Early impressions of Torts' Flyers, Price's impact, and McDavid vs. peers

John Tortorella, the face of the franchise, stood at the lectern Thursday night fresh off a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers and kept his answers short.

"Yeah, we started slow. I thought we picked it up in parts of the second period, and then we just hung in there," the Philadelphia Flyers coach told reporters. Tortorella was shaking his head as he said the "hung in there" part.

Tortorella is honest if nothing else. He values accountability and structure. Under his watch, nobody, not individual players or the collective group, will take shortcuts in his first season in Philly. Even though the 5-2-0 Flyers are off to an unexpectedly fantastic start, ranking fifth out of 32 teams in points percentage heading into Friday's slate of games, Tortorella isn't celebrating.

The non-celebratory attitude is a completely reasonable response since every positive development in the early stages of the Torts era deserves an asterisk.

Positive development No. 1: The Flyers own a winning record despite having three key contributors - Sean Couturier, Ryan Ellis, Cam Atkinson - sidelined with injuries. Rasmus Ristolainen (one game played), Owen Tippett (two games), and James van Riemsdyk (six games) have also missed time, further depleting an imperfect roster that seemed destined for a 2023 lottery pick.

Asterisk: You can tell Philly is missing those important pieces. According to Natural Stat Trick, the team has generated only 332 shot attempts, while the opposition has produced 511. The scoring chance count isn't much better, with 148 chances for and 275 against. The Flyers have certainly "hung in there" more than once, defeating teams by a single goal in three of their five wins.

Positive development No. 2: Carter Hart is playing at a Vezina Trophy-caliber level through five appearances, stopping 178 of 188 shots for a .947 save percentage - the NHL's second-best. Evolving Hockey lists Hart first in goals saved above expected, at a whopping 9.11. Yep, the 24-year-old's done his part.

Asterisk: At five-on-five, the Flyers rank 31st in expected goals for per 60 minutes and 29th in expected goals against per 60. In other words, Hart's dominance and a league-average power play have been papering over significant underlying issues at even strength. This isn't sustainable hockey.

Positive development No. 3: Kevin Hayes, who leads the team in points with 10, and Travis Konecny, the team leader in goals with four, both responded well to being benched in the third period this past Sunday, picking up two assists each on Thursday. Konecny, fiery, quick, and crafty, was buzzing all night.

Asterisk: Even if Hayes and Konecny are feeling it and the team is at full health, the Flyers still lack legitimate star power. From Couturier to Atkinson to Joel Farabee to Ivan Provorov to Anthony DeAngelo, there are impact players spread across the roster. But there are no superstars, which is a concern.

Price set to leave indelible mark

Carey Price's recent media appearances have solidified the widely held assumption that it's unlikely he suits up for another NHL game.

Price, 35, told The Athletic's Arpon Basu earlier this month he still has the desire to play. But a nagging knee injury with no easy fix - coupled with back, hip, and ankle issues - has put the longtime Montreal Canadiens goalie in an unenviable position where, as Basu wrote, he "essentially has to hope for a medical miracle."

If this is it for Price, what a ride it has been for the future Hall of Famer.

Price has been an intimidating presence ever since he broke into the league in 2007. He's the rare goalie who can get into opponents' heads simply by occupying the crease. He has always been a big-moment guy who combines athleticism and technical ability with calm. He's got that "it" factor.

The prime of his career was headlined by the incredibly high peak of winning the Hart, Lindsay, Vezina, and Jennings trophies in 2014-15. He carried several mediocre-to-good Habs teams through the years, but despite his best efforts, Price doesn't own a Stanley Cup ring - though he did backstop Canada to the 2014 Olympic gold medal and 2016 World Cup title.

Winning matters only so much to many athletes and fans, of course, especially when framed against an athlete's long-term physical and mental health. Based on how open Price has been about his struggles with alcohol - talking about it publicly for the first time with Basu in an effort to help others, especially youth in Indigenous communities - he deserves heaps of credit for his work off the ice.

It's looking like Price won't officially retire until his contract expires in 2026. (Get that money, Carey). His legacy, which we can certainly start discussing, won't be limited to stopping pucks. He may be saving lives, too.

