It’s time to look forward to the NHL offseason and the upcoming 2021-2022 season Flyers fans! With six games remaining in the 2020-2021 season and the Flyers on track to miss the playoffs once again, the focus has shifted towards the future of the Orange and Black.
So, in regards to the Philadelphia Flyers, I posed the question on Twitter of “What Are The Chances?”
From the chances of the of Kevin Hayes getting back to the level of play he was at in 2019-2020, to the chances of Carter Hart rebounding and establishing himself as the Flyers franchise goalie, it’s all right here! Don’t forget about that need for a number two defenseman as well!
These two questions go hand in hand and I think it addressed the Flyers biggest hole headed into the offseason.
That, Flyers fans, is the defense.
I don’t think the Flyers are so much looking for a “big nasty” defenseman as they are looking for, like you said, someone “who can help Hart and settle down the back end”. That’s probably the most important thing here.
Obviously, the Flyers are an absolute mess on defense. That doesn’t bode well for any goalie. If you don’t have a good defense playing in front of you, the puck is going to find its way in the back of the net.
Is that to say that the Flyers being dead last in goals against per game at 3.53 GA/GP with six games remaining in the regular season is all on the defense?
Not at all.
Both Carter Hart and Brian Elliott have had a tough season. Every once in awhile, you need a timely save from your goaltender. The Flyers haven’t gotten much of them this season.
The poor play in front of those two has definitely contributed to that though. The team defense is definitely one of the bigger concerns in regards to this team and where they’re at right now.
I do think the Flyers will go out and get a defenseman this offseason. It could be through trade or free agency.
Let’s mainly focus on signing a defenseman through free agency here though.
Obviously, the big name heading into free agency this summer on defense is Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton. He’d be a solid complement to Ivan Provorov on that top defensive pair come next season.
Unfortunately for the Flyers, cap space may not allow for the Flyers to sign someone like Hamilton. Like a lot of other teams, the Flyers have very little cap space headed into the offseason. The only way I could realistically see them signing Hamilton is if they unload a big contract or two this offseason to free up some cap space.
However, for fun, lets assume the Flyers can sign Hamilton in the offseason.
Hamilton is listed at 6’6″, 229 lbs. He’s only 27-years-old and is playing in the middle of his ninth NHL season. He’s a veteran player, but one that’s still pretty young.
He’s not a very physical defenseman despite his size, but he would definitely help solidify the backend and hopefully help Ivan Provorov get back to playing like a top defenseman.
He can also contribute offensively as well. He has 338 points in 601 regular season games. He’s someone that could man the point on the powerplay as well.
Just look at the impact former NHL defenseman Matt Niskanen had on Provorov last season before ultimately deciding to call it a career. Provorov was at his best when Nisaknen was beside him. Adding a guy like Hamilton should help elevate the play of not only Provorov, but the defense as a whole.
Realistically, I could see the Flyers signing a veteran defenseman who can at least help improve the backend. I’m not so sure he’ll qualify as a number one defenseman though. Those guys don’t grow on trees.
In my eyes, and I’m sure in a lot of other people’s eyes as well, the biggest offseason need is a defenseman who can help settle things down. I’m just not sure who they’ll be able to get due to cap restraints. It’s all in the hands of Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher now.
As for the Voracek situation, good luck moving a guy that has three years remaining on his contract after this season and currently has a cap hit of $8,250,000. That’s a lot for a team to take on.
If they were somehow able to trade him, you best bet that the Flyers would have to eat a good chunk of that salary.
If he’s exposed in the upcoming expansion draft and Seattle takes him, great.
If not, I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing Jake Voracek in a Flyers uniform when the 2021-2022 season gets underway.
Since we’re specifically talking about Kevin Hayes, I figured it’d be easier to just answer it all in one thread instead of repeat myself.
Kevin Hayes was as advertised in his first season with the Flyers.
He potted 23 goals and registered 41 points in 69 games with the Flyers. He was a force offensively, was effective on the PK, and played a pretty solid 200-foot game.
Heck, he even scored four shorthanded goals.
As for the 2020-2021 season, his production dropped off. In fact, it’s basically taken a nose dive.
In 49 games with the Flyers this season, Hayes has scored just 11 goals. Seven of those goals came in the months of January and February. As for March and April, Hayes has found twine only four times in 31 games.
In keeping things short and sweet, that’s not good enough for someone the Flyers had hoped would be an effective number two center and help contribute on the offensive side of things.
