There are certainly some things to look forward to about the 2019-20 Philadelphia Flyers.
While he didn’t make the flashiest of moves like signing Artemi Panarin or trading for P.K. Subban like other Metropolitan teams, you can’t say that Philadelphia Flyers General Manager and Team President Chuck Fletcher wasn’t aggressive in trying to improve the team during the offseason. I understand that the transactions he made weren’t the ones a majority of fans desired, but that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be optimism revolving around the Flyers coming into the new season.
First off, Fletcher improved the Top-6 on paper. Bringing in Kevin Hayes to slot in on the second line should benefit the Flyers. His arrival will give the team a guy who can score around 45 points, take some of the defensive pressure off of Sean Couturier, and let Nolan Patrick take on lesser competition as a third-line center. What it also does is have the top two lines likely consisting of Couturier, Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny, Jakub Voracek, James van Riemsdyk, and Hayes, which looks to be all of the parts of a potent offense at even-strength. Hayes has the ability to play on the penalty kill and power play, too, providing Philadelphia with depth in all three zones.
The Flyers, for the first time in a while, seem to have a bonafide number one goaltender in-net coming into the new year as well. Carter Hart impressed during his first season in the NHL, posting a 2.83 Goals-Against-Average with a .917 save percentage at just 20 years of age. As long as he can avoid a sophomore slump and build on his rookie campaign, Philadelphia will have a goaltender they can rely on to make big saves when they matter most. There are questions about his projected backup in Brian Elliott given his injury issues in the past two years, but the smaller workload should help the journeyman net-minder stay healthy and serve as an adequate number two behind Hart.
Lastly, I can’t envision the defense being any worse than it was last season. Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere clearly weren’t themselves, and I don’t anticipate either one of the two blue-liner replicating their 2018-19 campaigns. The additions of Matt Niskanen and Justin Braun, while risky, should be beneficial in the defensive zone and, in Niskanen’s case, give Philadelphia another defenseman who can skate the puck out of danger. Travis Sanheim will have the opportunity to develop further coming off of a quality second season for the Orange and Black while Philippe Myers resumes getting used to the ways of the NHL.
I haven’t even mentioned the growing possibility of one of the Flyers top prospects making the roster and earning the third line winger role. Fletcher may not have gotten the players we as fans wanted, but there’s no denying the potential of this team getting back into the playoffs next year.