Flyers scratching Yandle may have extended his NHL career
In the aftermath of Keith Yandle being scratched to end his NHL record 989 game iron man streak, one has to ask, do front office personal dislike players who have similar streaks?
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast, they might not like players with such streaks coming to their teams.
In essence, the National Hockey League is a performance based professional and some people around the game don't believe the importance placed on iron man streaks are valid. To that point, I agree, however, I can also see in Yandle's specific case how some also wanted to see him hit 1000 NHL games played consecutively.
To the other point though, before the Philadelphia Flyers scratched him, Yandle had played all 67 games to that point, was a -39 and had 1 goal and 14 assists, so I do agree he wasn't performing as a defenceman in the NHL should. If you're the Flyers, I also see the need you feel to give younger guys a shot, especially being out of the playoff picture, to get them acclimatized to the game at the NHL level.
Ultimately for Keith Yandle the best thing to happen to him might be the end of his Ironman Streak, now teams looking for a veteran defenseman won't be scared off by the prospect of signing Yandle. This could give Yandle's career new life as he transitions into a different role for NHL teams next season.
| POLL | ||
Do you think the Flyers made the right call scratching Yandle? | ||
| Yes, of course. | 40 | 15 % |
| No. Where is the loyalty to players? | 127 | 47.7 % |
| Right move. Still feel for him though. | 66 | 24.8 % |
| It doesn�t matter | 33 | 12.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