It hasn’t only been his play on offense that’s dipped either.
Hayes looks much slower this year and he’s made way too many bad decisions with the puck. Not to mention his ability to play 200-feet has been much less noticeable than in years past.
It’s been a rough year for the 28-year-old center, but I do believe that he can get back to playing the way he did last year with the Flyers.
I really believe that Hayes is at his best when he’s playing that 200-foot game. Goals have been hard to come by for him this year, but I believe that if he plays an all around better game, that the offense will follow.
Don’t count on Hayes scoring 30 goals though. His career high is 25 back in 2017-2018 with the Rangers. That’s just not who he is
If Hayes can get back to playing at the level he was in his first season with the Flyers, the Flyers will be a much bigger threat offensively and a better team defensively.
Don’t forget about the penalty kill either. There’s only one way to go for the Flyers in that category, and it’s up.
So yes, I do think there’s a pretty good chance that we see Kevin Hayes get back to or somewhere near the level of play that he was at last season come October.
As for seeing Hayes finish strong this season, I would sure hope that after what happened last night, that we see some kind of life from him.
Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault decided to scratch Hayes versus the Devils last night because he believes the Dorchester, Massachusetts native can be better. It’s also necessary to note that he wasn’t fully healthy either.
There’s six games remaining for the Flyers. I fully expect Hayes, after being benched last night, to play with a chip on his shoulder. He has seven points in 31 games since the beginning of March. In simpler terms, that’s not going to cut it.
The Flyers are out of playoff contention, but Hayes surely still has something to play for. He knows he has to be better. He’d probably be the first one to tell you that.
I expect him to be one of the more noticeable Flyers in these last few games here.
It seemed like before Covid-19 forced the NHL to pause the 2019-2020 season, that a lot of the players were on the same page. Things seemed to be clicking on all cylinders.
This season, it’s been the complete opposite, which has led to the Flyers downfall in the MassMutual East Division.
Team defense, goaltending, and depth scoring have all been glaring issues this season. That’s just to name a few.
I don’t think I have enough fingers on both hands to count out the long list of problems that the Flyers have endured this year.
Hockey is a team sport. The deep hole that the Flyers have dug themselves falls on the team. It’s not just one or two players.
I think you’ll see the Flyers play more like a “team” once Chuck Fletcher and the rest of the Flyers front office make the necessary moves to improve this team, as well as when the Flyers youth reaches its potential.
The biggest need for the Flyers this offseason is someone to complement Ivan Provorov on the top defensive pair. In other words, a righthanded defenseman. That’s a good place to start.
No one said it was going to easy, but Fletcher needs to find a way to pull it off, whether it be in free agency or through a trade. Matt Niskanen left a big hole and the Flyers haven’t filled it.
Don’t forget that the Flyers have a very young team as well, with a lot of those players just beginning to scratch the surface.
Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Wade Allison, Egor Zamula, and highly touted Cam York, to name a few, are all a work in progress. They haven’t reached there potential yet. The more and more they develop, and of course we can only hope that they do, the better the Flyers will look as a team.
Don’t forget that Carter Hart is only playing in his third season in the NHL as well. He’s not fully developed either.
Did I forget to mention that Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, and Phil Myers are all 25-years-old or younger?
It’s not about commitment. All of these guys are committed. It’s about making the necessary moves to fill the teams glaring holes, along with all of these young players getting better and better with each and every game. That’s when you’ll see the Flyers play more like a “team”.
Carter Hart is 22-years-old. This is his third season in the NHL. In 2018-2019, he didn’t get called up until December.
The Flyers are finishing up a season in which the regular season was trimmed down to 56 games due to the late start in January. It’s been a jam packed schedule with very little time to make adjustments. The Flyers, as a team, are a mess.
To answer your question, I’m extremely confident in saying that Carter Hart will rebound in 2021-2022 as well as further establish himself as the Flyers franchise goalie.
I fully expect the Flyers to acquire a defenseman, in either free agency or through a trade, that will make an immediate impact on the back end. The only way to go on the defensive side of things is up, right? That’ll be extremely beneficial for the 22-year-old goaltender.
The NHL is expected to return to a somewhat normal schedule in 2021-22 with the NHL targeting an October 12 start date. That means Hart will have a full summer to work out any kinks in his game and prepare for a normal (fingers crossed) season. Hopefully there will be more practices next season as well. No team has had nearly enough of those with the jam packed schedule.
Before he got hurt, he was starting to look more and more like the Carter Hart we saw in 2019-2020.
