After a largely disappointing 2020-2021 season the Philadelphia Flyers are looking to move forward and put last season in the rear view mirror. With substantial additions to the roster made by General Manager Chuck Fletcher and his staff this past off-season there is a sense of renewed optimism around the team. It’s almost like this is the beginning of a new era of Flyers hockey or at least that’s what management, the coaching staff, players, and the fan base is hoping for. Although new acquisitions were made one thing is certain and that is the Flyers will need to have bounce back seasons from players who substantially underperformed throughout the 2020-2021 season. That means players like Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov, Scott Laughton, Kevin Hayes and Travis Sanheim will all need to up their games. Most importantly though is young netminder Carter Hart returning to the form he showed in his first two NHL seasons as even if the players mentioned above all perform much better than they did last season Hart’s play is crucial to the Flyers success in 2021-2022. The goaltender could have been considered as one of the worst if not the worst in the NHL last season based on goals against average and save percentage and the Flyers are banking on Hart at least improving upon his play last season. It’s a fair bet to make as the circumstances the young netminder faced last season were not very favourable and the Flyers defense also left Hart out to dry more often than not. As a result, it can be projected that Hart will likely not perform as he did last season and his pre-season outings so far are confirming that as the goaltender looks poised, calm and is tracking the puck well all features of his game in his first two NHL seasons that seemed to be missing last season. Overall, as long as Hart can play better than last season the Flyers will be much improved even if no other players on the team return to their previous form after sub par seasons. In most cases teams with the worst goaltending stats in the league do not fare very well in regards to winning games so if Hart improves to even a 900 % save percentage on the season it will be a big upgrade in goaltending performance for the Flyers.
Coupled with the new players entering the fold such as Ryan Ellis, Cam Atkinson, Rasmus Ristolainen, Keith Yandle, Derrick Brassard, Martin Jones, Nate Thompson and Patrick Brown, as well as, bounce back seasons from the aforementioned skaters above the results should be much better. Theoretically speaking the team the Flyers have assembled on paper looks like it could be one of the most competitive Metro Division teams. Obviously though this needs to be affirmed on the ice first. However, with the makeup of the team being shifted to bring in an abundance of veterans it would only make sense that the Flyers perform closer to the expectations of being a playoff team. The key factor for the Flyers this season is the defensive side of things as last season the team was abysmal in regards to in zone coverages and zone exits. Not to mention the fact that they had the worst goals against average in the entire NHL. The Flyers this past season allowed 197 goals against (per hockey-reference.com) for the worst in the entire NHL season. Additionally, the team allowed on average 3.52 goals against per game (per hockey-reference.com) which was also the worst in the league this season. Lastly, the team’s penalty-killing percentage for the previous season was an overall 73.05 % (per hockey-reference.com). That was the second-worst penalty-killing percentage in the entire NHL, only ahead of the New Jersey Devils. Essentially, these defensive stats articulate that the Flyers were the worst team in all of hockey in goals-against metrics showing why Fletcher and staff needed to focus overhauling the Flyers defense that had some of the worst stats defensively in the league. Bringing in the likes of Ryan Ellis, Rasmus Ristolainen and Keith Yandle on the back end should significantly improve the number of goals against allowed for the Flyers this upcoming season. Also, adding so many veterans to the roster will help in relation to calming younger players on the team down in certain aspects of the game. One of the Flyers major troubles last season was allowing goals right after they scored a goal. Typically, this would act as a momentum killer for the team and propel their opponents to taking control of games. The veterans the Flyers added provide an element of stability and calmness. While allowing coach Alain Vigneault the option to play these veterans in circumstances that call for a calming shift or a shift that slows down the pace of the game especially when the other team is pressing offensively. Ultimately, with the changes made on the back-end and the veterans brought into the locker room, the new dynamic of the team both on and off the ice should benefit the Flyers when trying to close out crucial games this upcoming season.
As a result of the off-season additions made by general manager Chuck Fletcher it’s safe to say that the Philadelphia Flyers will be a much improved team within the NHL landscape and Metropolitan division. Despite this, there is still some underlying skepticism surrounding how these new additions will mesh and if the team can form chemistry with one another. Nonetheless, even if the team doesn’t form the greatest on ice chemistry there is no doubt in my mind the additions made on the defensive end of the ice will pay dividends for the Flyers in terms of allowing goals against. Last season proved this is a team that can score it’s fair share of goals so lowering that goals against number will go a long way in the Flyers achieving success. It is also likely Carter Hart will not perform at league worst goaltending metrics this season either so that should be something helping the goals against metric for the Flyers as well. Considering this, I project the Flyers will finish 2nd in the Metropolitan division this season firmly securing a playoff spot. I believe Carolina will take 1st place in the Metro and the third place team will be the New York Islanders, leaving the likes of Washington, the Rangers and the Penguins fighting for a wild card spot and final playoff berth. Another prediction I would like to get on the record is a projection that Flyers forward Joel Farabee who led the team in goal scoring last season will continue to improve and lead the team in points and goals this season. Due to this, I’m projecting Farabee to score 72 points in 82 games this season. In terms of the Flyers outlook this season, this is a crucial year for the team as after a decade of alternating playoff berths and missing the playoffs, this is a fanbase screaming for consistency. Evidently, the additions Chuck Fletcher and staff made this off-season has cemented that a new era of Flyers hockey has arrived. The aura around the Philadelphia Flyers make it seem as though this is a reinvigorated group poised to succeed and once again return to the postseason not only in 2021-2022 but in the seasons to come.
