PHILADELPHIA, Pa – There are a lot of things that the 1970’s were known for in part: The Philadelphia Flyers and streaking. Yes, people use to love to run around naked at a sporting event in order to get noticed for doing something wild and wacky. The Broad Street Bullies, as the Flyers were known of back in the day, were the scourge of the NHL. Not a lot of people go streaking these days in public, the Flyers continue to do a lot of streaking and not all of it is done in a good way.
Center Travis Konecny (#11) of the Philadelphia Flyers and Right Wing T.J. Oshie (#77) of the Washington Capitals battle in the third period.
To say the Flyers have been up and down this season would be a huge understatement. They went from being a team that could draft somewhere in the top five of the NHL Draft, or being in first place in their division. Well once again we find ourselves struggling to make heads or tails of just who they really are. Are they a on the cusp of being a Stanley Cup contender or are they just another also-ran that just can’t get its act together?
The offense – The Flyers offense has been led by the usual suspects like Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek, but the Flyers have 11 players with 10 or more goals including Four of them with 20 or more goals. Sean Couturier leads the team with 30 but Travis Konecny has become a force on the ice with his speed and skill. He goes into Sunday’s action with 22 goals, good for fourth on the team. The Flyers also have two defensemen that hit the 10 plus goal mark: Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere.
The Flyers head into their game against Pittsburgh tied for 11th in offense, and 14th in defense. The power play is ranked 16th but the penalty killing unit is 26th. The Flyers do have the second ranked face-off unit. The only major issue besides the PK is the lack of scoring from the wingers, especially on the left side of the ice. Only Michael Raffl has at least 10 goals as a true left winger with 11. Giroux has been playing on left wing for most of the year, but he is a playing out of position because of the lack of depth on the left side, and because the Flyers needed to get him more involved in the offense.
Center Sean Couturier (#14) and Center Travis Konecny (#11) of the Philadelphia Flyers. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (#72) and Defenseman Ian Cole (#23) of the Columbus Blue Jackets
The Defense – Three of the Flyers defensemen has three years or less of NHL hockey experience: Provorov, Gostisbehere, and rookie Robert Hagg. While they have bright future on the blueline with Travis Sanheim and Sam Morin eventually becoming mainstay’s starting next season, the Flyers can’t do much about what is currently situation happening on the ice with their veterans who are giving the team average play at best.
The future is what the Flyers are about and with Sanheim, Morin, Philippe Myers, and Mark Friedman waiting in the wings wanting to be a part of that future, patience is being preached throughout the organization. The Flyers look like a team that should make the playoffs but it will come with the knowledge that the growing pains of putting together a young blueline comes at a cost.
After this seasons Radko Gudas and Andrew MacDonald will both have two years left to go on their contracts which will make them easier to move but not inevitable. Finding takers for either is easier said than done.
Goaltending – Another season, another year of bitching and complaining about the Flyers goaltending. Fortunately, for at least another week, rookie Alex Lyon has quieted some in the media and in the fanbase with a .914 save percentage and a 2.49 goals against average. Until Brian Elliot and Michal Neuvirth return from injury Lyon will not only hold the fort in net but will be under serious consideration to become the teams back up next season under Elliot or Neuvirth.
Defenseman Nate Schmidt (#88) of the Las Vegas Golden Knights and Left Wing Michael Raffl (#12) of the Philadelphia Flyers battles for position.
Outlook – The Flyers will most likely make the playoffs but as predicted it will probably be as a wild-card team. It is hard to see the future but making the playoffs and with all of the quality blue-chip prospects that are coming in the next year or two, the outlook is definitely the brightest it has been in south Philadelphia in a long time.
Brian Jennings covers the Philadelphia Flyers for prohockeynews.com and can be found on twitter at @Flyersfan22.
All images by Lewis/Bleiman@prohockeynews.com
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