As the Flyers keep their head above water in the tightly-packed Metropolitan Division, a lot of the defensive play has centered on a new concept. Namely, not blocking every shot every shift which former coach John Tortorella preached ad nauseam.
Rick Tocchet still wants players to block shots, but it’s not the end all and be all of the team’s success in their own end. It looks more like a Plan C or D option to prevent the other team from scoring. Tocchet is relying on lanes being cleared and letting the goalies stop the puck. Of course, not allowing a shot for nearly half the game as they did Saturday against Ottawa doesn’t hurt either.
Through it all, a lot of the praise on the blue line has revolved around Travis Sanheim being a horse, Jamie Drysdale coming into his own, and Cam York becoming a post-Torts revelation. And deservedly so. Each has done a credible job of sharing the workload and minutes.
That’s three of the top four defenders. Yet Nick Seeler is also holding his own on the middle pairing while adjusting to this new way of keeping things tidy in Philadelphia’s end. He’s not lighting things up on the scoresheet with zero goals and two assists. He never has. But he is playing quite well from the eye test.
In the opening portion of the season, Sanheim and Seeler were a pairing, with Seeler relishing the chance to be the number two on the depth chart for a few games.
“I was with Sanny for a few games there, and obviously the minutes were up which was great,” Seeler said after an Oct. 19 practice. “Him and York logged quite a few last night (against Minnesota Oct. 18), they did a great job. So I think we’re all just buying in together as six of us and doing our jobs and doing the best we can out there.”
During the Nashville game on Oct. 30, Seeler praised assistant coach Todd Reirden for the team’s penalty-killing efficiency. But also stressed that the team is willing to block shots despite the structure looking rather different than last year’s special team. It’s that change that might have some believing Seeler isn’t delivering as much as he did last season. But the numbers suggest otherwise. Through 15 games this year, Seeler’s ice time is just over 20 minutes a game (20:05), an increase from last year’s average (17:16). Part of that comes from injury, namely to Cam York to start the season and also Rasmus Ristolainen not playing a game yet. Part of it is the penalty-kill and the horde of minor penalties Philadelphia has taken. And also the lingering doubt Rick Tocchet has had in his rotating third pairing most of the season thus far. Regardless, Seeler is holding his own in the defensive zone this year compared to the previous season as this table will show you (Note: all stats are based on five-on-five play). It’s not that he was bad last year, he’s just primarily a tad better this season.
Seeler is holding his own this season
| Corsi For % | Fenwick For % | Shots For % | Expected Goals % | High Danger Corsi For % | |
| 2024-25 (77 games) | 43.92 | 47.44 | 46.30 | 49.29 | 49.17 |
| 2025-26 (15 games) | 47.81 | 48.26 | 47.60 | 46.62 | 52.22 |
As you can see, Seeler is doing the job in his time at even strength. His metrics are up in some respects with the expected goals percentage down slightly. Everything else seems to be fine for the defenseman. Again, nothing stands out for Seeler in these numbers, but the fact that his game has been altered somewhat because of the reduced shot-blocking, and he’s no worse for wear, is a good sign.
So far, in terms of five-on-five play, Seeler has been with Drysdale the vast majority of the season (170:48) although he saw some games with Sanheim (58:02) while York recovered from injury. The remainder is essentially spot time with the remaining defenders: Juulsen (7:16), York (6:22), Ginning (5:33), Andrae (2:13) and Zamula (1:58).
As reported earlier in the season, both Drysdale and Seeler started like a house on fire in terms of being on the right side of both the puck and the ice. And they’ve still maintained that consistency for the most part. They are 23rd overall (minimum 75 minutes played) regarding expected goals against per game (2.22 while Sanheim/York are eleventh at 2.04).
Perhaps the biggest strength so far to Seeler’s game has been the trust Tocchet has placed in him. Again, part of that might be the fact he’s hesitant using the third pairing a bit more, and that Ristolainen is hurt. As well, although the discipline has marginally improved for Philadelphia (29 power play chances for opponents in the first seven contests versus now 22 in the last eight games), Seeler has been asked to kill a lot of penalty minutes, which has resulted in a good chunk of ice time (40:16 in all penalty-killing situations).
