Flyers mid-season review

PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Flyers are at the halfway point in their season. The glass is half full or half empty depending on if you are a Flyers fan or in Flyers management. While most of the Flyers issues have been positive, the negatives have been hard to ignore as well. Today we look at the Philadelphia Flyers season to this

point and see where the orange and black are heading in the near and distant future.

The offense – The Flyers are tied for sixth in the NHL in goals scored with Minnesota. Only Nick Schultz and Scott Laughton have no goals so far this season. The Flyers have four players with 10 or more goals. They have more points from their blueline than any team in the league by a wide margin, mostly due to the fact that most of their defensemen are offensive defensemen. The Flyers are 10th in face-offs and 7th on the power play.

The bad news is most of their production comes from the centers and right wingers. The highest scoring left winger on the roster is Michael Raffl, who has 7 goals and 3 assists in 30 games. The next best scoring left winger is Roman Lyubimov with 3 goals and 1 assists in 28 games. That is not going to cut it for a team that is in danger of falling out of a playoff spot.

The Flyers have a fair amount of balance in their farm system as far as forwards go, especially down the middle of the ice. Like the big club the Flyers needs a blue chip scoring winger. The trade deadline with prove interesting. Former Flyers James Van Reimsdyk is someone they would love to have back and would be the perfect fit but with the Maple Leafs right on the Flyers tail for the 8th playoff spot doesn’t expect anything to happen between the two teams until the offseason.

If the Flyers look to free agency or trades for some possible solutions look for the following names to pop up before the trade deadline: Thomas Vanek, Viktor Stalberg, and Rene Bourque.

At the NHL Entry Draft keep the names Nikita Popugayev, Maxime Comtois, Lias Andersson Kristian Vesalainen, and Mathew Strome on your radar screens.

The defense – As mentioned before the good news is the Flyers lead the league in points from their blueline. The bad news is the team in 29th in a 30 team league in goals allowed. Part of that has been because of a poor defensive corp and below average goaltending.

The Flyers have only two players on their roster that are a positive in the plus/minus category: Raffl and Nick Schultz and he has only played in 11 games this season most as a healthy scratch and because of his age. Jacub Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere are both a team worst -11.

The Flyers have a ton of top defensive prospects that are very close to making the big club. They need a stay at home defensemen that can scare people away from the front of the net. Sam Morin was as a future replacement for the retired Chris Pronger who scouted him. Look for him as well as Travis Sanheim to make the roster next season.

As far as free agents go Kevin Shattenkirk and Karl Alzner should be on the Flyers radar but the Flyers need a goaltender more than a defenseman so don’t expect the Flyers to spend too much on the blueline next season. Unless the Flyers can get into the top 5 of the draft don’t expect the Flyers to go for a d-man either.

The goalies – There are certain certainties in life: Death, taxes, and the Philadelphia Flyers needing a goaltender. Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth are both unrestricted free agents in the spring and so far neither are looking like they will be back next season. Anthony Stolarz is the goalie of the near future while Flyers prospect Carter Hart looks like he will be the Flyers goaltender for the next 10 years.

The Flyers finally look like they have good group of goaltending prospects so the future might actually be in good hands once Stolarz or someone else take the reins. As far as free agents go the pickings are slim but Thomas Greiss, Scott Darling, Ben Bishop, and  Jonathan Bernier could be door stop measures until Hart or another prospect is ready to prove himself.
All photos by Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com