Garnet Hathaway will serve as more of a mentor than ever before in his first season with the Flyers.
Garnet Hathaway isn't exactly used to be an old-timer in a locker room. He's just 31 years old and only began earning regular minutes as an NHLer back during the 2017-18 season.
He may not be a spring chicken, but on most NHL teams, he certainly wouldn't qualify as a grizzled veteran.
This Philadelphia Flyers team is different, though.
Hathaway is the fourth-oldest player on the Flyers' roster behind Marc Staal (36), Cam Atkinson (34), and Nic Deslauriers (32), and as the Flyers enter the first season of a rebuild, Hathaway is expected to serve as a key voice in the locker room.
Even if being vocal isn't quite something he's used to doing.
"I think it’s a little different," said Hathaway. "I've been really fortunate to play with a lot of successful guys in this league. Guys who have won Stanley Cups and awesome leaders. I've been on, as you look at it, I've been on older teams. I think I've been just maybe above the average age of almost every team that I've been on. And now I'm on the other side of the spectrum there and I'm one of the older guys."
With the Washington Capitals, the team Hathaway spent the last four seasons playing for, he typically took a back seat while Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, and John Carlson, among others, served as the authoritative voices in the locker room. And on the Boston Bruins, the team he was traded to in February, he was surrounded by household names like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak.
Hathaway was always in the background.
Now, he joins a Flyers team that's embracing a youth movement, and he'll be one of the unquestioned leaders for the younger players getting their feet wet in the NHL.
"That's something I'm excited to take that step into that position. I probably haven't had as prominent a talking role in a room. I’ve been more of a listener. But that’s something that I think that this opportunity will really be in front of me."
Hathaway, one of the NHL's few Florida-born players, has logged 58 goals and 122 points in 457 NHL games between the Calgary Flames, Capitals, and Bruins. By all means, he should not be expected to light up the scoreboard in Philadelphia. But his rough, physical style of play will surely bring some value, especially when it comes to sticking up for his younger teammates.
Last season, Hathaway ranked eighth in the entire NHL with 268 hits on the campaign — not far behind Deslauriers, who ranked third with 306. And with Hathaway and Deslauriers both expected to play vital roles this coming season, the Flyers are likely to ice perhaps the most physical bottom six in the league.
"I think that's something that I've tried to find my role throughout my career in this league, and I've landed on being difficult to play against, I'd love to say competitive, getting under their guys’ skin, but being hard to play against and consistent," he said.
"I hope the fan base is as excited about me being here as I am."
One person who's probably over the moon about Hathaway's arrival is none other than Flyers head coach John Tortorella, who preaches physicality and competitiveness to his players.
Hathaway admittedly still isn't all that familiar with Tortorella, but it won't take him long to learn what his new bench boss is all about.
"He's a very honest coach. Not someone who's gonna sugarcoat things, but he's gonna demand the best out of you effort-wise, too. And I think that's gonna go really hand-in-hand with being a competitive team and getting through this process," said Hathaway.
"I heard 'Get ready for camp,' because I don't think there's another one like it. But I think once you put that effort in, you have that willingness to work to get to that goal that you achieve within that room, it makes it all worth it."