Wedgewood finally comfortable

Scott Wedgewood inked a two-year contract extension with the Dallas Stars in June. It was a standard pro deal in many ways, nothing remarkable in the grand scheme of things, and the eighth of his 11-year pro career. Crucially to Wedgewood, though, it was the first time since 2015 that he'd signed a multi-year deal.

It meant Wedgewood could finally exhale. After playing in the ECHL, AHL, and NHL over the past decade for six different organizations, including two stints each with the New Jersey Devils and Arizona Coyotes, the goalie and his wife knew where they'd be living to start this season and could get into a routine.

"It's something people don't think about," Wedgewood told theScore. "Each year, you go into training camp in a different spot on the depth chart, and there's times you just know you're going to the minors sooner than later."

Last season was a prime example.

Jonathan Bernier and Mackenzie Blackwood were basically locked in as the Devils' goaltending tandem at the onset of camp. Bernier was fighting an injury, but Wedgewood knew "the writing was on the wall regardless of how I played." He hit the waiver wire in November, and the Coyotes claimed him.

"You're there for three months, get settled, get a place," he said of Arizona. "All of a sudden, you've worked your way into a good role. But then, it's like, 'We can get something for you in a trade,' and you're shipped out again."

The 30-year-old Brampton, Ontario, native finished with a career-high 37 appearances split between the Devils (three), Coyotes (26), and Stars (eight). "Three teams in one year, it's tough on everybody," Wedgewood said. He also split time between three locales in 2015-16 and 2017-18.

Wedgewood, a member of the 2020 Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning's taxi squad, didn't say this to complain. He loves being a pro athlete, especially right now as the backup to Jake Oettinger on a competitive Stars squad.

Knowing your role on the team is "an underrated thing" lifestyle-wise, he said. "For a family guy like me, who just wants to get my feet under me and feel secure, that's been one of the biggest upgrades to having that deal in place."

McDavid vs. peers at 500 games

Connor McDavid is set to appear in game No. 500 on Nov. 7. Following a four-point night against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, the Edmonton Oilers captain sits at 712 points through 495 games, putting him on pace for a cool 719 in 500.

Let's assume for a moment that McDavid ends up with 719 in 500. That's 1.44 points per game. Stunning numbers, but I'm curious as to how McDavid's first 500 games stack up against the salary-cap era's other prolific point-getters.

So, McDavid stacks up extremely well. He already leads in assists (465) and points (712) and is fourth in goals (247) behind Ovechkin, Stamkos, and Crosby. Those results are mostly unsurprising, although I figured Crosby might have a slight edge in points.

Something to humble No. 97: Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux put up 1,186 and 971 points, respectively, in their first 500 games. Yes, it was a different era - which is key context for this comparison - but damn, those are absurd numbers.

Parting shots

Nedeljkovic family: Adorable mom-son interaction in Detroit earlier this week. Red Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic wrote his mom a message ("HI MOM!" with a tiny heart) on white tape, slapped it onto his blocker, then made sure it got TV time on the ESPN broadcast. Moments later, Theresa Nedeljkovic responded with a message of her own on Twitter (below). Precious stuff.

Brandt Clarke: Nobody seems to be talking about this kid. I get why: Clarke, the eighth overall pick in 2021, is playing behind Drew Doughty and Matt Roy on the right side of the Los Angeles Kings' blue line. But trust me, it's worth tuning into L.A.'s games to watch Clarke operate. He's got limitless swagger, and his second primary assist of the season was a filthy dish to a wide-open Blake Lizotte. The first year of Clarke's entry-level contract will be burned if he appears in the Kings-Blues game on Halloween. As it stands right now, it's safe to assume the 6-foot-2 19-year-old won't be heading back to junior.

Spanish broadcast: Veteran sports broadcaster Octavio Sequera called last week's New York Rangers-San Jose Sharks game in Spanish on an alternative audio feed for MSG Networks. Part of the Rangers' Hispanic heritage night, it was the first time MSG had offered a Spanish audio call for a regular-season game. Although it's just a single game, I find these types of initiatives to be one of the more enterprising ways to grow the game, similar to how Rogers broadcasts a regular Punjabi edition of Hockey Night in Canada on its OMNI channel and has done select games in at least eight other languages. A handful of teams across the league have also incorporated a Spanish feed over the years. The next step is making these feeds permanent in large, diverse markets like New York and L.A.