They have passed the quarter pole and approaching the halfway point of the season. The Flyers season, now 28 games old, is quickly approaching its second half.
So it's astonishing to look at the statsheet after 28 games and see Jake Voracek, who finished the 2014-15 season with 22 goals and a career-high 81 points, with just one goal and 15 points.
Recently though, Voracek has played alongside Chris VandeVelde and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Since joining the line on Nov. 23, Voracek has six points in eight games, all assists. All six of those points have come on the power play.
With minimal production, and not too many chances either, for Voracek, it's time for this "experiment" to end.
Now, this does not necessarily mean that Voracek should be playing with Claude Giroux and Michael Raffl or Brayden Schenn. There is some merit to keeping Giroux and Voracek on separate lines, seeing that the top line has played several strong games with Giroux splitting Schenn and Raffl.
That said, putting your top scorer from a season ago with the top two penalty-killing forwards on the roster doesn't spell success for Voracek.
Given the Flyers recent hot streak, the second line of Sean Couturier, Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds can't be split. They have been so strong and consistent of late, that it would be more harmful to mess with that.
Until Saturday's roster moves, the possibility of Voracek playing alongside Nick Cousins and Scott Laughton seemed like an interesting possibility, and moving Colin McDonald back with Bellemare and VandeVelde as a fourth line seemed like a feasable plan. McDonald and Cousins were of course sent back to Lehigh Valley on Saturday with R.J. Umberger and Ryan White returning to the lineup.
That doesn't leave much of an option for Voracek. The Flyers don't want to split VandeVelde and Bellemare, who also work well together, and probably would like to limit the ice time for White and Umberger.
That really leaves only one option, but given Voracek's struggles to score at even strength, it may be time. Move Voracek back to the first line.
The Flyers recently tried this with Raffl, where he was demoted during injuries to other players because Dave Hakstol believed he could fit the role better than any forward, and while it meant less scoring for Raffl, he did the job well.
Raffl could play the wing with Bellemare and VandeVelde as well, and may be the only adjustment possible for Hakstol if he is to move Voracek back to the top. It would be hard to see Brayden Schenn in that spot with VandeVelde and Bellemare for almost the same reasons as Voracek.
The bottom line here is that if the Flyers are looking for more out of Voracek, they're not going to find it with VandeVelde and Bellemare — two very good role players, but not big scorers or offensive-minded forwards. Voracek needs to be with playmakers. He may very well need Giroux again.
Whatever it may be, it's not going to be found on the line he's on. After eight games, it's time to end the experiment for good and give "one-goal" Voracek a chance for more.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
