The Philadelphia Flyers find themselves in a difficult spot right now. While their record may not show it, they have plenty of things going wrong for them. We all know that the Flyers aren’t a cup-contending team and won’t be for at least another two, three, maybe four years.
The Flyers currently stand at 17-18-4 with 38 points through 39 games played. They’re tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets for fifth place in the Metropolitan Division. What Flyers fans have to remember is that they are in a rebuild.
How long this rebuild will take is something no one knows at this time. The two, three, maybe four years is just a guess. It could be longer or shorter, who knows.
Bringing over top rookie Matvei Michkov from Russia was definitely a good start, but they still have much more to do. Aleksei Kolosov having second thoughts and eventually joining the Flyers in training camp was a positive as well. However, performances like last night against the Vegas Golden Knights don’t give Flyers fans much to be happy about.
Let’s first talk about goaltending. With Ersson being listed as day-to-day, the Flyers are having to rely on Kolosov and Ivan Fedotov to keep them above water. While turnovers played a huge reason in last night’s loss in Vegas, Kolosov didn’t perform particularly well either. He allowed a few soft goals that he realistically should have made a save on. He also looked slow going post-to-post.
Ivan Fedotov will most likely get the start in the Flyer’s next game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night. Could he help the Flyers keep the waters calm and get things back to normal? Only time will tell. One thing about Fedotov that makes Flyers fans nervous right now is he hasn’t played since December 5th. He’s been practicing with the team but not playing.
If the Flyers want to get back on the successful side of things, they need to start getting consistently good goaltending. Staying healthy is also something that’s needed.
Another part of the rebuild is Sean Couturier being named as the Flyers captain. While fans might think, “They’re just naming someone captain of the team, big whoop,” having a captain who leads the way for a team can be a big deal. However, Couturier hasn’t been performing the way he has in the past.
Through 37 games played, Couturier’s tallied seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points and is a minus-four. Couturier is going to be critical to this team’s future. If the team wants to have any kind of success, they’re going to need their captain to step it up.
Finally, let’s talk about depth. The Flyers have some talented rookies in the minors making their way up to the big leagues. How much longer will it be until they get called up? That’s up to the front office and the individual player’s play.
There’s no doubt that those players will make this team better in some way. The Flyers just need to hold down the fort until they get to Philadelphia. Part of this rebuild is drafting high-talented players, letting them and their play grow, and reaching the expectations set.
Matvei Michkov was an absolute steal at the 2023 NHL Draft. Fans are still puzzled at how he dropped all the way to number seven. He has shown that he has the IQ of an NHLer and can stay up in the big leagues long-term. He’s also shown that rookies do struggle and will eventually be benched for a few games.
Head coach John Tortorella is the type of coach that will hold you accountable for everything. He will bench you if he sees you struggling and not being able to bounceback immediately. It’s already happened to multiple players other than Michkov this season.
This team will be successful for years to come, Flyers fans. Just have patience with the players and front office and they will give us a team to remember.
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enough with the rebuild already. they keep talking about trading some of these young core pieces. just a revolving door