Philadelphia Flyers: Revisiting 2019-20 Season Predictions

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With the regular season still at a pause, let’s take a look back at some predictions we made before the season. We’ll start with our Flyers’ season predictions.

The Philadelphia Flyers may have played their last regular-season game. Most players have agreed they would like to play a few games before the playoffs, though. So the team is bound to have at least a few more. The team had 13 games remaining and there is no clear word yet on how many games will be played if the season is to return.

But with 69 games played, we have a large enough sample size to go over the predictions we put forth before the season. One of them included who we believed would be the Flyers top scorer, something we will be discussing in another article.

We will be focusing on the two other predictions we made just before the season began. Those included a look at the Flyers’ special teams units and where we thought the team would be at the end of the regular season.

Michael Raffl and Derek Grant, Philadelphia Flyers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Our first prediction took a look at both the power play and the penalty kill. Both units struggled mightily last season. They finished among the bottom ten teams in both areas. So there was an expectation that the two units could improve this season.

Mike Yeo and Michel Therrien were brought in during the offseason and each tasked with running the special teams units. Yeo has handled the penalty kill while Therrien is in charge of the power play.

Starting with the penalty kill, the unit has taken a step back in the right direction. While they sit just outside the top-ten, the group has posted an 81.8% rate this season. That is up from their 78.5% last season.

They have given up 13 fewer goals and have scored four more shorthanded goals. That puts their shorthanded net goals at -30. The numbers are going to be on the negative side, of course. But that is a 17 goal swing in one season. They are giving up 0.55 PP goals per game while scoring 0.12 shorthanded goals per game.

It’s no surprise the unit has succeeded with the addition of guys like Kevin Hayes and Derek Grant. The unit has been more aggressive and is taking more chances this season.

The power play has also improved this season, going from 17.1% to 20.8% this season. The team has posted seven more goals on the unit while giving up five less shorthanded goals. That is a swing of 12 goals. The unit has averaged 0.68 PP GF/GP and just 0.09 SH GA/GP.

The unit hasn’t been perfect this season. Therrien has experimented with different looks that have included Claude Giroux along the right boards instead of his usual spot on the left. And that didn’t pan out well for the most part.

But the unit is producing better, sitting at 14th in the league. They are 0.5% away from taking over a spot in the top-ten.

James van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia Flyers (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

The biggest prediction we made was that the Flyers would return to the playoffs after a disappointing miss. It was a season to forget for many reasons that we won’t go in to. But it was unlikely that the team would be as unlucky as they were.

For starters, the depth on this team proved that it could stand up to the challenge when needed. The Flyers have dealt with injuries to quite a few of their top skaters. They even had to go without Carter Hart for a few weeks. But Brian Elliott stood tall during that stretch.

They have gotten contributions from some unlikely sources. Nicolas Aube-Kubel has been a huge surprise as he has carved out a role on this team for the near future. Ivan Provorov bounced back after a tough season. Alain Vigneault has done an excellent job with this team during his first season as the Flyers head coach.

And Chuck Fletcher made the moves he needed to help propel this team to the next level. Adding in players such as Hayes and Matt Niskanen has provided a boost to both the forward and defensive groups.

The Flyers were threatening to take over the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. They were just a single point behind the Washington Capitals. Their eight-point cushion over the final two wild card teams has put them in a solid spot as they were heading into the final weeks.

It’s almost a guarantee the team will return to the playoffs this season, but we will have to wait and see how the league plays things out.

It’s been a much more successful season for the Flyers. In 13 fewer games, the team has posted a higher point total this season. They had 82 points last season, sitting at 89 currently. So the team has improved after a disastrous season. They were bound to, but it has been good to see the results pan out.

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