Ranking the Top 10 Best Flyers Right Now
By Drew Wheeler
5) Ivan Provorov – Provorov has been one of the more unlucky players on the Flyers this season. Matt Niskanen, his everyday partner from last season, retired before the season started, his projected opening day partner Shayne Gostisbehere was ruled out for the first 6 games due to the NHL’s COVID protocol, and he has had 3 different defensive partners in the first 7 games due to injury/COVID; however, Provorov adapted well.
When he played with Gostisbehere last game, he did look more like his dominant shutdown self than he did when he played with Justin Braun. With the return of his training camp partner and someone he developed chemistry with from 2017-2019, Provovov is on an upwards trajectory for performance.
4) James van Riemsdyk – The van Riemsdyk Ron Hextall thought he was signing has come out of nowhere this season scoring in high numbers for this team. After being benched in the playoffs last year, his scoring touch has been fantastic this season potting five goals.
Those five goals are good for a tie for the team lead in goals while also tied for third in the NHL in goals. The reason he’s not higher on this list is that, as well as he’s been scoring, a majority of those goals have been powerplay goals.
3) Travis Konecny – Travis Konecny has picked up where he left off last regular season, leading the team in points and goals. A hat trick against a bitter rival always feels great, and coming out and scoring in the bounceback game against Buffalo was huge. He still gets under the skin of the other team to cause them to take penalties, and goes into the dirty areas, and isn’t afraid to get knocked around.
2) Kevin Hayes – When Chuck Fletcher’s time in Philadelphia comes to an end, I will always be thankful for the signing of Kevin Hayes. Hayes is one of the best 2-way players in the league. He’s had the challenge centering the top line and the first penalty kill unit while Sean Couturier is out, and Hayes is living up to potential.
Hayes has eight points and three goals already this season, and still shocks me how he can keep the puck on his stick no matter how hard he’s being pressured or hit. Hayes has absolutely lived up to the hype and more this season after a great first season in the orange and black.
1) Brian Elliott – This might be a shock by there is no doubt that Elliott has been the best player on the Flyers this season. In his first game, he was thrown in the middle of slaughter against the Sabres and held his own letting in two goals on 15 shots in the last 30 minutes.
He then came out the very next night and shut out the Sabres on 40 shots. He then took both Bruins games off, not being put in in either game, to come back and beat the devils, making many huge saves. He currently has a .938 sv% which puts him at eighth-best in the league.
Being able to have a goalie of that caliber as the team’s backup is huge for winning games when Hart is out, and as of right now the Flyers are 2-0-0 in games that Elliott starts in.
HONORABLE MENTION: Oskar Lindblom – Lindblom has not produced as much as he did at the start of last season, but given what he has gone through, even stepping on the ice and performing well enough to score twice and add two assists is fantastic.