Photo Credit: Frankie Steskal
“I’ve been happy with our five-on-five play so far,” Chuck Fletcher said a game before the pre-season ended. “Again, every game, either we have a better, stronger lineup than our opponent or they have a stronger lineup to us. Even in Bridgeport the other night, I thought, particularly the second and third period, we had the puck more than they did. They had the lead so maybe they were sitting back. It seemed like we got to our forecheck more successfully more often than we did last year. I saw certain signs there that are good, but again, I don’t know. It can be dangerous reading too much into preseason. I think we’ve had a lot of time to work on things in practice. I really think AV and the coaching staff have done a good job, breaking things down. The guys have been here every day. We’re working on different elements and it seems to be clicking so far. We’ll find out eight days from now, I guess when we get going for real.” What does this quote mean!!! This means the Flyers’ General Manager has high hopes for this club.
High hopes, at the very least to make the playoffs. How they will do, well their play will dictate that, “I think camp has been workman-like and orderly and not a lot of big surprises,” Fletcher said. “I think that’s great. I’ve been happy with how the new players have fit in, both on and off the ice. That’s something you’re always looking for. It takes time. Sometimes it takes time. Guys came in great shape. I know we’ve spoken about that. Players like Konecny, Sanheim, Morgan Frost and Aube-Kubel, these guys came in great shape and much better than last year. You like to see that everybody put the effort in coming into camp. I think camp has been relatively uneventful, with the exception of the firestorm last weekend for Lord knows why that happened. Besides that, I think it’s been kind of boring, which is great.”
Refacing/Playoffs
After a refacing of some sorts, with new additions to the club and subtractions (Most notably Jakub Voracek) this past offseason with the likes of adding Cam Atkinson, Rasmus Ristolainen, Nate Thompson, Ryan Ellis, Derick Brassard, Keith Yandle, and Martin Jones. More leadership has been added, and now it’s up to the players to perform, Travis Sanheim said a few months ago. The Flyers should be thinking as if they are a playoff team to start the year, and anything less should be seen as a colossal failure. There are no more excuses (Pandemic, lack of practice time, Covid, lack of depth), this young Flyers team should perform on and off the ice.
Center Depth Tested
The Flyers added a 6’1 center, 210 pound player in Patrick Brown yesterday. Injuries forced this claim off of waivers, with significant injuries to Kevin Hayes and Tanner Laczynski. The Flyers may feel that Jackson Cates is not ready for the big show, as he was sent to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Moreover, Morgan Frost needs some playing time with the Phantoms in order to get his timing and a rhythm back. Injuries have forced Scott Laughton back to a third line center role, and I would not be surprised if Claude Giroux ends up back at center at some point, until Hayes returns from injury in a few weeks. Just how healthy Hayes will be remains to be seen, but the Flyers center depth will be tested early this season, and it really could dictate their fate of the season early.
Special Teams
The Flyers need their power play and penalty kill to resurrect themselves. They finished the pre-season with a 60% success rate at killing penalties (8-20, only killed 12 penalties successfully). This is just not good enough, regardless of the personnel that was utilized for the games. We can make excuse after excuse, just get better. Again Fletcher added key pieces to the penalty killing unit in Atkinson, Thompson, and Ellis. There are no more excuses, to include the power play with a veteran in Yandle now quarterbacking the top power play unit. This now becomes a coaching responsibility with the likes of Alain Vigneault, Mike Yeo, and Michel Therrien. If the Flyers struggle, I would not be surprised to see multiple coaches terminated before the season ends.
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New Locker Room
“The locker room is very tight,” new Flyers Center Derick Brassard said on Sunday.” Brassard further elaborated saying that with the teams scheduled off day yesterday (Monday) they organized team bonding exercises in Atlantic City, such as, golf and a team dinner. The Flyers coaching staff was also involved with these exercises, per Brassard.
These are good signs that the locker room is indeed tight, and that there is a good attitude as they embark on a long season ahead. It appears they will go battle for one another following a few tuffles during the pre-season. Last year, was anything but a blissful locker room, and the product on the ice suffered because of such. Hopefully, with a brand new locker room, sort of speak, and more new leadership (As mentioned above), hopefully, these problems will become a thing of the past for this proud organization.
With these new tangibles, and with the new refacing the Flyers should at least make the playoffs. Just how far they will go will be determined on multiple factors, but one thing is for certain. Anything less than a return to the playoffs at the very least should be deemed a colossal failure.
