First round exits can’t be enough for 2018-19 Philadelphia Flyers

With the regular season opener against the Golden Knights just one day away, the Philadelphia Flyers can’t just settle for a playoff-berth anymore.

Under Dave Hakstol’s three year tenure as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, the team has made the playoffs twice. Reaching the playoffs twice in your first three years of coaching is impressive to some degree, but the Flyers haven’t made it past the first round in either of those years.

A six game exit in 2016 against the Washington Capitals and another against the Pittsburgh Penguins last season, the Flyers have to perform better when it matters. Washington and Pittsburgh were the better team and higher ranked seed in both years, which is something that needs to change.

The Flyers have been stuck in a loop of mediocrity recently, so far as much as FiveThrityEight.com naming them the most consistently  mediocre team throughout all of sports over the past five seasons. That’s obviously not good enough, but the Flyers did improve to the team on paper this past offseason.

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General Manager Ron Hextall signed forward James van Riemsdyk to a five year deal in July to help improve the team’s offense. This move screamed that Hextall’s ready for the team to take that next step. Prior to this past offseason, Hextall’s biggest free-agent signing was Dale Weise back in the summer of 2015. There’s a pretty big talent gap between JvR and Weise, further indicating that Hextall is ready for the team to start making some real noise.

JvR gives the Flyers a shoot-first forward they desperately needed last year. On paper, his addition improves the top-six, power play, and overall size of the team. The Flyers also struggled with bottom-six scoring, and adding JvR gives the team a chance to slide a player like Wayne Simmonds to the third line and let him wreak havoc.

Young players like Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov, Oskar Lindblom, and Travis Sanheim are all looking to make big steps for the Flyers this season. Konecny and Provorov should build off of breakout seasons they had last year, and more time at the NHL level should also benefit Lindblom and Sanheim in their sophomore seasons too. Hextall also injected more youth into the team by keeping Mikhail Vorobyev on the roster to fill the 3C center position, who shined during training camp and preseason.

The Flyers still have their flaws, like any team, and goaltending seems to be the biggest for yet another year. Brian Elliott looked solid last season before undergoing core muscle surgery in February 2018, it seemed the team rushed him back for the playoff series against the Penguins and never looked 100% in the games he played in. Elliott is now fully healthy and will need to stay that way in order for the Flyers to succeed. Not only that, but his play in-net will need to be consistent through the entire year. Depth is also a question mark, but the addition of Calvin Pickard gives some goalie insurance while Michal Neuvirth is out with injury.

This is a make-or-break year for Dave Hakstol, in my opinion. He has never coached a NHL roster this talented on paper before, and the excuses to be made are dwindling because of it. The Flyers top-end talent aren’t getting any younger, the time is now to make some noise in the playoffs. First round exits can’t be enough for the team anymore.