In the month of April, Hart started in five games for the Flyers between the pipes. That number would obviously be higher if it wasn’t for the injury he suffered to his knee (mild knee sprain). He went 1-2-2 in those five starts, stopping 122 of 134 shots fired his way for 2.31 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.
That’s a major step in the right direction for a guy that had struggled throughout most of the season.
Hart is the real deal. He’ll be the Flyers number one goalie for many years to come. Come October, I think we’ll see that throwback version of Hart that we saw in 2019-2020.
Staying on the topic of Carter Hart, I truly believe that the young netminder is going to be a star in the NHL for many years to come. I definitely could see Carter Hart winning the Vezina. I think he’ll have a chance to do it more than once actually.
Branching out from guys like Andrei Vasilevskiy, Connor Hellebuyck, Marc-Andre Fleury, etc. , there’s a lot of young talent at the goaltender position around the NHL. Guys like Vitek Vanecek (Capitals), Igor Shesterkin (Rangers), Kevin Lankinen (Blackhawks), and Kaapo Kahkonen (Wild) to name a few, all have a shot to give Hart a run for his money when it comes to winning the Vezina.
I think what makes Hart so special is his ability to remain cool, calm, and collected even when things don’t go right. Obviously, he showed his frustration a few times this season, but who can blame him? The Flyers have been a complete mess this season.
For the most part though, Hart doesn’t let his emotions get the best of him. It’s a small sample size, but to me he’s one of most mentally tough goaltenders in the NHL right now. That’s pretty impressive for someone who is only 22-years-old.
Not only do I see him winning a Vezina trophy, or two, with the Flyers during what we hope will be a promising career with the Orange and Black, but I also see him hoisting the Stanley Cup and parading down Broad Street as well! Maybe even more than once?
I’ll start by saying that I don’t see the Flyers finishing the 2021-2022 season in sixth place in the MassMutual East Division. I think whether or not this nightmare carries over into next season depends on a few things though.
For one, guys like Travis Konecny, Kevin Hayes, Ivan Provorov, and Carter Hart getting back the level of play they were at before the 2019-2020 season was halted because of the pandemic is a big factor. I believe all four of these guys will get back to, or near, where they were at last season come next season.
Travis Konecny scored 24 goals in three straight seasons. He has only nine goals through 43 games this season. I have to think he’ll be a lot more productive come next season based on what I’ve seen from him in the past.
Kevin Hayes went from a fan favorite last season after scoring 23 goals, to a guy fans can’t stand due to the steep drop off he’s had this season. He only has 11 goals in 49 games and his 200-foot game is nowhere near where it was last season. Again, I just can’t see Hayes having another lackluster season like he’s had this one.
Ivan Provorov is a workhorse, and still is, but his play has dropped off this season. He hasn’t looked like that number one defenseman the Flyers need him to be ever since Matt Niskanen decided to call it a career. If the Flyers can get a defenseman that qualifies as a top four defenseman in the offseason, and I believe that they will, to complement Provorov on that top pair, I fully expect Provorov to be one of the leagues top defenseman in 2021-2022.
As for Carter Hart, he’s still young and he’s learning as he goes at the NHL level. Hart went 24-13-3 in 2019-2020 finishing with a goals against average of 2.42 along with a .914 save percentage.
This season, he took a step backwards, just as the Flyers did. He finished the season with a record of 9-11-5 with a goals against average of 3.67 and a save percentage of .877. That’s a major drop off from one season to another but one that I’m not particularly worried about simply because of the fact that he’ll have a full summer to work on his game, and as I said earlier, is what I believe one of the most mentally tough goaltenders in the NHL.
If these four guys, who by the way are only to name a few that need to step it up come the 2021-2022 season, can get back to where they were at last season, it’ll do wonders for the Flyers.
Another factor that plays into this is whether or not all of these young Flyers can take steps forward in there development . Some of these guys aren’t a lock to make the team come October and to be honest, we’re not sure what this team will look like come next season, but the Flyers will benefit from the likes of players such as Joel Farabee, Wade Allison, Morgan Frost, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Egor Zamula, Cam York, etc. , if they can take a leap forward in there development. I feel like quite a bit of next season rides on these young players and just how much they can contribute.
Like I said, I have no idea if Cam York will make the Flyers out of training camp. The same goes for Egor Zamula. I’m just talking as if these young players will play a role in the whether or not this nightmare of season carries over into the 2021-2022 season. A few of them most certainly will play a fairly large role.
