Ranking the Top 10 Best Flyers Right Now

With seven regular-season games already in the book for the Flyers this season, we have been able to see what players have been playing well, and what players have not been playing as well.

In a regular 82 game season, seven games might not be enough to get a real evaluation into players. But in this shortened season, an eighth of the Flyers games have already been played.

A lot can change over the course of the next few months, of course. But when the time is so limited, teams cannot afford to slip for long periods of times. So it is important to see which players have been aiding the team in a positive direction.

The Flyers have a lot of young talent that has continued to shine for them this season. Their veterans have also been stepping up and providing the team with a solid amount of depth up and down the lineup.

Of course, there are some who haven’t been having as strong of starts. There is plenty of time for them to turn things around, but it is still something to take notice of in regards to their play. Again, team’s cannot afford to go long periods with underwhelming play in a 56-game season.

At 4-2-1, there are a lot of Flyers players that have helped the team to only two points out of first in the division.

So to start off, here are the top ten best players currently playing for the Flyers this season.

Top 10 Best Flyers

10) Joel Farabee – Joel Farabee this season has impressed in spurts. In the first game of the season, he came away with four points which included a goal. Farabee then hit a little bit of a wall, not registering a point until potting a goal in the last game against the Devils.

Farabee has a lot of developing still to do, given that he’s still only 20-years old. The ceiling is high for Farabee, and hopefully, he can continue to produce at a high level this season.

9) Carter Hart – Carter Hart is finally the goaltender that was promised, but he isn’t going to be perfect. The season started great for Hart picking up two wins against Pittsburgh and saving plenty of shots coming from Pittsburgh’s strong offensive stars. Then it spiraled for Hart, giving up four goals and being pulled against the Sabres, and letting up four plus to the Bruins in back to back games.

Yes Hart is still a great goaltender, and the defense in front of him might be part of the problem, but he hasn’t reached that gear we saw against Montreal last postseason yet this year. Hopefully, he turns it around and finds that gear again.

8) Nolan Patrick – Honestly, there was little to no expectation of Patrick to be playing this well given all the talk surrounding him last season. He has come back and performed like he never took an entire season off.

Scoring two goals in seven games, playing well defensively, having to fill in more for the loss of Sean Couturier, and just staying healthy in general are all things that have impressed me about how Patrick has played this season. Again, another young player with a very very high ceiling.

7) Claude Giroux – Claude Giroux is one of the most underappreciated players in not only Philadelphia, but across the NHL, and he is putting together another quietly great season. Through seven games, Giroux already has six assists and has been a huge part of the penalty kill.

He is definitely not the player he once was, as everyone regresses with age, but he is still one of the best players on this Flyers team and contributes a lot in the areas that don’t show up on the stat sheet.

6) Jakub Voracek – Voracek is another one of those under-appreciated Philadelphia athletes. Voracek gets a lot of criticism for his lack of shooting, but if you look at his game, his passing is his strongest asset. He is one of the best passers in the NHL, and his assist totals this year are showing that.

This season, he’s tied for the lead in points on the Flyers, putting up eight points on one goal and seven assists, and is tied for fourth in assists in the entire league. Voracek using his great passing ability to set up goals early this season is why the Flyers are performing as well as they have on the scoreboard.

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.