The Flyers Can’t Score, How Can They Fix It?

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Aside from the first handful of games this season the Philadelphia Flyers cannot score goals (at least more than 2 goals a game anyway). Throughout the last 10 games the Flyers have averaged approximately 1.90 goals per game, which is not something a playoff team usually does. So it should be brought to the forefront if this is just a scoring slump or if this is the team’s overall offensive ability this season. 

My perspective lies with the opinion that the Flyers are in a scoring slump at the moment however, it’s somewhat a self-inflicted slump. Though the Flyers are missing Kevin Hayes and Ryan Ellis currently who would be much better contributors offensively in their positions than their replacements are. The way the current line-up has been constructed is actively hurting the team’s scoring ability. 

First of all, the fact Morgan Frost has been called up is a start to improving the scoring depth. This is the case because Derick Brassard and Scott Laughton are both not the ideal center options for the second and third lines and Frost has been scoring at a point-per-game pace in the AHL. What this exhibits is he’ll likely be able to contribute a bit more offensively than the two center options mentioned above. As a result, the team’s lack of offensive ability and high danger scoring chance creation should improve with a player like Frost who’s an offensive producer and has a ton of creativity and skill within his game being inserted into the lineup.

The way Alain Vigneault has constructed the team’s line-up at the moment is not conducive to much sustained offensive success as the depth is not spread out nearly enough. Currently here are the team’s lines:

Giroux – Couturier – Konecny 

Farabee – Frost – Atkinson 

JVR – Laughton – MacEwen

Lindblom – Thompson – Willman

In relation to maximizing this offenses scoring potential the lines above are not something that does so. Oskar Lindblom playing with Nate Thompson and Max Willman is not giving Lindblom a fair opportunity to contribute offensively. As placing any player with those 2 would essentially minimize their scoring or high danger scoring chance creation and driving play potential. As a result, certain looks should be given to other line combinations because clearly, the current ones are not doing much of anything regarding offensive production.

I believe the Flyers should put forth this line-up in their next outing because as currently constructed this won’t be any worse in terms of the offense beginning to drive play, create high danger scoring chances and score some goals: 

Farabee – Couturier – Konecny 

Giroux – Frost – Atkinson 

JVR – Laughton – Lindblom 

Willman – Thompson – MacEwen

The lineup listed above gives the team more opportunities to score and create scoring chances on a regular basis. As it spreads out the depth but not to the point where skilled offensive players are being wasted playing with other players that cannot help them contribute offensively or finish off scoring chances created for them. 

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The Konecny, Couturier, Farabee line is something that should be given a chance as Couturier has had success playing with both Konecny and Farabee. Not to mention Farabee and Konecny are both very speedy and could play off one another’s speed along the wings to create scoring opportunities.

I’ve moved Giroux back a line in this projection due to the Flyers calling up Morgan Frost with Kevin Hayes being sidelined for the foreseeable future as this spreads out the team’s depth a bit more. Placing Giroux in this role takes him away from more difficult matchups he’d see when on the top line. Along with this, Giroux and Frost who are both great passers and playmakers playing with a shoot-first player in Cam Atkinson could be a very dangerous line in terms of players who could have chemistry with one another. Atkinson is a natural goal scorer which is something Giroux has rarely played with over the course of his career so both should be able to feed off each other’s tailored skills. Ultimately, such a second line has the potential to score at quite a consistent pace and even potentially outproduce the first line. 

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When looking at the 3rd line I’ve placed Laughton, Lindblom and JVR together because none of these forwards should be playing any higher than this in the lineup due to the other players they’d be pitted up against. Also, they should not be playing on the 4th line either as there are more offensively stagnant players on this team at the moment than the aforementioned 3 players above. Not to mention that this line when put together earlier in the season created quite a large amount of high danger scoring chances though they did not capitalize as often as they should have.

Essentially, this 3rd line likely won’t score all that much but they will be good defensively and can be used in a shutdown role which could benefit the Flyers other lines. If this line could handle defensive duties against other teams’ top lines which it should be able to considering the smarts and defensive prowess of Laughton, Lindblom, and JVR it could allow for the Flyers top two lines to be put into more favorable matchups offensively. In turn, this may allow for these top two lines to begin producing more scoring opportunities and scoring more in general. 

As for the 4th line, they likely won’t be producing much offense but should be decent from a defensive standpoint. If they can maintain going out there and not being scored on regularly that should be considered a win for the Flyers. If they are however beginning to allow goals against at an increased rate I believe GM Chuck Fletcher needs to look into potentially changing up said 4th line and giving other players an opportunity to prove they can be better. These players would likely consist of Wade Allison when healthy and possibly Connor Bunnaman. 

Lastly, another facet of the team’s game directly impacting the Flyers offensive momentum and ability to score is their power-play. The team’s power-play has simply been atrocious so far this season and even when the Flyers are on the man advantage they have been unable to even set up in the offensive zone and create many scoring opportunities. 

Typically when the Flyers are drawing these penalties they have offensive momentum and once they are put on the power-play their momentum evaporates and the other team seems to gain an edge in play after these power-plays have ended. This is the opposite of what a power-play should be doing for a team. In the Flyers case, a team who cannot score should be doing everything in their power to take advantage of said opportunities and produce high danger scoring chances. 

Something needs to change with the power-play and fast! The way to gain some sort of power-play rhythm would be ensuring Claude Giroux is on the left-hand side of the power play as this is where the forward has produced the most points in his career while on the man advantage. In addition, it allows Giroux to take one-timers and be a quicker distributor of the puck when he is not receiving it on his back-hand constantly as he is when playing on the right-hand side of the power-play. 

To add on, having a left-handed shot opposite Giroux on the right side of the first power-play unit would be ideal as then that player would be able to take one-timers from said position as well. Additionally, it would also allow Giroux and that left-handed player to possibly pass to one another and take one-timers if the opening presents itself.

Overall, the Flyers lack of scoring is something to worry about. Though one could attribute this lack of offensive production to a variety of their offensive weapons slumping simultaneously. Likely said slumps should eventually end and these players, as well as, the team will regress to their average scoring potential. In the meantime, however, Alain Vigneault needs to make adjustments to this team’s offensive and power-play setup. As such changes could produce a much-needed offensive spark for the Flyers. If Vigneault does not make any changes and the team continues their scoring slump the losses may begin to pile up. Consequently, for a team whose outlook has been geared towards making the playoffs, this may spell trouble for Vigneault and his coaching staff’s job security in the near future.