Philadelphia Flyers: Potential Line Combinations For 2019-20 Season

The Philadelphia Flyers forward group is almost set in stone, with one spot still seemingly up for grabs.

General Manager Chuck Fletcher came into the offseason knowing he had to upgrade the defense, back-up goaltending position, and most importantly finding a centerman to slot in on the second line while Nolan Patrick continues to find consistency in his game at the NHL level. Whether it was through trade, signing, or both in Kevin Hayes case, Fletcher did just that, upgrading the Philadelphia Flyers roster to a degree. With one open position left to fill and two Restricted Free Agent forwards to re-sign, most of the longtime NHL GM’s significant moves on offense are behind him. It’s possible he could make a deal with a cap-strapped team to fill the third-line right-wing role, but as far as Unrestricted Free Agency goes, he’s likely done addressing needs in that market. With that being said, there’s no denying that the forward core has talent up-and-down the roster, so let’s take an early look at potential line combinations Alain Vigneault could role out when the 2019-20 season begins.

Philadelphia’s Top-6 is pretty self-explanatory. The first line should consist of Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, and Travis Konecny assuming he’s re-signed. I don’t need to tell you how effective Giroux and Couturier can be while they’re on the ice together as the 2017-18 campaign can do it for me. In Konecny’s case, I think this coming season should be the year he averages more ice-time. The 22-year-old winger has never seen more than 15:16 Average Time on Ice Minutes during his three-year career and increasing that number could push him to a breakout year for the Flyers. Konecny wouldn’t have to worry about carrying the line either as long as either Giroux or Couturier is by his side, which has been a knock on his game since he came into the league. Consistently providing TK with first-line minutes could be what he needs to take the next step forward and turn into the 60+ point player fans have hoped to see out of him since he was drafted.

Next, I’d like to see the second line include James van Riemsdyk, Hayes, and Jakub Voracek. Hayes has been a solid two-way player throughout his NHL tenure and putting him with JvR and Voracek should help even-out their defensive weaknesses. Placing a play-making Voracek with a pure goal-scorer like van Riemsdyk is also an obvious move to make and should help Hayes, who has never had a shooting percentage fall below the 10.0% mark, find the back of the net more often, as well.

Moving on to the third-line, Oskar Lindblom and Patrick are shoe-ins for the Top-9 while the previously mentioned right-wing remains there for the taking. Part of the reason as to why Fletcher signed Hayes is so Patrick can thrive playing against third-liners and try to avoid getting off to a slow start. Pairing him with Lindblom is a no-brainer in my opinion given the chemistry they showed in their rookie seasons while giving Patrick a guy who has a knack for winning puck battles along the boards, too. As far as who I’d like on the opposite wing, I’ll go with German Rubtsov. The 2016 First Round selection had an excellent development camp a couple of weeks back and would’ve been among the best rookies in the AHL if it hadn’t been for a shoulder injury. All three of these players possess two-way abilities, which may open up opportunities to create breaks in the offensive zone. Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, and Isaac Ratcliffe could also get third-line minutes if somebody goes down with an injury.

Michael Raffl, Scott Laughton, and Tyler Pitlick should finish out the combos. All have the capabilities to post at least 20 points while receiving little ice-time and you can’t ask for much more than that out of your fourth-liners on offense. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Nicolas Aube-Kubel or Mikhail Vorobyev on the bottom line either if they impress out of camp, one of Raffl or Pitlick struggle, or if an injury occurs.

Line combinations don’t always stay the same as coaches like to switch things up every once in a while, but these four should be what Vigneault rolls with for a majority of the year.