Notes From Flyers Players Exit Interviews: “I’m Going To Put The Time In And I’m Going To Be Chomping At The Bit For Training Camp Next Year”

It’s no secret the Flyers under achieved this season. No one thought that the Flyers would miss the playoffs at the very least, regardless of how far they were going to go, no one thought the Flyers would miss the playoffs. Why did this happen? Defense and goaltending first. The defense was very inconsistent for the majority of the year, and things seem to stabilize themselves on the back end when it was too late. No one thought that Carter Hart would struggle the way he did, but he did and it hurt.

No one thought that Brian Elliott would have to carry the load for the last month and a half of the season, and play even a bigger role this season. No one thought that the youth would struggle the way they did, many younger players with the exception for Joel Farabee struggled.

Farabee hit a wall there, but he overcame it, whereas, some youth never overcame it. It appeared that they were stuck, and this offseason is the only way they can get an adequate reset as to why this happened. Does the roster need changes? Absolutely, and they will get done.

At the end of the day this team will go down as the most talented team not to make the playoffs. When Justin Braun is one of your best defenseman you know you have a big problem during the season. I’m not taking anything away from Justin, but the youth should have exceeded. Without further delay, here are notes from the players from exit interviews yesterday.

1. Shayne Gostisbehere gets married in August, and Travis Konecny is supposed to have a newborn in August. Needless to say, it’s going to be a busy August for some Flyers players.
2. Travis Konecny says he will be getting ready for the new addition (Baby). So they will be around the area in July, the baby is due in August.
3. Hart did say that some teammates invited him over for dinner during the season. Sure that meant a lot, but it’s still tough. Athletes are human beings too, and they are struggling with this just like we are.
4. I commend Carter Hart the most after these exit interviews. He was honest, and spoke about the thoughts of the pandemic directly. It’s tough being single in your apartment alone during Covid, it’s easy to over analyze.
5. I just got the feeling that Brian Elliott won’t be back with the Flyers next season. With the way Fletcher talked yesterday it sounded like he wanted to upgrade the position. I could be wrong though.
6. Nolan Patrick is correct when he said that this would be the most important offseason of his life. He did it, he remained mostly healthy throughout the season, and that alone was a big step in the right direction for him. Let’s hope he has a great offseason, and comes back strong.
7. Nolan Patrick just didn’t feel like himself this past year. He admitted the lack of production has weighed on his mind.
8. Carter Hart: “I believe I can be a top goaltender in this league.”
9. Carter Hart said he hasn’t seen his family in six months, and that he was close to regaining his old form before he got hurt. He is looking forward to getting back home, and he called this a “Weird year.”
10. Sean Couturier mentioned losing an experienced penalty killer like Tyler Pitlick hurt the Penalty Kill this year. He also mentioned Derek Grant, and Nate Thompson.
11. Couturier rented ice last offseason and worked out a gym from home.
12. Oskar Lindblom and Samuel Morin are looking forward to training this offseason.
13. Travis Sanheim has made it quite clear that he wants to remain a Flyer. He doesn’t expect the RFA process to be drawn out.
14. Robert Hägg pulled both of his groins, and then had that shoulder injury that kept him out nearly four weeks.
15. Ivan Provorov on Cam York: “He’s got all the tools.”
16. Kevin Hayes on Carter Hart: “With his work ethic. I think he’ll be one of the best goalies in the league next year.”
17. Hayes is making no excuses to include Matt Niskanen’s absence.
18. Hayes said he will need a “Minor” surgery. That may explain why he looked off a bit as the season wore on.
19. Justin Braun said his left foot is the one that is broke, and he should make a full recovery in four weeks.
20. James van Riemsdyk says he would love to stay here, and if he gets selected in the expansion draft it will work out.
21. Claude Giroux did say he was going to give an honest input with Fletcher on what the team needs moving forward.
22. Giroux: “I want to win.”
23. Giroux: “As a team we didn’t react the right way.”
24. Giroux: “A lot of guys are not happy with the season. We are going to come out strong next year.”
25. Giroux agrees with AV on the practice theme for younger players, by saying they need all the practice they can get.
26. Ghost: “I had a lot of adversity this season – COVID, getting suspended, healthy scratch, all that stuff. But I think every time I came back, I answered the bell, and I came back with vengeance. And I responded really well and positively for our team. So, I think that just shows on a personal level for myself, dealing with adversity is not a problem. And you’re gonna have to do that to build your character as a human being. And, just worry about the things you can control. And that’s what I did. I just played hockey.”
27. Philippe Myers: “All we got to do is kind of build off that and hit the reset button this summer. Have a good summer training and come back ready to go for camp. I think that’s all you can do.”

At the end of the day the Flyers will have a lot of pressure on themselves to perform next season. Following exit interviews yesterday it appears the Flyers will make some changes, but not overhaul the roster or coaching staff, in large part due to Covid reasons the team endured throughout this unusual season. Like Fletcher indicated yesterday look for the Flyers to shore up the defensive side of the puck, to include the Penalty Kill, and Goaltending.