One surprise might be Seeler averaging 20 minutes or more in nine of the 15 games this season. Last year? Well, Seeler had 10 games hitting or surpassing that amount of ice time. He played 21:30 against Boston on Oct. 29, 2024, then never saw 20 minutes again until Feb. 4 against host Utah. Six of those 10 games where he played 20 or more minutes took place after Tortorella was fired and Brad Shaw was given the interim head coaching position, with a season-high 24:30 against Nashville on March 31. Simply put, Tocchet is using Seeler more often, and the Flyers aren’t suffering from it.
Change in style = more effective over the long haul?
Perhaps the biggest adjustment (and possibly saving grace) for Seeler is that he’s not having to block every single shot that comes to him. It’s not that his mindset has changed. He would willingly block three or four shots a shift if he had to if it meant a Flyers win. It’s in his DNA as a competitor. But 15 games in, Seeler has seen the shot-blocking reduced rather dramatically. Here’s a look (in all situations) at just how different things have been for Seeler (and his body more than anything else) in the last four to five weeks.
| Season | Games played | Blocked shots | Blocked Shots per game |
| 2025-26 | 15 | 28 | 1.87 |
| 2024-25 | 77 | 200 | 2.60 |
| 2023-24 | 71 | 205 | 2.89 |
| 2022-23 | 77 | 147 | 1.91 |
| 2021-22 | 43 | 63 | 1.47 |
Seeler, who was in the top three last season in the National Hockey League with 200 blocked shots, now has 28 so far in 2025-26. That puts him thirty-seventh overall, with Sanheim ahead of him (twenty-ninth with 30 blocks in 15 games). The average is also the smallest since the 2021-22 pandemic-shortened season. If that average continues, the defenseman would end up with approximately 153 blocked shots. That is still a lot of blocked shots. Yet the adjustment should make things a bit easier regarding Seeler’s overall health.
After all, he missed time back in 2023-24 (March 6-March 30) from, you guessed it, blocking a shot. Last year he also took a shot off his foot or ankle against St. Louis in March and missed some time because of it. Those injuries aren’t ideal, especially for a player who turns 33 next June and has a contract running through 2027-28. The best case scenario is Seeler healthy and solid for the length of his current deal ($2.7 million AAV) without becoming another Ristolainen where he’s injured more often than he isn’t.
Getting adjusted to Tocchet’s system and some of the occasional growing pains has taken a little time. It looks to be working. Prior to action Sunday, Philadelphia is third overall in shots against per game (25.1, trailing only Florida and Utah). Holding Ottawa to 13 shots certainly helps. Seeler is not having as many bumps, welts, or bruises on his body and the Flyers are succeeding nonetheless. It’s an idea that didn’t seem possible just a season ago.
“A little bit, but I think in a good way,” Seeler said following an Oct. 24 practice when discussing the change in style. “Everyone’s buying in, they want us to be boxing out more. Obviously there are times where you’re going to have to front the puck if you don’t have positioning on the guy you’re trying to box out. There are different scenarios, but I think overall, it has been a good adjustment.
And that switch isn’t limited to each defensive pairing. It extends from the goalies talking to the blueliners and vice versa, enabling everyone to know where they should be or shouldn’t be at every moment.
“The goalies have done a really good job of communicating that, too, on the ice. They’ll let us know, ‘Let me see it, let me see it.’ And find a guy. I think early box outs have been important this year. Not letting them get close in front of the net, getting early positioning has helped a lot. Keeping them to the outside is always good. It’s something that we’ve worked on and built and continue to get better at.”
Knowing he, like most of the defense corps, have options this year has made a difference in both Seeler’s play and the blue line’s. They are still blocking shots, but not to the extent they did under Tortorella. It’s a recipe for success that the Flyers certainly welcome, even with winger Tyson Foerster missing some time from blocking a shot. And they have somehow managed to reduce the shot against total tremendously without having to stand in front of hard, heavy slap shots that can break far more than sticks. Perhaps nobody is happier for this change than Nick Seeler. Giving him a chance to avoid more shots increases the odds he can be a capable, stay-at-home defenseman for a few seasons to come. The Flyers would certainly be better for it.