For Flyers, Braydon Coburn needs to be more consistent

The Philadelphia Flyers acquired Braydon Coburn from the Atlanta Thrashers at the trade deadline during their much forgotten 2006-07 season in exchange for veteran defenseman Alexei Zhitnik. A trade that was supposed to benefit both teams turned out to be one of the most lopsided deals in recent history.

Zhitnik was acquired to help Atlanta in the playoffs, but instead turned out to be a major disappointment before being bought out the following season. For the Flyers, Coburn has blossomed into a top-four defenseman and one of their top defenders.

It was a trade that had a clear winner: Philadelphia. Even at the time, hockey people were wondering why the Thrashers would give up on a 21-year-old blue liner with all the tools to be a top-pairing defenseman for a chance to advance a couple rounds in the playoffs.

At the end of the day, the Thrashers were swept out of the playoffs in the first round by the New York Rangers. Five years later, Atlanta has been relocated to Winnipeg while Coburn has been a big piece to the Flyers success.

Heading into his sixth season in the orange and black, Coburn is heading into training camp paired up with Kimmo Timonen for what will be the fifth year in a row. The two have been a steady, shutdown pairing for the Flyers, and there are no signs that they won’t be asked to do the same again this year.

However, with Timonen and Chris Pronger in the latter part of their careers, the Flyers need Coburn to add more consistency to his game and mature into a capable shutdown defender without an All-Star defenseman playing along his side.

Coburn, now 26, is coming off a season in which he endured ups and downs. His offensive production continued to drop off from his first full season with the Flyers where he scored nine goals and had 27 assists. In 2010-11, Coby scored only two goals and 16 points in 82 games.

The Shaunavon, Saskatchewan-native has all the characteristics of a blue liner who can contribute to the score sheet more than he does. Coburn has a great outlet pass to go along with a big shot when he hits the net. Unfortunately, he sometimes has trouble putting the puck on net with his slapper.

At 6’5, 220-pounds, Coburn is a great skater with a ton of speed to go along with his giant built. Every year, Coburn comes into training camp in the best shape of any player and is conditioned to play a full 82-game season every year. In fact, he has missed only seven games in five years with the Flyers.

Given his size, Coburn has the ability to be a physical monster on the ice. When he takes the body, that’s when you know he’s at his best. Although finishing third on the team behind ex-Flyer Darroll Powe and defenseman Andrej Meszaros with 177 hits, Coburn often times could be a little more physical.

During the Flyers run two years ago that saw the Chicago Blackhawks hoist the Stanley Cup on the then-Wachovia Center ice, Coburn was a dominant force all playoffs. He threw his body around as if he was Pronger, and didn’t let anyone push him around.

One area that Coburn can improve is how he plays in front of his own net. Take Pronger, for instance. Look at how No. 20 plays in front of whatever goalie is minding his net. He’s tough, rough and mean. Pronger doesn’t allow anyone to be comfortable in front of the net.

When Coburn is positioned in front of his net, he isn’t tough, rough and mean. That’s something he needs to develop; a mean streak. He’s a very sound one-on-one defender. It’s hard to beat him because he generally doesn’t get beat in one-on-one situations, but he needs to get better in front of the net.

Often times, when the opposition scores while Coby is on the ice, it’s because of a screen on the goalie. Being paired with Timonen, Coburn is the bigger of the two. It’s his job to make sure no one is creating havoc in front of Ilya Bryzgalov this coming season while he’s on the ice or Sergei Bobrovsky last year. Or whoever is between the pipes.

The Flyers need Coburn to clean the porch more often than he does. Especially on the penalty kill because many teams strategy on the power play is to have a big, power forward stationed in front of the goalie to act as a screen, and score the “dirty” goals. You need a defender there to go to battle.

When he’s on the ice, Coburn has to be ready to battle.

In the last year of his contract, Coburn will be an unrestricted free agent following the season. There were reports that the Flyers signed Coburn to a two-year extension but nothing was confirmed, and it appears as if that contract was premature or were falsely reported.

The Flyers core defense is getting older, and there’s only two-three years left maximum with Pronger and Timonen. If the orange and black want Coburn to replace Pronger or Timonen, they need Coburn to be more consistent.

Coburn has the ability to be a top-pair defenseman. He just needs to get mean.

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