Robert Hagg Re-signs with the Flyers (report: 2 years at $1.15 million cap hit per season)

[marcsson68]

Much of the hatred Hägg received here is linked to the circumstances that led to Sanheim being sent to LV. As if it was Hägg´s own fault.
Hägg is as well a young player who might or might not improve in certain aspects of the game as Sanheim is or many others are.

 

[dats81]

It's not like the defensemen drafted a couple of spots before him or even past round two are exactly tearing it up right now.

How many of the prospects taken after him are clearly better than Hägg at this stage of their carreers?
Brett Pesce. That's it.

... maybe it takes more time to develop until we see a clear picture.

 

[Striiker]

Much of the hatred Hägg received here is linked to the circumstances that led to Sanheim being sent to LV. As if it was Hägg´s own fault.
Hägg is as well a young player who might or might not improve in certain aspects of the game as Sanheim is or many others are.

Nope.

Ignore Sanheim and Hagg was still horrible last year. The hate he gets is deserved based on his quality of play. If anything, he’s getting off easy with all these people making blind excuses for him.

 

[Striiker]

As expected, the casual fans on Reddit are celebrating this deal and saying how great Hagg played last year.

 

[FlyTimmo]

As expected, the casual fans on Reddit are celebrating this deal and saying how great Hagg played last year.

Some gems...

"...with the exception of a few bad breakdowns (especially late in the season) he was close to as perfect of a bottom pairing defenseman as you can get."

"I hope he improves on an already great defensive game."

and the worst one of all

"Really like Hagg."

 

[BernieParent]

Third pairing money for a third pairing player who is still young and coachable (to a degree it makes him play worse) and he remains a RFA once the contract is up.

It's not like Hägg was even blocking Myers from graduating ...

But he does, simply by the numbers. Myers making the Flyers means that one of the 7 Dmen currently on the roster (counting Sanheim as one of them) has to go through waivers to the Phantoms or be dealt. I don't see this as being a realistic option for any of them.

Let me correct myself: Sanheim is still waivers exempt, so he is Myers' most realistic opponent for a roster spot. And wouldn't that be ducky seeing Sanheim relegated to the AHL for the thrill of Hagg and MacDonald doing their thing with the Flyers?

 

[lancer247]

Morin and Hagg are great signings for #6/#7 roles. Cut bait with Gudas and Macdonald and get a real top 4 dmen and this team is going to be lethal on the back end

Ghost/Provy
Myers/????? (elite top 4 )
Sanheim/Morin
Hagg

Probably more like...

Provy (our elite top 4) - Ghost
Sanheim - McD
Hagg - Gudas
Frolin

Unfortunately

Hopefully, by Feb...

Provy - Ghost
Sanheim - Gudas/McD/Hagg
Morin - Myers
Frolin

Gudas and/or Hagg trades. McD waived.

 

[sa cyred]

Charlie is pretty good at tweeting reasonable takes instead of hot ones.

Another nice thing about this contract is how tradeable it is.

Yep exactly.

I have debated Hagg more than I ever wanted to. I will say one more thing. I think it was either Charlie or the BSH group, but they did a Hagg comparison to other 3rd pairing defenders. He was right within average advanced stats wise, and this is while being overused and overexposed in a higher role than what he should have been in.

Money wise and talent wise he is making what he should. It will be up to Hak to play him correctly. He started to lower his minutes and QUALCOMP as the season went on. Hopefully this is Hak realizing his mistake.

 

[Striiker]

Some gems...

"...with the exception of a few bad breakdowns (especially late in the season) he was close to as perfect of a bottom pairing defenseman as you can get."

"I hope he improves on an already great defensive game."

and the worst one of all

"Really like Hagg."

Yeah, it’s amazing how bad it is over there. We have a few people here who don’t realize what Hagg is, but it seems like the majority over there are pretty clueless.

I have no idea what would make people think Hagg played decently, let alone great. The eye test contradicts that, on top of every stat, other than hits and +/-... so maybe that’s it?

I’ve yet to see one single valid argument anywhere on the Internet that suggests Hagg was anything but horrible.

 

[Striiker]

Yep exactly.

I have debated Hagg more than I ever wanted to. I will say one more thing. I think it was either Charlie or the BSH group, but they did a Hagg comparison to other 3rd pairing defenders. He was right within average advanced stats wise, and this is while being overused and overexposed in a higher role than what he should have been in.

Money wise and talent wise he is making what he should. It will be up to Hak to play him correctly. He started to lower his minutes and QUALCOMP as the season went on. Hopefully this is Hak realizing his mistake.

Haggs 1st, 3rd, and 4th most common forwards were Voracek, Couturier, and Giroux. 300+ minutes with each.

That, in addition to lots of time with Provorov and Ghost, surely saved his advanced stats from properly reflecting how horrible he was.

 

[pit]

Third pairing money for a third pairing player who is still young and coachable (to a degree it makes him play worse)

It's funny because being coachable is normally a desirable trait. In our context, I'm not so sure.

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

Fire Hakstol!

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Source: Bill Meltzer:

HockeyBuzz.com - Bill Meltzer - Quick Hits: Hagg Signed, WJC Showcase, and More

1) The Flyers re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Robert Hägg on Wednesday to a two-year contract carrying a $1.15 million cap hit per season. As a rookie last year, Hägg contributed nine points (three goals, six assists) in 70 games while averaging 18:08 of ice time. He led all NHL rookies in hits (238), and tied for seventh among all NHL players. He dressed in Games 5 and 6 of the Flyers' first-round playoff series Pittsburgh Penguins, averaging 11:50 of ice time.

