In this edition of our 2023-24 Philadelphia Flyers player grading series, we take a look at 30-year-old defenseman Nick Seeler. He has had a wild journey in the NHL, stepping away from the game in 2020-21, but he has seemingly found himself a home in the City of Brotherly Love. What grade does he deserve for his most recent campaign?
Seeler Takes the Next Step in His Career
Seeler’s 2022-23 campaign was a breakout for him, yet he only had an average time on ice (ATOI) of 14:29 – just three seconds off from the highest total of his career. Entering his age-30 campaign in 2023-24, he only had 225 contests of NHL experience to his name.
Regardless of his status as not much more than a depth defender, he took strides to become a true NHL defenseman for the Orange and Black in 2022-23. He had a team-best 2.26 expected goals against per 60 (xGA/60) and a third-best expected goals percentage (xGF%) of 51.6 among players with at least 500 minutes of ice time.
Seeler was one of the few bright spots for Philadelphia that season, but whether or not he could sustain this play was uncertain. It’s not rare for a depth player to suddenly have a good campaign and then never return to that level. For the veteran defender, that could not have been further from the case.
Instead of having a rather limited third-pairing role for the Flyers, Seeler was a common fixture on the second pair. Some players might not be able to handle this increase in responsibility, but for Seeler, that was probably the best thing that could have happened to him.
He worked his magic with Sean Walker to the tune of a 55.9 xGF% by his side. Out of the 104 defensive pairings that played at least 300 minutes, they ranked 11th in xGF%. It wasn’t for their shutdown abilities, either – they ironically graded out better offensively. Seeler, an excellent defensive defenseman, was the perfect complement to Walker who did a lot of his best work in the neutral and offensive zones. They made for an amazing duo, but unfortunately, they were separated after the trade deadline.
Related: Philadelphia Flyers 2023-24 Player Grades: Sean Walker
Among the 145 defensemen who played at least 1,000 minutes at even strength, Seeler ranked 33rd in individual xGA/60 and 24th in xGF%. Though he only had an even-strength ATOI of 14:53–the 14th-lowest mark of these players–what he was able to accomplish was impressive. As a career depth defender, he took on the…
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