Plenty of Lessons Learned From the Philadelphia Flyers’ First Half

With the Philadelphia Flyers gearing up for another playoff run in the coming months, the All Star Break gives us a chance to reflect over some of the things we’ve learned in the past 50 games

Heading into the All Star Break and their second ‘bye week’ in just over 14 days, the Philadelphia Flyers are more or less right where most people thought they should be. They’re in the driver’s seat for a wild card spot and, barring anything catastrophic happening, should be right in the thick of things as they push for a playoff spot.

In typical Flyers fashion however, they way they got here is maddening.

A slow start to the season had them chasing a number of teams right from the jump before a ridiculous two week stretch saw them win 10 straight games and put them comfortably in a playoff spot. That hot streak was followed by the month of January in which the Flyers didn’t win back to back games until this past week, when they naturally won their last three before the break.

It has been a season of almost equal parts brilliance and frustration that managed to get us to exactly where we thought we would be three months ago. And while the upcoming playoff race promises to give us more highs and lows, there’s plenty of lessons that we can take from the first 50 games.

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Wayne Simmonds is Your First Half MVP

Jakub Voaracek is having a great bounce back season after last year and Claude Giroux is putting up a bunch of points as well. Brayden Schenn has scored a ton on the powerplay and Ivan Provorov is well on his way to establishing himself as the true #1 defenseman on the Philadelphia Flyers.

But Wayne Simmonds has owned this season so far and he doesn’t appear to be slowing down.

Simmonds has 21 goals to lead the team through the first 50 games and is well on his way to another 30+ goal season.  He’s been great on the powerplay in his usual net front role and has added an impressively strong penalty kill game to his repertoire as well. With his consistently high level of play night in and night out, it’s no surprise that he will be the Philadelphia Flyers lone representative at the All Star Game this weekend. It’s a well earned honor that Simmonds doubtlessly deserves.

For Better or Worse, Roles are Becoming Clearer

Dave Hakstol’s lineup decisions have been a point of contention with many Flyers’ fans this season and rightfully so. The scratching of players like Travis Konecny and Shayne Gostisbehere were confusing decisions at best. Things have stabilized a bit recently and even before that, a number of player roles were becoming easier to see.

After playing seemingly every possible role imaginable during the first few months of the season, Pierre Edouard Bellmare and his linemates have become the clear cut fourth line for Hakstol, as they probably should have been all along. After receiving a ton of even strength minutes to begin the season, Bellmare, Chris Vandevelde and Roman Lyubimov have seen their 5 on 5 minutes drop. The actual play of the fourth line fluctuates seemingly on a night to night basis, but Hakstol has faith in his trio and will most likely be sticking with them the rest of the way.

Next: Michael Del Zotto has Fallen Out of Favor With Dave Hakstol with Good Reason

Sean Couturier is back at his shut down center role where he does so well and Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek have been reunited. Dale Weise may finally be out of changes though Nick Cousins hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. Line juggling will likely continue as the season goes on, but for now at least, its clear enough to see what Hakstol is thinking with his line combinations.

Defensively, things are even clearer. Ivan Provorov is the teams #1 defenseman and getting a ton of minutes. He’s being paired with Andrew MacDonald, a decision that is likely hurting Provorov more than anything but that continues to be the first pairing.  Gostisbehere, Radko Gudas and Mark Streit are the other locks in the lineup while Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto battle for the #6 spot.

The lineup decisions may not be perfect – or even good – at all times, but this is the team that Hakstol wants to run with as the playoff push begins.

Special Teams and Goaltending Will Determine Success of the Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers don’t score a ton of goals at even strength, something that needs to be addressed in the coming years before they can hope to be a contender. For this season, however, they will go as far as their powerplay can carry them.

When the powerplay was at it’s best, the Flyers rolled off 10 straight wins and looked as

dangerous as any team in the league. When the powerplay stopped scoring, the Flyers stopped winning. The talent is there, the system is a good one and for the most part, the Flyers looked good on the powerplay even when the goals weren’t coming. But the goals need to come from the powerplay as regularly as possible down the stretch or the season could end early.

Along the same line is the importance of good, or at least competent goalie play over the next 32 games. Outside of a few weeks during the season, Steve Mason and Michael Neuvirth have been mostly bad. Mason is posting a lowly .902 save percentage and Neuvirth is somehow putting up a seemingly impossible .885. Considering that league average is usually around .915, that needs to get better and get better fast. Both goalies played well in their most recent outings so there may be some cause for optimism, but it is important that one of the two grabs a hold of the starting job with strong play in the coming weeks.

Right Where They Should Be

Through 50 games, the Flyers are 25-19-6. That’s 25 wins and 25 losses, the very definition of a .500 team. They’re right in the middle of the playoff hunt and will probably be there right until the last week of the season. They’re not a contender yet, but they have some pieces in place and enough talent where they probably should make the playoffs.

In other words, nothing much has changed since the season started. The Flyers are a pretty good team that has some easy to see flaws and should probably be a wild card team. That’s what they are right now. It just wouldn’t be the Flyers if they got there any other way.