Flyers’ Nick Seeler earns his role, hopes to see it through
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‘It’s just written all over him’ — Flyers love Seeler, could have tough decision originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
VOORHEES, N.J. — When John Tortorella was hired by the Flyers and preparing for training camp, he didn’t know anything about Nick Seeler and didn’t hear much about him, either.
But Seeler found a way to seize an everyday job on the Flyers’ defense.
He had to work and work and work. He had to win over Tortorella.
The coach sure knows him now.
“I remember the conversations, kind of really wasn’t on the map. I just don’t remember a lot of conversation,” Tortorella said Friday. “And here he is. And improving. That’s the really good part of it, that I think he’s still improving.”
The 29-year-old Seeler, making just $750,000 this season ($775,000 cap hit), is one of the Flyers’ truest defenders. He has played in 50 of the Flyers’ 53 games, in large part because of his effort-based style along the boards and around the net.
“He’s a glue guy,” Tortorella said. “He’s a guy you root for, he’s a great teammate, ultra competitive and will stick up for his teammates. I think he makes other players bigger out there because of just how he will handle himself if he has to.
“Listen, he makes mistakes, sometimes he has problems moving the puck, but he’s going to try. The most important part for me — I still see him improve.”
Seeler is having the best year of his NHL career in which he has had to constantly fight for playing time. He even stepped away from hockey in 2020-21, when the NHL had a shortened 56-game season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I wasn’t sure what my plan was when I took the year off,” Seeler said Friday. “I just needed kind of a mental and physical break. A few months went by and started to get that fire and that passion back, that true passion for the game.”
In his second season with the Flyers, Seeler has three goals, seven assists and a plus-5 rating. He has 80-plus hits and blocked shots and kills penalties in his…
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