Passing the Buck: Is Alex Bump Really the Problem?

There is something about the timing of the Philadelphia Flyers sending Alex Bump to the minors that leaves a lot to be questioned.

Bump was loaned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Wednesday, just one day after Philadelphia suffered another disappointing loss, this time a 4-1 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He appeared in the Flyers' first three games of the season, was held without a point, and was subsequently scratched Monday night against Tampa Bay.

On the surface, the decision is easy to explain.

Bump didn't score.

He didn't record an assist.

He had just four shots on goal.

Those aren't exactly the numbers of a player forcing his way into a lineup.

But here's where the "passing the buck" argument begins.

Is Alex Bump really the problem?

Because if the answer is yes, the Flyers have a much bigger problem than one 22-year-old winger who played 36 minutes over three games.

The Numbers Don't Lie — But They Don't Tell the Whole Story

Through his first three games, Bump finished with zero points, four shots and seven hits while averaging 12:08 per game.

His game log tells an interesting story.

Against Pittsburgh, he played 14:39 and recorded one shot.

Against New Jersey, his ice time dropped dramatically to just 8:18 and he didn't register a shot.

Against Carolina, he rebounded to 13:27 and produced three shots.

So yes, the production wasn't there.

But neither was the opportunity consistently.

And that matters.

Bump isn't being sent down after playing 18 minutes a night on a scoring line and failing to produce. He was bouncing around the lineup, getting limited opportunities, and trying to establish himself on a Flyers team that entered the season struggling to generate offense.

Look Around the Room

The Flyers opened the season with three losses.

They scored four goals total in those three games.

That's four goals across 180 minutes of regulation hockey.

The team was shut out 7-0 by Pittsburgh, lost 3-2 in overtime to New Jersey and then fell 3-2 in overtime to Carolina.

And yet the solution appears to be sending one of the organization's younger offensive players to the minors.

That's where the optics become difficult.

Bump wasn't the only young offensive player who failed to produce during those first three games.

There were other highly touted offensive players struggling to put the puck in the net as well.

And that's before we even get into the bigger offensive problems facing the Flyers.

If the message is that every young player who doesn't immediately produce gets sent down, that's one thing.

But if Bump is being used as the convenient explanation for a team-wide offensive problem, then the Flyers may be passing the buck.

Bump Has Already Shown He Can Play

This is the part that makes the decision even more interesting.

Last season, Bump appeared in 17 NHL games and scored five goals with four assists for nine points.

That's a 9-point performance in only 17 games.

He also finished with a plus-3 rating.

Nobody should confuse that small sample with proof that Bump is a future 30-goal scorer.

But it does prove something important:

We've already seen Bump produce at the NHL level.

So perhaps the question shouldn't be, "Why didn't Alex Bump score in three games?"

Perhaps the question should be:

"Why couldn't the Flyers find a way to get Alex Bump into a position where he could succeed?"

The Carolina Game Was a Glimpse

Bump's third game might actually be the most telling.

After receiving only 8:18 against New Jersey, Bump played 13:27 against Carolina and fired three shots on goal.

Three shots in one game may not sound spectacular, but it represented 75% of his total shots from his first three games.

That's something to build on.

Instead, the next step was a healthy scratch.

And now he's going to the Phantoms.

Perhaps that's exactly what Bump needs. More minutes. More confidence. More touches. More opportunities to play in an offensive role.

If that's the reasoning, then fine.

There's nothing wrong with a young player going to the AHL to play rather than sitting in the press box in Philadelphia.

But that's different from saying Bump was the reason the Flyers weren't scoring.

He wasn't.

This Isn't About Protecting Bump From Criticism

Let's be clear.

Bump deserves criticism for his first three games.

Zero points is zero points.

Four shots in three games isn't enough.

A young player trying to establish himself needs to create more offense.

There's no excuse for that.

But criticism and scapegoating are two different things.

If the Flyers believe Bump needs more development, say that.

If they believe he needs more minutes, say that.

If they believe he needs to rebuild his confidence, say that.

But don't let the move become a convenient way to make it appear as though one young winger is responsible for an offense that has struggled from top to bottom.

Passing the Buck?

The Flyers are 0-4-0.

They have struggled to score.

The power play hasn't provided the answers.

The team has struggled to generate consistent offensive pressure.

And now Alex Bump is in Lehigh Valley.

Maybe this works.

Maybe Bump dominates the AHL, regains his confidence and forces his way back into the lineup.

That would be the best possible outcome.

But if the Flyers continue struggling to score while Bump is putting up points in the minors, the questions aren't going away.

They'll only get louder.

Because at that point, sending Bump down won't look like solving the problem.

It will look like passing the buck.

And if the Flyers want to build something around their young core, they need to make sure they're developing players — not simply removing them whenever the results aren't immediate.

Alex Bump wasn't good enough through three games.

That's fair.

But was he really the biggest problem?

That's a much harder question to answer.

Jesse Bell / Olde City Sports Network
Photos Credit / Melissa Molyneux / Olde City Sports Network