Three Players Who Must Step Up While Flyers Deal With Injuries

The Philadelphia Flyers need more production from these players while their leading scorer is sidelined.

As you likely know by now, Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny will be out indefinitely due to a concussion he suffered after taking a hit from defenseman Mark Borowiecki during the first period of the 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Philadelphia’s also been without Michael Raffl for just over a week, now, as he broke his finger in the blowout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team clearly missed his and Oskar Lindblom‘s presence Wednesday night against the Colorado Avalanche, where Philly struggled to convert on their chances and would’ve been shutout had it not been for a late, third-period goal from Captain Claude Giroux.

Whenever a player goes down with an injury, any squad in any sport will look for somebody to step up and fill that void left by said player. This is especially true when that guy just so happens to be your leading scorer, in which case; you’ll need a group of players to make up for that loss. The Flyers are no exception, especially if Lindblom misses an extended period, too. Obviously, the whole team needs to produce if both of the talented wingers find themselves out of the lineup, but these three specific players have to step up their efforts offensively through this recent wave of injuries for the Orange and Black.

Kevin Hayes is one, but I wouldn’t necessarily say he needs to raise his level of play. The seven-year, 50 million dollar man has performed reasonably well for the Flyers recently following a ten-game pointless streak, netting three points in his last five games and eight in his previous ten. To keep it simple, if the Fly Guys are going to get through this recent infestation of injuries bugs, they’ll need their second-best centerman to continue to produce at this rate. They can’t have him fall back into a scoring slump as he did in late-October through the middle of November.

Another guy who has to rise to the occasion is James van Riemsdyk. Obvious? Sure, but it still needs to be said nonetheless. To his credit, JvR’s been able to get on the scoresheet a little more often lately, scoring at the same rate as Hayes in his last five contests but has potted just two goals since November 9th.

Yes, I’m well aware that goal-scorers like himself are extremely streaky and that he’s still creating scoring chances and expected goals at a high rate at 5-on-5. However, the former second overall selection is on pace for just 15 goals this season, which would be his lowest total since 2015-16. Injuries aside, that level of production isn’t good enough for a guy making seven million dollars per year, and the team needs JvR to start finding the back of the net more often, period.

Lastly, I went back and forth between two players for this one but ultimately went with Shayne Gostisbehere due to how poorly he played to begin the year. After posting just six points in the first 22 games of 2019-20 and finding himself in the press box because of that lack of production, Ghost has finally begun to look like himself again.

The 25-year-old blue-liner has tallied four points in his last five, with three of those points being goals. One thing that’s helped Ghost find the sheet more often as of late is a noticeable gain of confidence, as he’s been sharper in his skating strides, stick handling, and decision making with the puck in his possession since slotting back into the defensive group. As I mentioned above with Hayes, all I ask of Ghost Bear is to continue to boast this level of trust within himself, given how good the results have been in the games up to now.

It certainly won’t be easy to, for lack of a better term, replace what TK, Raffl, and Lindblom, if he misses more time, bring to the ice night-in and night-out. Still, if those three guys can either continue or start to elevate their play-level in the opposing zone, Philadelphia should be able to weather this storm.