Date Published: 11-18-2022
(Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
Here we are. The position most of us expected the Flyers to be in at this point in the season. Losers of five in a row and scoring 2.5 goals per game, which is tied with the Blackhawks for the least in the NHL. The Flyers have been better defensively, giving up 2.82 goals per game, but a lot of that credit goes to Carter Hart for playing like the league’s MVP the first two weeks of the season.
For a team that already had limited firepower offensively without Cam Atkinson and Sean Couturier, losing James van Riemsdyk and Travis Konecny makes scoring goals that much harder. JvR is a bona fide 25-goals per year guy and one of the best powerplay weapons in the league. Konecny had been far and away the Flyers’ best skater to start the year with 19 points in 17 games.
Where can the Flyers find goal-scoring? Firstly, they need more from Joel Farabee. Farabee’s 10 points in 17 games is respectable, but for a guy who scored 20 goals in his second year in the league, and a shortened one at that, they need him to have a scorer’s mentality. He simply has to shoot more. Farabee’s expected role of being a primary scorer on this team needs to start being fulfilled.
They also would like to get more secondary scoring from guys like Noah Cates, Morgan Frost, and Scott Laughton. Cates registered two points in the overtime loss to Johnny Gaudreau and the Blue Jackets so hopefully that can get him going. He is also being brought along as a center and not a wing. There are defensive adjustments that come with that transition and being in the John Tortorella system, Cates’ defensive game is a priority at the moment. Seeing him put up more points would be a welcome sight after being on an 82 game pace of 25-24-49 last year in his 16 games in the NHL.
Morgan Frost was a key to this season. This was supposed to be the year he broke out and cemented himself as a core piece in the Flyers’ rebuild. Instead, there have been rumors about the Flyers wanting to move him before the deadline.
Scott Laughton has never been a really gifted offensive player. With a career high of 32 points coming in 2018-19, Laughton needs to unlock himself and find a way to chip in with more points, simply put. Torts has placed a lot of trust in Laughton, he essentially named him captain, and Laughton needs to reward that trust by taking advantage of the time on ice he has been getting. His 19:29 TOI needs to result in a higher offensive output.
On the backend, the addition of Tony DeAngelo has made the powerplay better. That is not exactly saying a whole lot, but getting him has made the defense better. His 10 points is tied with Farabee for third on the team. He also has helped improve the play of Ivan Provorov. Provorov has had a strong start to the year, as evidenced by his eight points in 17 games. Provorov’s durability is never an issue either, he just does not miss games.
Where can the Flyers add scoring? They could call up Cam York and Tyson Foerster, the organization’s top two prospects in the AHL. York has nine points in 11 games for the Phantoms and Foerster has seven. Torts said that “we want it now,” in regards to York’s offensive skill set back in training camp when the decision was made to send him down. Torts is also a big fan of the American League and believes it’s a tremendous league to develop young players in. It may be time to think about giving him a few games, just to see where his development has gotten to.
Foerster’s case is more complex. He hasn’t played more than 24 games since 2019-2020. He needs to prove that can continue putting up points while enduring the grind of an American Hockey League season. He won’t be down there all year, he could be in Philadelphia relatively soon. Another facet of bringing up Foerster is how he adjusts to being the focal point of another team’s defensive plan. Foerster’s offensive production will make him the guy other teams key in on in the offensive zone.
If the Flyers choose not to bring up their young guys, where could they then go? They won’t bring up Cutter Gauthier a year early. Gauhter’s strong start to the NCAA season for Boston College is exciting to see and maybe next year the fifth overall pick can crack the starting lineup, but the team needs to worry about right now. Right now, their best bet is through the trade market. Here are a few guys the Flyers could target when looking for offensive production.
- Conor Garland, RW, VAN
Garland, coming off a 19-goal, 52-point year in 2021-22, could be had considering the Canucks’ place in the standings. With Vancouver trending down and looking to shake things up, swapping Garland and Rasmus Ristolainen would make sense for the Flyers. Risto has not looked comfortable all year (which means the Flyers would have to attach a draft pick with him), and seems to be falling out of favor in the first year of a five-year contract. Garland and Ristolainen have similar salaries, making a swap cap-compilable for both teams. Garland also is only 26 and could be given the chance to play a lot here, something that he is not afforded in Vancouver with the young players they need to develop. Garland would be a really good get for the Flyers and they have the defensive depth to replace a bad contract in Ristolainen.
- Jesse Pulujarvi, RW, EDM
Puljujarvi, still only 24, was taken fourth overall in the Auston Matthews draft in 2016. He has not found his place in Edmonton, to put it lightly. Over parts of six seasons with the Oilers, he has played in 276 games, registering 101 points. He has gotten off to a very slow start this year, with only one goal and two assists in 17 games. For a team that has plucked a good number of players from waivers in the early part of the year, why not take a chance on Puljujarvi? He would not cost much and if he plays hard, he can be a middle-six guy here for at least the rest of this season. His addition also adds more skill to a barren powerplay.
- Clayton Keller, RW, AZ
By far the best and most expensive player of the three. Keller is only 24, and, like Pulujarvi, was taken in the Auston Matthews draft six years ago. Keller has had a lot more success in a far worse place to play as well. With 18 points in 16 games so far this year, and 274 in 376 career games, Keller has shown he can carry an offense that lacks skill. That is the Flyers’ offense. If Chuck Fletcher wants to get himself another year in Philadelphia, and might already be too late, this is the guy to go get. The Coyotes are a mess and have gone on the record as saying they want to tear their team to the ground and build it back up again. Take advantage of that. The Flyers were in the Jack Eichel sweepstakes two years ago and walked away because they wouldn’t part with Konecny, Frost, and draft picks. Don’t make the same mistake twice. Keller is a game-changer. No one on this current Flyers roster comes close to his abilities.
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You find offense by firing fletcher and clearing the rest of the clueless front office. Then rebuild the way they should have years ago. 1 player is not going to make a dent in the problems they have.