Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
This break in the Flyers schedule came at a great time for socially kicking around the Flyers current situation. Holiday gatherings in my circles are a great place to dissect the ins and outs, ups and downs of the the Delaware Valley’s favorite professional ice hockey club. The possibilities are endless when it comes to managing the team from the comfort of your own home with good friends and zero accountability. Hockey is a great sport with countless assorted variables on any given night which is part of what we all love about it.
That being said over the break with a little time to sleep on it and hash it out the most common consensus as conversations draw to conclusions is this. The Flyers have a goalie situation on their hands.
There’s the power-play, the rebuild, the need for talent at center. All relevant points but we knew all that going into this season. The big question mark coming out of the gate was the space between the pipes. We are just days away from 2025 and that question mark is turning into an answer none of us wanted to hear.
By the numbers
A look under the hood offers a bleak prognosis. Sometimes perception can cloud your perspective of the situation. There have been some real back-breaking momentum killing soft goals this year that could be a thumb on the scale when it comes to diagnosing the severity of the situation. …nope. The Flyers are dead last out of the 32 teams in the NHL when it comes to goals allowed.
Philadelphia has allowed 3.66 goals per game with a save percentage of .875. Compare that to the best, New Jersey Devils 2.45 GA, .908 SV%. The Flyers goaltenders have allowed 128 goals in 35 games. Only the San Jose Sharks have allowed more 135 in 38 games. Again, compare that to the best. That being the LA Kings who’ve allowed only 87 goals over 34 games.
The Flyers are 18th when it comes to goals for with 3.00 per game. So goals for 3.00, goals against 3.66 the math is simple and it is impossible to argue the fact no matter how many egg nogs have gone down during the course of the conversation.
The Flyers making a big move for a netminder would not fit in with the current rebuild strategy at the moment. They’re not in the market for a rental. Their focus is on the future. There’s been a lot of questioning with it comes to the decision to keep three goaltenders on the roster but the hope is that one of these guys steps up and takes solid ownership as the starter. Coming in that was Ersson’s territory without discussion. The conversation has changed. One of these young netminders’ needs to rise to the occasion in order to stabilize this team going into the second half of the season.
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