Date Published: 1-11-2022
Photo Credit: Rob Windfelder
Fans now have a much clearer picture of what the Flyers are, and Chuck Fletcher was RIGHT when he said they would be “harder to play against” this season. They are definitely a harder team to play against this season. They added a tough guy in Nicolas Deslauriers who is a solid skater, a hard-nosed offensive defensemen in Tony DeAngelo, and a coach who has instilled work ethic and passion back into the Flyers game. However, those were the only moves the Flyers made this past offseason. They did not bolster their offense, added no skill, and did not add a single player who can score goals. Instead, they are a top 20 team at best with multiple significant players out for the season (Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, Ryan Ellis). Has there been more fight to their game? Absolutely. Has this team had a stronger work ethic than in years past? Absolutely, and John Tortorella has made sure of that. But where does that leave this team? Unfortunately, bottom feeders to the middle of the pack once again in the Eastern Conference.
Now that’s about all the credit Fletcher will get in this piece, as it has been another dreadful season in terms of injuries. First Sean Couturier, then Cam Atkinson was hopeful for the home opener to out for the season. In addition, Ryan Ellis is out the year again, to Bobby Brink being hurt. The bleeding didn’t stop there as Scott Laughton, Wade Allison, and James van Riemsdyk have all missed time due to injuries. For lord’s sake when will it stop? With the Flyers currently 5-1 in their last six games, this is left the flyers mulling Chuck Fletcher’s future. Danny Briere is slated to take over the helm, but they are operating under a wait and see. The Flyers have a tough stretch games here coming up with playing Washington twice, the Boston Bruins, and unfortunately the games only get tougher in February. There is no rush per se, as the NHL trade deadline isn’t until March 3rd. Fletcher will solely maintain the title of President of the Flyers. A position of course he already holds, so it would not be a promotion.
Fletcher’s first mistake this past offseason was not shoring up the Center position after the orange and black found out that Couturier suffered a setback in the Summer. At the very least Fletcher could have signed Dylan Strome as a 2C/3C and he only costs $3.5 million. Yes, contrary to some belief, the Flyers had the cap space to do such as they could have went over the salary cap by ten percent, and with Ryan Ellis being placed on LTIR (Long-Term-Injured-Reserve) the day the season began. The depth within the flyer system was tested at the center position with the slew of injuries earlier in the season, and it proved that the Flyers have a problem with talented centers within the system. Now how can this get corrected? Well good drafting for starters that’s the easy way to correct this, and stockpiling assets in terms of draft picks for expiring contracts that will be traded now until the trade deadline commences.
There has been much talk surrounding Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov in terms of being moved, which is understandable as he carries a nice cap hit for what he offers at $6.75 million per year for the next two seasons, but I think this is more of an off-season move, rather than a trade deadline move for a contender due to the heftiness of the cap hit. What I’m saying is usually contenders are looking for cheap expiring contracts, rather than a multi-year nice size cap hit per se. In addition, the Flyers have tons of leverage if a deal came to fruition to move Provorov. He is a minute eating defenseman, and he’s a good skater. For all these reasons the Flyers could net a great return. However, if the Flyers continue to win, a lot of times winning cures bad feelings. That would only look for the Flyers to trade expiring contracts by the trade deadline, and I wrote an article on such earlier this week that there would be a fire sale of expiring contracts, no shockers.
The current State of the Flyers is so-so with tough competition ahead. There is very little going for them as an organization right now, and a rift happened with a player who was supposed to be a vocal leader on and off the ice in Kevin Hayes. However, despite what you might be reading or viewing, they are not a bottom three team in this league. They may have missed out on numerous opportunities, mainly finishing games, but that doesn’t take away from the type of players they still have on this roster. I think what many Flyers fans are really trying to say through their harsh criticism and irrational takes is that they are disappointed with Flyers management. There have been numerous signings and trades by other teams, to which the Flyers should have made, most notably a player that wanted to play in Philadelphia with Johnny Gaudreau. How many times has a person heard Tortorella say this season “We need more goal scoring”. There is plenty to be disappointed about, and it is hard to have any optimism as a Flyers fan right now, with the exception for looking at this coaching staff and what they’ve done with this less than talented roster.
Most notably young players have elevated their games with the likes of Travis Konecny, Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, Carter Hart, Cam York, and Samuel Ersson. Cares is really turning into a special player, his vision of the ice and hockey smarts are impeccable. Konecny continues to sit amongst the league’s leaders in goals scored and he is on pace for 40+ goals, and 80 plus points.
Carter Hart has enjoyed a nice season, and has kept the Flyers in games and stole them some games for that matter. Ersson has been lights out in five starts compiling a 4-0 record, 2.30 GAA, and a .924 Save Percentage in five starts. What this proves is that there is no need to go outside the organization for help at the Goaltending position, finally, finally in 2023 Flyers fans can say that.
The Flyers finished 29th in the league last season without most notably Ryan Ellis, Sean Couturier, and Kevin Hayes. They have a small veteran presence mixed in with up and coming young players this season. They added the exact coach this organization and players needed in John Tortorella. They have a lot of young players/prospects who have entered the lineup and made the most out of an opportunity that was given to them (Cam York). DeAngelo has been a solid addition, especially with the way he shoots and cycles the puck with the man advantage, but I do believe they will finish somewhere between 17th and 22nd in the league this year, unless Couturier does indeed return to the lineup by February at some point. Is that something to be proud of? Absolutely not!!! The mediocrity of this team has gone on long enough, and most fans are rightfully fed up, but honestly that’s what was expected of them before the season began especially with Tortorella running the ship.
The most frustrating part about the Flyers right now is that they are going to win just enough games to make fans want to watch, but not lose enough to be completely embarrassing like last season. Some nights they are going to look promising, but as soon as fans get sucked back in they will lose that key game. Hence, the ten game losing streak after starting the season out strong. Even if Ryan Ellis, Sean Couturier, and Cam Atkinson were all healthy and played this season they were a playoff bubble team to begin with. The good thing is that it appears the team has come together in the locker room and comes out every night competing. Most of the Flyers problems stem from them not being able to score goals, until recently with bottom tier competition. They don’t have the reliable goal scorers or the talent that playoff teams have, nor the skill. It’s ashame for a fanbase that was promised a “Blank Check” to ensure the Flyers were going to become relevant again.
So what do Flyers fans have to look forward to? The youth, seeing the younger players grow and develop. Younger players like York, Noah Cates, Wade Allison, Morgan Frost, Owen Tippett, Felix Sandström, Samuel Ersson, and Carter Hart who has played well. Seeing how the team responds to John Tortorella is exciting, but it’s also neat to witness how the younger players mature under him. There are lots of opportunities for the younger players to prove themselves the rest of the way. Fortunately, there is no pressure to succeed and having the youth excel would be a success in most of the fans’ eyes. There isn’t much to bear with the rest of the season, but the future is still something to be optimistic about. Cutter Gauthier could be here next season, possibly even as early as March. Maybe fans also see Elliot Desnoyers and Tyson Foerster at some point. It’s time to move on from the majority of the Veterans and let the youth shine.
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To recap, are the Flyers harder to play against at the halfway mark of the season, as opposed to the past few seasons? Yes. They may work harder, but they also may score the least amount of goals in the entire league, and that is not going to win many games the rest of the way.
