Tortorella: Flyers 'need to work' on DeAngelo's defensive game

Flyers head coach John Tortorella didn't anticipate how much work defensively the team would need to put in with blue-liner Tony DeAngelo when Philadelphia acquired him from the Carolina Hurricanes this past offseason.

"Last team he played for - Carolina - I think they could absorb some of that with their roster as far as maybe some of his deficiencies defensively," Tortorella said Thursday, according to The Athletic's Charlie O'Connor. "It kind of sticks out more with us."

The Flyers acquired DeAngelo and a seventh-rounder from the Hurricanes in exchange for a second-, third-, and fourth-round pick. Philadelphia then signed DeAngelo to a two-year, $10-million contract.

DeAngelo's most frequent partner last season was Jaccob Slavin, who's among the league's best shutdown defenders. This season, DeAngelo has played primarily with Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim.

"I think he's done some great things for us here," Tortorella said. "It's just ... we want to try to help him and we feel he needs to get better defensively without taking away any of that great offensive ability he has.

"We know what Tony is. I'm a little bit - not disappointed - but the defensive liability is something we need to work at. I didn't think the amount of work that we need to do with him ... I didn't think that at the point in time that we got him. But it is what it is."

DeAngelo has recorded a respectable 31 points in 47 games this season. However, his minus-12.3 defensive goals above replacement is the worst among all NHL skaters, according to Evolving-Hockey. The next worst is John Klingberg at minus-8.9.

Last season, DeAngelo's defensive goals above replacement was a much more tolerable minus-2.6. The 27-year-old has never posted a positive defensive goals above replacement in a single season during his seven-year career.