The Daily: Flyers Play Better With Tough Guy; Larkin Visits Goff

Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere recently referred to Nicolas Deslauriers as Matvei Michkov’s “new best friend.”

The Flyers are making it clear tough forward Deslauriers will have an expanded role in the upcoming season. One of his jobs could be to look after Flyers prize rookie Michkov. Last season, when Deslaurier’s role was reduced (his ice time of 8:09 per game is the lowest since 2016-17), the Flyers learned they played better when was in the lineup to back them up.

“For reference, the Flyers were 29-22-9 with Deslauriers in the lineup in 2023-24 and only 9-11-2 without him, per Statmuse,” Philly Hockey Now writer Jonathan Bailey wrote. “Philadelphia earned a point in 38 of Deslauriers’ 60 games, which means they picked up a point 63% of the time he was in the lineup. In the 22 games without him, that number drops to only 50%.”

In an interview with Philly Hockey Now, Briere said of Deslauriers: “You don’t have to worry about being taken advantage of on the ice because Nick is sitting on the bench, ready to jump on and protect you. I know, as a player, I really appreciated those players. Knowing that Nick is on the bench if something goes south, he can come in and take care of things, I think it goes a long way, especially early in the season, for our players. . . Play well, play a little bit bigger and taller, because you know you have a guy like that backing you up.”

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Red Wings Offseason

Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin visited Detroit Lions camp and presented quarterback Jared Goff with his own Red Wings jersey. Goff also got a Vladimir Konstantinov jersey.

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— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 11, 2024

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