Despite rotating personnel, Flyers’ fourth line trying to establish physical identity with the help of Zack MacEwen

For nearly two months, as COVID-19 and injuries ate away at the Flyers’ lineup, the fourth line featured a rotating carousel of players at center and left wing. The last time the fourth line had the same personnel for at least three straight games dates back to early December when left winger Oskar Lindblom, center Patrick Brown and right winger Zack MacEwen comprised the bottom three.

Now, MacEwen has been the only constant on the Flyers fourth line over the past month and a half. With his physical edge, he’s setting the tone for whoever plays alongside him regardless of the nightly personnel changes.

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“You want to be as helpful to the team as you can, try to keep as much consistency as possible,” MacEwen said. “You get some different guys on that line every so often. So you just got to be adaptable and do your best to help the team win.”

MacEwen brought what Yeo called a “natural” physical element to the fourth line on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings. For the first time this season, the fourth line featured MacEwen at right wing, Connor Bunnaman at center, and Isaac Ratcliffe at left wing. The average height of that line is just over 6-foot-3, making it the team’s largest. Six-foot-6 Ratcliffe impressed MacEwen in his NHL debut.

“I think he’s a smart guy and he knows how to play his game,” MacEwen said. “He knows he’s a big body. So I think maybe him playing with me or us playing together, we can kind of amplify each other a little bit hopefully. And, like I said, try to build some chemistry here.”

Together with Bunnaman, the three posted seven hits against the Kings. With that kind of size, interim head coach Mike Yeo expects the fourth line to play a heavy game against opposing teams’ skilled forwards. Yeo plans on playing those three together again against the Winnipeg Jets for a second straight game.

“We’re not necessarily asking them to go out there and be a line that tries to create off the rush all the time,” Yeo said. “If those plays are there, we want them to make those plays. But we want them to be able to get to their game and bring momentum to our group. They do that through the forecheck, their physicality. They also do that the way that they defend.”

At his midseason press conference last week, general manager Chuck Fletcher said that defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen can “certainly be part of the six-man defense core.” Fletcher, who gave up defenseman Robert Hägg, a 2021 first-round pick, and a 2023 second-round pick to acquire Ristolainen from the Buffalo Sabres in the offseason, noted that Ristolainen falls in the category of a “bigger, more competitive” player that makes the Flyers difficult to play against.

However, Ristolainen is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. While Fletcher may want to bring him back, Ristolainen will control his future as a free agent. At the midway point of the season, Ristolainen said he hasn’t “thought about it [free agency] at all.”

“I really enjoy my time in Philly,” Ristolainen said. “I like my teammates a lot and the whole staff. So it’s been good so far besides the games. We are not [happy with] where we’re at. But still, I believe in this group.”

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After participating in practice Monday, forward Derick Brassard (hip) was back with the team at the morning skate on Tuesday. With the hip finally healed, his involvement in the team’s recent practices reflects an effort to improve his conditioning.

“It was a pretty intense practice [on Monday], but still, the way that I see it, you have to be able to deal with an intense practice and then some before you’re ready to come in and play,” Yeo said. “I think this will give him the opportunity to feel confident that he’s physically capable of dealing with it, now it’s a matter of getting his conditioning to the level that we need it to.”

With the All-Star break starting on Wednesday, Yeo will wait to put Brassard back in the lineup to avoid re-injury. Brassard has missed 25 games this season with the hip injury and hasn’t played since Jan. 6.

Carter Hart (28 games, .913 save percentage, 2.87 goals against average) will get the start in goal against the Jets on Tuesday night. “I think he’s been ultra-competitive lately and I think he’s had a great attitude, the way he’s been attacking every game,” Yeo said. ... Center Morgan Frost is still feeling “run down” after missing Monday’s practice with a non-COVID illness. Yeo is hopeful that Frost will be able to participate in warmups and play against the Jets. However, if he’s unable to go, Yeo will activate center Jackson Cates from the taxi squad to play on the fourth line and use Bunnaman at third-line center.