Finally, and I’ve mentioned it quite a few times in previous answers, a lot falls on whether or not the Flyers can sign or trade for a defenseman that can help right the ship on defense. You shore up the defense, you also help out your goalies. We’ll have to wait and see what Chuck Fletcher decides to do in the offseason.
So, to answer your question, I don’t see this nightmare that the Flyers have endured this season carrying over into next season. I’m not saying that they’ll win the Stanley Cup, but I do think they’ll find themselves in a much better position next season than where they’re at now.
I don’t believe that there’s a very good chance that the Flyers get a legitimate scorer through trade or free agency. The little cap space that the Flyers have available to them just doesn’t allow for it. I don’t expect the cap to move much following this season either so it’s not going to get any easier for Chuck Fletcher to make moves anytime soon.
I do expect the Flyers to unload a contract or two this offseason. There’s also the expansion draft. That’ll open up some cap space, but only so much.
The Flyers most glaring hole is on defense. Whether Fletcher signs a top four defenseman in free agency or acquires one through a trade, I have a feeling that getting whomever that defenseman may be will take up a good chunk of that reaming cap space. Don’t forget that Brian Elliott is an unrestricted free agent following this season as well, which means the Flyers will need to either sign or trade for a backup goaltender.
If only there was more cap space.
I think if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Brian Elliott this year, and you could even argue that we already knew this beforehand, it’s that he’s just not reliable when it comes to having to be that guy for a stretch of games. He’s a great option if he only has to play a game here or a game there. The reality of it though is that stuff happens and the Flyers can’t solely bet on him having to only make an appearance every once in awhile.
The situation the Flyers are in right now, despite being out of the playoff race, is a perfect example.
Carter Hart is out with a mild knee sprain. Brian Elliott is the next guy in line to start between the pipes. He’s the Flyers backup.
Hypothetically, say they were fighting for a playoff spot and the season was on the line. Brian Elliott isn’t likely going to be able to sustain the level of play the Flyers would need him to down the stretch. Now they’re in trouble because they don’t have a goaltender, after Hart of course, who is capable of stringing together quality starts for a stretch of games that’ll be played in a short period of time.
I like Elliott as much as the next guy, but I think that the Flyers need someone that has a little bit more durability than the 36-year-old veteran netminder.
Would I be surprised to see Elliott back in a Flyers uniform come next season?
Not at all, because he’s a cheap option for the Flyers to bring back this offseason. Right now he has a cap hit of $1.5 million dollars. It’s not like he’s due for a raise or anything along those lines.
I do believe that the Flyers will look elsewhere though. If the price is right, they’ll move on from Elliott. The fact that he’s such a cheap option is the only reason I could see the Flyers re-signing him.
In simpler terms, I’m stuck in the middle as to whether or not I believe Brian Elliott will be the backup goaltender for the Flyers come next season.
I think the real issue when it comes to the Flyers defense may not be who is playing defense but how they are playing defense. Whether it is Provorov on down to Haag they all are playing a style that has them in front of the opposing team forwards instead of behind them or along side of them. This has to be the way AV, Therrien and Yeo want them to play. They are also puck watching all the time. There is no excuse for the number of tap in goals that the Flyers have given up this year when an opposing forward is all alone at the net. You cannot blame goaltenders for that. The Flyers need to protect the house as it is taught throughout youth hockey etc. I would like to see an assistant coach come in that emphasizes covering both posts and having your head on a swivel.When I consistently hear how good Provorov is by all the talking heads I always ask myself why he needs someone to help him when he should be the veteran defenseman now who helps his partner. What this team really needs is a # 1 defenseman so Provorov can drop to 20-22 minutes a game. Players production drops as their shift extends beyond 40 seconds. If this team went back to fundamentals and changed lines and defense better and quicker they would of had at least 10 more points this year and in the future. Forwards consistency change as the puck is going the other way. If you notice when a rookie is called up that never happens, they change as they are attacking and hustle off the ice unlike JVR, Voracek, Hayes etc.
Unfortunately, this team is burdened with horrible contracts. Not helping matters any was giving a 4th line center a 5 year $15 million dollar contract. When will we learn? At the deadline we could have gotten a first or second round draft choice for him. I am tired of hearing how good a player is in the locker room. This locker room can’t change because you can’t get rid of the veteran long term contracts you have. We can only hope that Seattle is poorly run and thinks JVR or Jake Voracek is better than what we see.