Hägg dealt with a nagging injury late in the season after blocking a shot, returning to practice and then to the lineup a week ahead of schedule. Publicly he insisted he felt fine. However, he was soon demoted from from the starting lineup and did not return until the final two games of the playoffs (at the expense of fellow rookie Travis Sanheim). Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said he was pleased with a pairing that had Sanheim with Andrew MacDonald, and did not feel that Hägg clicked on the ice with Radko Gudas in their brief time together. Since-departed veteran Brandon Manning played with Gudas on the third pair.

Per Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, the injury, while not serious, was sufficient to force Hägg to turn down an invitation to play for Sweden in the World Championships.​

 

[sa cyred]

Haggs 1st, 3rd, and 4th most common forwards were Voracek, Couturier, and Giroux. 300+ minutes with each.

That, in addition to lots of time with Provorov and Ghost, surely saved his advanced stats from properly reflecting how horrible he was.

Oh I know. His QUALCOMP was also against 1st and 2nd line forwards more than 3rd/4th atleast for more than half the season. I guess it depends on where you fall on that scale... if you believe playing higher in the lineup with good teammates outweighs playing up in the lineup against other teams top players.

 

[Striiker]

Oh I know. His QUALCOMP was also against 1st and 2nd line forwards more than 3rd/4th atleast for more than half the season. I guess it depends on where you fall on that scale... if you believe playing higher in the lineup with good teammates outweighs playing up in the lineup against other teams top players.

It depends on who you're playing with/against.

With our top guys, it's definitely an advantage since our stars were better than the majorities of other teams stars.

 

[sa cyred]

It depends on who you're playing with/against.

With our top guys, it's definitely an advantage since our stars were better than the majorities of other teams stars.

I agree with you on that. But I don't think it's totally fair to say Player XXX isn't a good player since they didn't play well in a position that is over their skill level. It's like if we played players like Leier and even Raffl. Raffl is a solid bottom 6 player, but he shouldn't be playing with Giroux.

 

[kelmitchell]

Fire Hakstol!

(Inserts gif of men raising their glass)

 

[deadhead]

Not defensively they weren't, other than Couts.
Voracek and TK are not good defensive forwards, Giroux is average at this point in his career, Lindblom and Patrick were rookies.

Sanheim controls his own fate, as does Myers, if they play like Provorov, they play 20+ minutes a night, if they play like Carle or "bad MDZ", not so much.

Hagg's biggest competition is Gudas, if Gudas gets his mojo back and plays like 2016-17, Hagg will be glued to the 3rd pair or 7th D-man spot with Folin.

This nonsense of "favorites" is just fan talk, where's VdV, where's Manning, where's . . . these guys are "filler," the top prospects play themselves in and out of PT.

Young talented players are held to higher standards because it's called "development," if you don't ride a talented player hard, they learn they can get away with sloppy play as long as they score. If you let guys who score slide on defense and get away with mistakes you'll have a team full of losers like Gagner, Drouin and OEL.

This isn't driven by Hakstol, it's driven by Hextall - or why do the Flyers keep drafting all those high IQ, two way players instead of the scorers certain fans clamor for each draft? Why do the Flyers stress the same things from scout interviews with prospects to Gordon in the AHL to the big team?

Scorers make money but two way players hoist Cups.

 

[Curufinwe]

Cheaper than I expected.

Hopefully he's not near the bottom of the league in Corsi Rel this season.

 

[Pantokrator]

We don’t always need to have a scapegoat.

You must not be familiar with Philly fans. There MUST be a scapegoat.

 

[hatcher]

Great signing. Solid Rock dman. Plays playoffs still unlike allot of flops on the team. Hexy is gonna clean up that problem after this year.

 

[David St Hubbins]

NO
THIS
IS
WORSTEST

 

[David St Hubbins]

Predictably signed, and for good price and term. Agree with Charlie that, for a 6/7 dman this is just fine.

Oh. And Fire Haxtool

 

[Striiker]

I agree with you on that. But I don't think it's totally fair to say Player XXX isn't a good player since they didn't play well in a position that is over their skill level. It's like if we played players like Leier and even Raffl. Raffl is a solid bottom 6 player, but he shouldn't be playing with Giroux.

But Hagg doesn't even have the skill/smarts to play on the third pairing. I don't have high expectations for a 5/6 D, but he doesn't even meet those.

He does nothing at a high level and, even if he did, his complete inability to move the puck is unacceptable for an NHL defensemen. There's a baseline that should be required and he's below that.

That's why Ghost is so damn great, even though he isn't strong, he's a smart player and incredible at moving the puck. When he's on the ice he's probably going to help in taking that puck out of the defensive zone, which is the best possible way to prevent a goal. Hagg will likely be in the defensive zone the entire time, unless a teammate saves him.

I'm 100% on board with the mentality of being patient with players in their first few NHL seasons, but Hagg isn't someone that just needs to adjust and get experience... he has the exact same flaws as he showed at lower levels and there's not much chance he can magically fix that against the hardest competition. Best case scenario for him would be to get carried by an elite player so his damage is minimized, but we don't want our stars to have to carry an anchor around on their back.

 

[deadhead]

How many 6th defensemen are good at anything?
Reality check, you can't even find 180 defensemen who stayed on the ice for 10 minutes a night 5x5 for a whole season.
You expect your bottom defensemen to have meh stats and performance, or they wouldn't be your bottom defensemen (unless your roster is incredibly stacked).