The Flyers were rocking and rolling before the Coronavirus. They currently sit one point behind the Washington Capitals for second place in the Metropolitan Division, and in my opinion would have finished the season in first place in the Metro. Without further delay, here are the answers to your questions.
The Flyers miss all their fans. The proud orange clad fans are missed by JVR, Kevin Hayes, and Claude Giroux. They have all mentioned they miss the fans, and I’m sure the rest of the team does too.
The biggest need right now is a sniper with size. Fortunately, there are plenty of options the Flyers could choose from, as this draft class is loaded with Wingers with size and skill. Look for the Flyers to select Connor Zary, Jacob Perreault, Dawson Mercer, Lucas Raymond, or Dylan Holloway with their first round selection. Moreover, the Flyers also could use an enforcer with skill (Tom Wilson type) to protect their assets. In my opinion, an enforcer is the biggest area of need for this team moving forward. Chuck Fletcher has tons of players with skill, now he needs to protect them.
Justin Braun can be re-signed IF Shayne Gostisbehere is moved at the draft. This is the best time for Fletcher to move up in the draft, and using Ghost as trade bait is one way to make this happen. Fletcher will not let go of both Braun and Ghost.
The bottom six will look like this if Lindblom is indeed ruled out:
Laughton/XXXX, Patrick, Grant/XXXX
Raffl, Grant/Laczynski, NAK
One of Shayne Gostisbehere or Justin Braun will not return. I believe the Flyers will re-sign Braun, after Ghost is traded at the draft. This is the best time for the Flyers to move within the top 5-10 in the draft, and Ghost is one way to do it (Trade bait).
Players that will not return:
Ghost
Nate Thompson
Tyler Pitlick- This is a hard one with not many available spots within the Flyers roster. One of Derek Grant or Pitlick will not be re-signed.
JVR- Traded
AHL players that will not return:
Alex Lyon- He is only 27-years-old, and he would like to start on a nightly basis. The Flyers would love to keep him, but Lyon is fully aware of what is transpiring with the Flyers stockpile of Goaltending prospects.
Andy Welinski
Mikhail Vorobyev
Chris Stewart
If you would like to see your questions submitted in our weekly mailbag. Just submit your question on our Twitter page @flyersknitty using #Flyersmail, or @JameyBaskow. Thanks to all the fans for another great mailbag, and Let’s go Flyers.
We need to KEEP Pitlick. No question about it. RH, can skate, is big and physical and has some skill.