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The Philadelphia Flyers benefitted from some strong coaching from Brad Shaw in the past, but now, predictably, his departure is working directly against them.

Shaw, 61, deservedly earned a lot of credit for the development of multiple Flyers defensemen during his tenure in Philadelphia, headlined by the likes of Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, Rasmus Ristolainen, Nick Seeler, and even Travis Sanheim.

All of those players, at different points in their careers, either turned things completely around or took steps forward as NHLers.

Shaw, of course, was not retained by the Flyers after the firing of previous head coach John Tortorella, as Rick Tocchet was given the reins and Shaw opted for another opportunity instead of having to go through the interview process again for the same position he already had.

That opportunity, as we now know, came with the Metropolitan Division rival New Jersey Devils, who already have a high-powered defensive unit led by the likes of Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton.

NHL Trade Rumors: Flyers Have 2 Defense Targets To ConsiderIf the Flyers hope to improve their defense, they should have these three defenders on their radar.

Injuries have plagued the Devils, though, and Hughes has not been all that after a lengthy contract holdout and season-ending surgery impacted his offseason.

That meant that 2022 No. 2 overall pick Simon Nemec, who many Flyers fans were hoping would fall to them in the draft, had to step up with Hamilton, Brett Pesce, and Johnathan Kovacevic - all right-shots - on the shelf.

Well, with the added responsibilities, Nemec and Shaw have been cooking up something special in Newark.

Nemec, 21, has not been on the ice for a 5-on-5 goal against in six consecutive games, and the Slovakian defender has had a banner week overall.

After scoring a crucial game-tying goal against the New York Islanders on Nov. 10, Nemec scored a hat trick and overtime winner against the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 12, then added a shootout winner against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 15 for good measure.

For a player whose peaks and valleys were maddeningly extreme at times, Nemec, with the inadvertent help of the Flyers, now sits at four goals, eight assists, and 12 points in 20 games with a +5 rating.

Those 12 points rank 24th in the NHL in scoring amongst all defensemen, putting Nemec three behind rookie phenom Matthew Schaefer and five behind dynamos Evan Bouchard and Lane Hutson.

Flyers Trade for Senators Prospect is a Clear Home RunThe <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> are impressively continuing to find ways to turn water into wine with what has been a rather quiet NHL trade market thus far.

Now, the Flyers do have a winning record sitting at 10-6-3, but the Flyers again rank towards the bottom of the league in scoring by defensemen; they sit 29th in the NHL with just 33 points coming from blueliners.

With a fresh opportunity and more talent than he ever had with the Flyers, Shaw has taken a 21-year-old Nemec and seemingly got the youngster to finally achieve liftoff in his nascent NHL career.

As for the Flyers? Well, more young players have regressed this season than those who have improved.

The first Stanley Cup Final rematch of the season will take place on Saturday night in Sunrise.

Despite both the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers currently sitting outside of the playoff picture, there is certainly a different feel surrounding each of these potential powerhouse clubs.

For Florida, the team’s injury issues have been well known for a while now.

Entering the season without Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Tomas Nosek, then losing Dmitry Kulikov, Jonah Gadjovich, Cole Schwindt and Eetu Luostarien, all of whom remain out of the lineup, is one heck of a burden to shoulder.

Not that it’s stopped the Panthers from keeping their heads above water and chugging along while searching for consistency with a roster consisting of many players who have not spent a ton of time together.

As it stands, Florida holds an 11-8-1 record and picked up wins in four of their past five outings.

Edmonton, meanwhile, arrives in South Florida sitting at .500 with a record of 9-9-5.

The Oilers are wrapping up a monster 7-game road trip that started with an overtime win in Philadelphia and has seen Edmonton drop four of the five games since.

One thing that will be interesting to monitor is who the Oilers end up going with in goal against the Cats.

Starter Stuart Skinner allowed 15 goals over a three-game span before Calvin Pickard showed out well in their most recent outing, a 2-1 overtime loss in Tampa that saw Pickard come up with 33 saves.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Saturday’s matchup with the Oilers:

Mackie Samoskevich – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand

Jesper Boqvist – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – A.J. Greer

Noah Gregor – Luke Kunin – Jack Devine

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones

Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry

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Photo caption: Nov 20, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) celebrates with center Sam Bennett (9) after the game against the New Jersey Devils at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

Final from Los Angeles in Overtime. #GoKingsGopic.twitter.com/csOWU9989A

— LA Kings (@LAKings) November 22, 2025

Los Angeles Kings fans have been watching the same script since the start of the season. They have now played in 10 overtime games this season, tying the Edmonton Oilers for the most in the league, and tonight's loss to the Boston Bruins puts them 4-0-6 in extra periods, the most losses by any team in overtime. 

Despite outshooting their opponent 32-26, for the second straight game, the Kings once again came up short in overtime, scoring just one goal with 32 shots tells the whole story.

The Los Angeles Kings can play well enough and come back from leads to force overtime; they can even dominate large stretches of games, but when the clock hits zero, something always happens. 

Then, it’s deja vu in extra periods; everything turns to dust. 

On Friday night, coming off another shootout loss to the Sharks last night, the Kings once again fell in back-to-back overtime losses, losing 2-1 to the Boston Bruins. It’s not a fluke when the same ending plays out repeatedly; it’s a pattern, and it’s frustrating to watch. 

Kings Followed the Same Ending on a Different Night

If you’ve watched the Kings play all season, you’ve seen this movie before. They battle back, get the tying goal, generate more shots and chances than their opponent, and then, when it matters most, they break down in overtime.

Joel Armia scored the lone goal for LA midway through the third period, giving the Kings the push to stay in the game. Once OT began, the same script repeated: missed assignments, misreads, and the Bruins capitalizing immediately, and Morgan Geekie scored his second goal of the game to take the Kings' hearts. 

Overtime Is A Liability

The Kings aren’t getting outworked or losing badly; they’re failing to finish games in one format that has repeatedly haunted them: 3-on-3 overtime. 

LA just looks noticeably less confident once the game reaches sudden death. Back-to-back overtime losses expose an issue that the Kings haven’t solved, and opposing teams will use it against them when games matter. 

Right now, the story isn’t that they're losing, it’s that they’re losing the same way, and everyone keeps seeing it. Until the Kings break the script, the momentum won’t swing in their favor, and the frustration will only keep growing. 

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