is also on an expiring contract worth $700,000. He has a career-high 14 goals with the Ducks averaging 13:52 of ice time.

It’s unclear exactly how Alain Vigneault will alter his depth chart
moving forward. Connor Bunnaman seems destined to be headed to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, although he did practice with the Flyers Monday.

Grant may end up either being the third- or fourth-line center, which would make Thompson either a fourth-line center or extra body. Scott Laughton, who prefers to play wing and the Flyers prefer to see him there, may end up moving out of the center position with the moves.​

 

[pit]

Is this some kind of 4D chess move to prevent line matching?

Opposing coach: They're putting out their fourth line, so let's put out our first.
Opposing assistant: No, it's not their fourth line, that one has Thompson.
Opposing coach: No, it has Grant.
Opposing assistant: No, Thompson is on the fourth line.
Opposing coach: Are you trying to tell me some team has two fourth lines or something? That's impossible! Is this some kind of trick? We better deploy our fourth line just to be safe.

Chuck Fletcher...

 

[Hockeypete49]

I love both moves. Well done.

 

[SnS]

I want to chew a wall.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

Got to think the front office has little confidence in Patrick coming back. Which is too bad. He is a upgrade over Bunny

 

[Beef Invictus]

Bolsters the bottom I guess

 

[Irvdog13]

Good depth guys. Mate wins draws and can play 4c over Bunny. Grant can skate has some size and is half nasty. I like both these inexpensive additions to a team that generally likes what it is today. Great additions.

 

[Curufinwe]

Instant Analysis: Nate Thompson traded to the Flyers for a...

Thompson was a significant drag when it came to generating offence, at least relative to the team’s averages. It’s not specifically an indictment of his play as much as it is the reality of playing a defensive role on the fourth line of a team that tends to control the majority of the shots. During his shifts, the Canadiens did shoot much less than usual, but in fairness they also shot at just below the league average.

When Thompson scored, he scored with style, showing a surprisingly high level of skill and speed as he drove to the net. But at 35 years of age, his days of scoring 10 goals per season or thereabouts are well behind him.

 

[GKJ]

Depth is important.

 

[deadhead]

Thompson is better than Vorobyev or Raffl at 4C, and much more experienced than Bunnaman.

Not an earth shattering move but one that does upgrade the fourth line, and more importantly, doesn't force them to depend on a 21 year old who's still learning how to play in key games during a playoff run.

It's not like Bunnaman, Farabee or Frost were traded, they're still only 2 hours from South Philly.

 

[DancingPanther]

Depth is important.

So let's send Farabee down

 

[PHILOUDELPHIA]

I want to chew a wall.

When the life gives you a Jeffrey, Stroke the fury wall

 

[DancingPanther]

Thompson is better than Vorobyev or Raffl at 4C, and much more experienced than Bunnaman.

Not an earth shattering move but one that does upgrade the fourth line, and more importantly, doesn't force them to depend on a 21 year old who's still learning how to play in key games during a playoff run.

It's not like Bunnaman, Farabee or Frost were traded, they're still only 2 hours from South Philly.

Exactly. So now to get Farabee used to those key situation in key games (like the last 20 games in a season long dogfight for the playoffs for example) we'll send his ass to the Phantoms to play "big time minutes", on a team miles out of the playoff contention.

C zun ing.

 

[GKJ]

So let's send Farabee down

Fine with me, he's got 10 points in almost 3 months and 6 of them came in a 5-game stretch encompassing the all-star break. He's still a raw product who will need more support as the games get heavier.

 

[DancingPanther]

Fine with me, he's got 10 points in almost 3 months and 6 of them came in a 5-game stretch encompassing the all-star break. He's still a raw product who will need more support as the games get heavier.

Exactly, so let's not have him play in those "heavier" games at all. This is after his chemistry with Hayes and TK was starting to improve over a stretch of games with good metrics.

 

[GKJ]

Exactly, so let's not have him play in those "heavier" games at all. This is after his chemistry with Hayes and TK was starting to improve over a stretch of games with good metrics.

There will still be opportunities since we're only carrying 12 forwards.

 

[deadhead]

The problem with Farabee in those "heavier" games is he's not going to get any heavier in the next two months.

AV put Raffl in his place to protect a lead against Winnipeg because he was losing puck battles.

This is not a knock on Farabee, if Lindblom and Patrick were healthy he'd spend the year in LHV, and push for a job next fall after he adds another 10 lbs of muscle over the summer. He's a lot like TK his first couple seasons, the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. Except Farabee is going to end up a lot bigger than TK when all is said and done.

I think Fletcher and AV love Farabee and Frost, they just don't like them in physical games down the stretch on in the playoffs, and wanted some other options. Right now they want to integrate the two veterans into the lineup so the kids play in LHV. This can all change in a week or two.

 

[Frostpickle]

The problem with Farabee in those "heavier" games is he's not going to get any heavier in the next two months.

AV put Raffl in his place to protect a lead against Winnipeg because he was losing puck battles.

This is not a knock on Farabee, if Lindblom and Patrick were healthy he'd spend the year in LHV, and push for a job next fall after he adds another 10 lbs of muscle over the summer. He's a lot like TK his first couple seasons, the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. Except Farabee is going to end up a lot bigger than TK when all is said and done.

I think Fletcher and AV love Farabee and Frost, they just don't like them in physical games down the stretch on in the playoffs, and wanted some other options. Right now they want to integrate the two veterans into the lineup so the kids play in LHV. This can all change in a week or two.

Agreed 100% Farabee got rocked a couple of times last game too. Thompson is fine as a 4th line center, descent faceoff guy. Article stated Laughton moving to wing and Farabee to Lehigh so...
G-Couts-Jake
JVR-Hayes-TK
Laughton-Grant-Pitlick
Raffl-Thompson-NAK

Definitely a bit more grit

 

[GapToothedWonder]

Exactly. So now to get Farabee used to those key situation in key games (like the last 20 games in a season long dogfight for the playoffs for example) we'll send his ass to the Phantoms to play "big time minutes", on a team miles out of the playoff contention.

C zun ing.

Anything that happens this year is a bonus. Everything is geared towards next year. All they should care about is getting into the playoffs and trying to win a round with the young kids to get them a taste of playoff hockey.

These sort of moves that prevent any young player from getting playoff experience for a player that in all likeliness wont be here next year are only about trying to sell tickets and making playoff revenue.

People have just lost patience at the last minute and are too focused on this year.

Whether these are improvements are not. It's the wrong process to follow at the end.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

It's the wrong process to follow at the end.

Bingo.

 

[DancingPanther]

It's the wrong process to follow at the end.

Which is why it's so maddening