Philadelphia Flyers Season Preview: Staff Picks

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Jan 19, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers assistant head coach Ian Laperriere (left) and head coach Dave Hakstol against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at Wells Fargo Center. The Maple Leafs defeated the Flyers, 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /

As the Philadelphia Flyers kick off their season in LA, we go around the table for how our writers think the team will fare this season.

Last year was certainly an up and down season for the Philadelphia Flyers. Specifically, in November the Flyers looked like a sinking ship, closer to the draft lottery than the playoffs. Thankfully the season was saved by the dramatic arrival of Shayne Gostisbehere.

Even then, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. It took a furious finish for the Flyers to grab the final playoff spot. Furthermore, the Flyers trip to the playoffs was a quick one. They were eliminated in 6 games, only mustering 6 goals the entire series.

So what can we expect this year from the Flyboys? We go around the table to hear a few different opinions for this season.

Ryan Quiqley

The Philadelphia Flyers have a ton of questions to answer this season. Can Dave Hakstol continue to bring the best out of his players? Can Shayne Gostisbehere continue to perform the way he did in his historic rookie campaign? Will Jakub Voracek rebound after the down season he had last year?

Now for the million dollar question: Will this year’s team look the squad that started last season as one of the worst teams in the Metropolitan Division or will they look like the team that fought its way into the playoffs?

As of right now, I’ll take the latter.

One month ago, it was looking like the Flyers would be entering the 2016-17 season with a roster nearly identical to last year’s, which is neither good or bad. At times, last season’s team looked like one of the top teams in the NHL. At other times, it looked like a lottery team.

However, help has arrived. Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny, two of the Flyers’ top prospects, fought their way onto the opening night roster after completely stealing the show in the preseason. With the addition of new young talent to an already above average team, there is no reason to believe the Flyers can’t reach the playoffs once again in Hakstol’s second year as Philadelphia’s bench boss.

Season Prediction: The Flyers still have a long way to go before they can be considered legitimate contenders, but they’ve certainly taken a step in the right direction. Expect the Flyers to finish, at worst, fourth in the Metropolitan Division this season.

Fearless prediction: Travis Konecny will be nominated for the Calder Memorial Trophy.

Steven Principi

This is probably the most optimistic that I’ve been for a Flyers season since 2010-2011. Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny are going to be an absolute blast to watch, just as Gostisbehere was last season. Also Jakub Voracek looks primed for a big bounce back season, and Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds remain awesome. There’s a lot to like about this team.

Ron Hextall has restocked the Flyers with young talent for the future and Dave Hakstol seems to know how to work with what he has in the present. For me, this season feels like the start of a new phase in Hextall’s process. This team has some expectations attached to it, more so than any of the last three seasons.

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With that said, I don’t know if I’m ready to believe that the championship window is open yet. The bottom six could still use some upgrades (I’m not remotely sold on Boyd Gordon) and one of either Andrew MacDonald or Nick Schultz are still going to be in the lineups more often than not. The problem areas on the roster have diminished greatly over the past few seasons but there are still a few issues out there. Over the course of a long season, that’s the difference between where the Flyers are and where a team with fewer glaring problems like St. Louis has been. Everything Hextall has shown in his tenure as GM should inspire confidence, but there is still work to be done.

Season Prediction: 101 Points

I like this year’s opening night Flyers team far more than I did last season. There is a lot more talent in the lineup and a number of the issues that were facing them last year have been diluted, if not fully removed. I don’t think they’ve overtaken either Pittsburgh or Washington yet, but I do like them to take the third seed in the Metropolitan Division this season, jumping the Rangers and just edging out the Islanders. I’ll even give them a series win too. No Cup for the Flyers this year, but a successful season that gets them one step closer to their ultimate goal.

Fearless Prediction: Playing most of the season with Jakub Voracek and Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier not only posts his first 50 point season, but blows it out and hits the 60 point mark.

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