What is the current State of the Flyers?

Fans now have a much better picture of what the Flyers roster will be come opening night and according to Chuck Fletcher they will be “harder to play against.” If you look at some of the moves they made this summer, then you may agree, they are harder to play against. They added a tough guy who can skate a little better than most 4th line grinders in Nicolas Deslauriers, a hard-nosed offensive defensemen in Tony DeAngelo, and a coach who will instill a work ethic and passion back into the Flyers game. However, those are about the only moves the Flyers made this entire off-season. They did nothing about bolstering their offense, added no skill, and nobody who can consistently score goals. If they already had a top 15 roster and they made the moves they did, we are looking at a substantial increase in the standings. What better compliments a skillful roster than adding grit, work ethic, and role players? Instead, they are a top 20 team at best with an injured Ryan Ellis and multiple other players coming off injury. Will there be more fight in their game? Absolutely. Will this team have a stronger work ethic than in years past? John Tortorella will make sure of that. But where does that leave this team?

The current state of the Flyers is very underwhelming. There is very little going for them as an organization right now. When ownership and management act like they don’t care about the team, then what is there to draw in the fans besides anger and spite. However, despite what you might see when reading through Flyers twitter, they are not a bottom three team in this league. They may have missed out on numerous opportunities, but that doesn’t take away from the type of guys we 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 where the Flyers management has taken this team. There have been numerous signings and trades by other teams that mimic those of which the Flyers should have made. There is plenty to be disappointed in, and it is hard to have any optimism as a Flyers fan right now. But, they are not a bottom three team. The Flyers finished 29th in the league last season without Ryan Ellis, Sean Couturier, Kevin Hayes, and many more players who were in and out of the lineup with injuries. They have a small veteran presence mixed in with up and coming young players. They added the exact coach this organization and players needed. They have a lot of young players who could crack an opening night spot with proper maturing over the Summer, and they added two players who will wear the orange and black with pride every single night in Deslauriers and DeAngelo. Now I’m not saying this team is going to be a top 10 team, I am not defending Chuck Fletcher by any means. I truly believe he needs to go, but I do believe they will finish somewhere between 17th and 22nd in the league this year. Is that something to be proud of? Absolutely not! The mediocrity of this team has gone on long enough, and the fans are fed up.

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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 and not care about. Some nights they are going to look a little promising but in true Philly sports fashion as soon as fans get sucked in they will be let right back down. I am afraid the ceiling of this team is too low. Even if Ryan Ellis plays in more than half the games this season, and that is a big if, they are still not going to be a playoff team. Even if this team comes together in the locker room and comes out every night competing, they will lose games. Most of the Flyers problems are going to stem from them not being able to score goals. They are missing a few key pieces before they can become successful. They don’t have the reliable goal scorers that playoff teams have nor the skill. If you compare them to the two teams in the last Stanley Cup it is obvious they are many years away from what those teams are. The deep run playoff teams are all built relatively the same, just as every successful team in today’s NHL is. The Flyers are just not built like a successful team and that is going to hold them back all season long.

So what do Flyers fans have to look forward to? There isn’t much but if you want to find something to intrigue you this season you could follow a couple of things. Seeing how the team responds to John Tortorella is going to be exciting in itself but it will also be cool to witness how the young guys mature under him. Will the younger guys fold over or will they dig deep and mature faster than expected? There is a ton of opportunity for a lot of different guys to prove themselves this season. There is no pressure to succeed and anything other than mediocrity would be a success in most of the fans’ eyes. For the time being there isn’t much hope for us Flyers fans, but the future is still something to be optimistic about. Many fans have already counted the Flyers out for the 2022-2023 season but I would not be shocked if this team surprises some people. If this team does not look different than last year under John Tortorella after a few weeks of adjusting during the regular season, then it would be a reasonable time to panic.

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Are they going to be harder to play against in the 2022-2023 season? The short answer is yes. The long answer is that 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 them any games.