Photo Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
The 2023-24 NHL season is finally upon us and things have changed drastically for the Philadelphia Flyers over a twelve month span.
Gone are Chuck Fletcher and Dave Scott and the new regime of Daniel Briere, Keith Jones and Dan Hilferty have taken over. Such change has brought a much needed shift in organizational philosophy that now finds the Philadelphia Flyers adopting a rebuilding outlook.
Based on the lack of high end talent plaguing the franchise a focus on acquiring draft capital and assets to drastically improve that area is now the main goal for the Flyers moving ahead.
This past off-season has already seen Daniel Briere make certain moves that should help the Flyers do just that. Most notably, Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes, Tony DeAngelo and James van Riemsdyk have been subtracted from the Flyers roster. The removal of those players could be a positive when considering the team’s rebuilding state. It may help them underachieve this season and secure a higher draft pick. However, the returns of Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson should provide a spark for this Flyers team as long as they can both stay healthy.
The removals of Provorov, Hayes, DeAngelo and JVR will likely allow for younger players to potentially cement themselves on this Flyers roster moving forward even with the additions of Poehling and Hathaway. To this point that’s proven to be the case, with Bobby Brink, Tyson Foerster, Emil Andrae and Egor Zamula all being named to the Flyers, 23 man roster to begin the season.
The difficult part will be how the Flyers coaching staff assure all four players above receive adequate playing time as the season moves along. Ideally, if they play well enough to become every night options that would be the best case scenario. Although there’s certainly no guarantee that occurs.
John Tortorella acknowledged that Foerster, Brink, Zamula and Andrae getting playing time is a priority of the coaching staff as the season progresses. That should always be the case when attempting to develop young players. If they cannot receive the appropriate ice time they should be sent down to Lehigh Valley to ensure they are actually playing in games.
Tortorella seems to be entering the season with the same line of thinking based on the following comment, “I want you to understand, we want to play the kids, we do. But if we’re putting these young players in a spot that we think is hurting their development they will go down. And those are the decisions we’re gonna have to make weekly as we go through it.”
Additionally, GM Briere shared similar sentiments, “Their play will dictate who plays. You all know Torts by now. He’s not afraid if someone is not performing, he’s not going to hold back, he’s going to play the young guys.”
The Flyers have made it clear they’ll be attempting to play young players who show they’re ready for NHL action as much as possible. What Tortorella and his staff will need to monitor is their ability to handle the playing time. If NHL games prove to be detrimental to their overall development it’s likely they’ll be sent to the AHL. With that being the case there’s opportunity for these players to become NHL regulars moving forward. If they can contribute positively it should add another layer to the Flyers depth this season.
When assessing the Flyers forward core it’s considerably deeper than the previous season and that can be attributed to the additions of Foerster and Brink to an extent. With Foerster and Brink now in the mix, as well as the returns of Couturier and Atkinson, it puts the Flyers in a position to have three lines that could legitimately be called scoring lines.
Despite the Flyers defense being the weakest section of the roster a full season of Cam York along with the potential of Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae should provide a puck moving dynamic to the Flyers defensive core the team has been sorely lacking. Obviously with Zamula and Andrae expectations should be tempered because there’s no telling how many games they might draw into. Nonetheless, their skill sets naturally complement the Flyers back end that lacks efficient puck movers.
If the Flyers can effectively move the puck up the ice in transition with further consistency this season it may result in the team defending far less. Considering the Flyers defensive core let up 31.5 shots per game (12th worst in the league) and 3.37 goals against per game (10th worst in the league) last season it shouldn’t be to difficult for them to show modest improvements. Especially with it being John Tortorella and Brad Shaw’s second season at the helm.
Ultimately, that plays into the Flyers goaltending outlook which appears to be the strongest it’s been in a long while. Carter Hart will be the starter for the team and should be able to improve upon a good season in 2022-23. Hart recorded a 10.3 goals saved above expected rating in 55 games played. That placed him 15th overall amongst his peers for the statistic. With the potential for a defensive core that’s geared towards moving the puck up the ice in a quicker fashion it could mean the Flyers defend less this season. Though that would be dependent on Zamula and Andrae receiving their fair share of playing time along with Cam York, who is penciled into a top pairing role for now.
Final Thoughts
It’s difficult to project how the Philadelphia Flyers will perform during 2023-24, but the roster at least from an offensive standpoint does have more depth. Though that depth is contingent on the Flyers ability to stay relatively healthy throughout the season ahead.
From a defensive perspective the team is a work in progress. It should be noted that if Zamula and Andrae establish themselves further, it adds another layer to what the defense could evolve into from a puck moving perspective. Coupling that with York taking another step forward in his play and the defense by season’s end could contain York, Sanheim, Ristolainen, Andrae and Zamula.
Even though the Flyers will not be a playoff team this season I do believe their roster has the ability to compete with a majority of clubs in the NHL. It would not be surprising to see the Philadelphia Flyers finish between eleventh to fourteenth from the bottom of the league versus what most pundits have projected, which is a bottom five finish.
That may not be the best outcome for the 2024 Draft, but with the amount of young players the Flyers have on their roster this season a more competitive team should foster a better environment for their players that are 25 and under to develop within.
Philadelphia Flyers, projected opening night lineup
Forwards:
Farabee – Couturier – Brink
Tippett – Frost – Atkinson
Laughton – Cates – Konecny
Deslauriers – Poehling- Hathaway
Foerster
Defense:
York – Sanheim
Staal – Walker
Zamula – Seeler
Andrae
Goaltending:
Hart
Ersson
Sandstrom
Injured:
Ristolainen
Gettin Gritty Wit It: Episode 183
With the 2023-24 NHL season about to begin Yariv and Vasili welcomed Co-Founder of Flyers Nitty Gritty, Jamey Baskow to the show for an in depth discussion on the opening night lineup and what we should expect from the Flyers to start the season.
The following topics below were also discussed:
- Opening night lineup
- Thoughts on offense, defense and goaltending
- Ristolainen injured
- Brink or Foerster for game 1?
- Flyers carrying three goalies, will Sandstrom be waived
- Will players be sent down?
- Salary cap projection for next season
- Allison clears waivers
- Gendron will stay with the Phantoms
- Prospect update, Michkov, Gauthier and more
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Have a great week everyone!
