13 Games Into The Season What Exactly Are The Flyers?

(Photo Courtesy of, Matt Slocum / Associated Press)

It’s still fairly early in the 2021-22 season though with 13 games played to date there’s been enough of a sample size to dissect what exactly this Philadelphia Flyers team is and their potential. So far the Flyers have posted a 7-4-2 record which places them at 5th in the Metropolitan Division. This leaves them one point out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference currently being held by the New Jersey Devils.

In terms of the Flyers record this season it is a good one considering the level of competition they’ve faced and their injury troubles. As Kevin Hayes missed all but one game and Ryan Ellis has only played in 4 games this season. With both players being integral parts of this line-up and missing a significant stretch of games the team is in a good position moving forward especially since Hayes has returned. 

Unfortunately for the Flyers, defenseman Ryan Ellis has re-aggravated the injury that was previously plaguing him in the tilt against Dallas on Saturday and has been labeled as week to week going forward. This is a huge loss for the Flyers and it could impact them in a negative manner however, the team still needs to find a way to put the injury behind them and perform on the ice.

Overall this Flyers season through 13 games has been an up and down one. There have been some definite strengths for the team and some weaknesses. In light of this, I’m going to go ahead and detail what I see as the strengths so far for the Flyers and their weaknesses. It is clear though that the team does need to be more consistent, as it seems their game-to-game performances have lacked this at points in the early season.

Strengths

When addressing the strengths of this Flyers team it only makes sense to start off with the most significant and that is the team’s goaltending. Over the course of the first 13 games, the Flyers netminding has been the most consistent aspect of the team’s play. No matter the opponent or the quality of chances faced both Carter Hart and Martin Jones have done exactly what all goalies are asked to do and that’s give their team an opportunity to win the game. There has not been a game yet this season where a loss could solely be placed on one of Hart or Jones having an off game. 

The stats speak for themselves when analyzing exactly how good the goaltending has been for the Flyers as a whole. Both Hart and Jones have a combined team save percentage of .924 % and that ranks the Flyers at 3rd in the NHL in said category (per, hockey-reference.com). Additionally, the two netminders have a team goals-against average of 2.54 GAA which is good for 5th in the league (per, hockey-reference.com). Such numbers both save percentage and goal against average wise cements how much of a strength goaltending has been for the Flyers this season. If the two netminders can keep up these types of performances the Flyers should be in very good shape as the season progresses because even when other parts of a team’s game are not firing on all cylinders goaltending is typically the great equalizer.

Another clear strength for the Flyers this season has been their penalty killing which is much improved when compared to last season’s performance on the PK. Last season the Flyers penalty-kill was ranked 2nd last. In turn, this season to date the Flyers PK is currently ranked at 14th in the league with an 82.61 % penalty-killing percentage (per, hockey-reference.com). The PK unit has also come up with some timely penalty kills. One that comes to mind is a PK against the Hurricanes while up 2-1 in the 3rd period just a few games ago. The Flyers of last season likely would have surrendered a goal against in that situation however this Flyers team did not falter, killed off the penalty taken, and went on to win the game. Demonstrating the team’s refinement to this aspect of their play. 

These strengths for the Flyers are welcome ones due to both penalty-killing and goaltending being weaknesses for the club in 2020-21. What’s most impressive is that these areas have become strengths so quickly already this season meaning there is even more room for these particular facets in the Flyers game to get even better.

Weaknesses

On the other hand, the Flyers weaknesses this season are quite interesting as their major deficiency which is goal scoring actually looked like it could be a strength to begin the season. Despite this, the goal-scoring pace the team was on to start the season has been halted in its tracks. In the last 8 games the Flyers have only scored 13 goals, versus scoring 23 goals in their first 5 games. Obviously, this could just be a prolonged goal-scoring drought but the team on the ice doesn’t seem to be creating as many high danger scoring chances. This is a huge concern as a team that doesn’t score usually isn’t a very successful one. 

For the Flyers sake Kevin Hayes returning to the line-up should provide a boost to the team’s offense. What this accomplishes is ensuring certain players aren’t playing against competition and in situations they may be overmatched in. Hayes’ return allows for the forwards to be slotted appropriately throughout the line-up and this could provide an offensive spark for the Flyers.

Another weakness that also looked like it may have been a strength once the 2021-22 season began is the team’s power-play. The Flyers power-play was very hot to start the season but has gone incredibly cold since the first few games. At various points when watching the Flyers power play units it’s evident passes, shots and even zone entries are being forced. The players on the ice while on the power play seem to be void of chemistry with one another. It is certainly strange because in many cases the Flyers will be outplaying their opponents and out chancing them during 5 on 5 play. Then once a penalty is drawn and the team goes on the power-play it kills any momentum they had been building. This is an issue for the Flyers because in their past handful of losses if they could have found some way to capitalize on the power-play those games and their outcomes are likely very different. 

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To further how abysmal the Flyers power-play has been this season the team is ranked 23rd in the league with a 17.07 % conversion rate on the man advantage (per, hockey-reference.com). Simply put this is not good enough and the Flyers lack of efficiency on the power-play is actively costing them the opportunity to win games at the moment.

On a positive note, the power-play units that were so successful to start the season were reunited at practice yesterday. If these units can find the chemistry that allowed them to capitalize on the power-play to start the season this could be a big boost for the Flyers. As the power-play cannot continue being the momentum killer it has been for the team. 

In short, most of the Flyers weaknesses are surrounding scoring goals. The team can continue to play a shutdown brand of hockey in order to win games but this is only effective for so long due to the difficulty in limiting teams to three goals or less on a regular basis. As a result, the sooner the Flyers start scoring a lot more the better. 

Overview

Putting the Philadelphia Flyers strengths and weaknesses so far this season into consideration the club can be classified as a team that has great goaltending and a good defense. While also having a lot of trouble scoring and creating quality scoring opportunities. If the Flyers can somehow figure out their scoring woes and start putting the puck in the net a little more frequently, coupling this with the goaltending and team defense already being played would make them an elite team in the NHL. Until that point, the Flyers are what they are, which is a bubble playoff team.