Examining the Flyers Place in the Metro
There’s an old proverb in hockey, that the two most important seasons in any team’s history, are this one and the next one. Any NHL fan could tell you it’s still true. So, coming off a Flyers season for the record books in all the wrong ways, it’s time to ask just how well the Flyers are positioned to compete once they shift back to their traditional spot in the Metropolitan Division next season.
The True Contenders
New York Islanders
If this list was based solely on regular season performance, the New York Islanders may not be at the top of this list, but you can’t argue with back-to-back appearances in the Conference Finals (temporarily renamed Semifinals in 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs). They’re easily the best defensive team in the Eastern Conference and possibly the best in the entire league (2nd fewest goals allowed league-wide). They have arguably the best goalie tandem in the NHL with Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov, who posted a league-best .921 combined save percentage this year.
While their system may not lend itself to high-octane offense, they still have some really shifty and creative forwards like J.G. Pageau and Mathew Barzal. They also expect net-front wizard Anders Lee, who missed the majority of the 2020-21 season to injury, back healthy next year. To the dismay of anyone who enjoys offense, personality, or any kind of fun in a hockey team, the Islanders appear to be a true Cup contender heading in to 2021-22.
Carolina Hurricanes
The temporary realignment of the divisions really worked out well for the Carolina Hurricanes, as they managed to beat out both the surprising Florida Panthers and the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning to finish first in the new-look Central division. They ultimately lost to Tampa in five games in the second round of the playoffs.
Carolina has the look of a real contender but could suffer some serious hits to their fifth ranked defense in free agency. All three of their goalies—James Reimer, Petr Mrazek and Alex Nedeljkovic are set to hit the open market, and the Canes could also lose defenseman Dougie Hamilton—possibly to the Flyers. While Carolina looks like a contender now, strong defensive teams who lose key pieces can certainly experience letdowns.
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals seem to be the team that will just never die. Although they failed to win a sixth straight division title this year, they still played solidly on both offense and defense and on special teams play, finishing third on the power play and fifth on the penalty kill. Future Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin continued to score at a ridiculous rate, posting 24 goals in only 45 games played,
The scary thing is that the Caps got depth scoring to back him as well. They had an impressive nine players score 10 or more goals; the most in the NHL. That wasn’t enough to save them from being unceremoniously dumped by the Boston Bruins in five games during the first round of the playoffs, however. The Caps are a little tight against the cap this offseason (wordplay). They currently have $9.5 million available, but they will most likely have to spend the vast majority of it to re-sign Ovechkin. As long as the Great Eight continues his remarkable quest to become the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer, a record currently held by the legendary Wayne Gretzky, the Capitals will be a contender.
The Potential Contenders
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington and the Pittsburgh Penguins are pretty close in my book, but I opted to slot the Pens’ here because I ultimately believe Washington is a more well-rounded team. Pittsburgh, as always, got exceptional offensive production from their big-name forwards like that dude who wears the same number as Brent Celek and… whoever was playing on his wing at the time. Although they ended up winning the division, some cracks did begin to show in the Pens’ foundation.
Most notably, that guy who’s named after that overrated touristy cheesesteak place off Passyunk missed 23 games and finished with a minus-4 for a team that finished with a +38 goal differential. Also, Pittsburgh unsurprisingly didn’t play great defense all year. They finished 14th in goals against and allowed the fifth most goals on the penalty kill. Their postseason results over the past three years (no series wins, 2-8 record in playoff games, 1-3 in the 2020 play-in round) combined with the overall age of the their best players suggest that they’re finally primed for a big step back. Then again, I thought the same thing last year…
New York Rangers
Wall Street is famously located in lower Manhattan, and the hockey team that plays their games in mid-town probably has the hottest stock of any NHL team. Both amongst the forwards and the defense, the New York Rangers have a solid mix of established stars—like Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Jacob Trouba—and young talent—such as Adam Fox and Alexis Lafreniere.
New York surprised a lot of people with their play this year, but their skill didn’t translate into a great finish. They surprisingly fired president John Davidson, general manager Jeff Gorton, and head coach David Quinn. They eventually hired Gerard Gallant, previously of the Vegas Golden Knights, as the new head coach and Chris Drury as the new GM.
The Blueshirts have also been linked to just about every big-named talent on the market, and their new look front office will likely be looking to make a big splash or two this offseason. Frankly, I believe will be contenders next year, but since they ended up missing the playoffs I’ll keep them in this spot for now.
The Pretenders
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets swung for the fences this season, trading skilled forward Pierre-Luc Dubois and center Jack Roslovic to the Winnipeg Jets for one of the best pure shooters in the league in Patrik Laine. Unfortunately for them, that big swing came up empty as Laine posted just 21 points and a minus-29 rating in 45 games and ended up getting benched by now-fired coach John Tortorella.
After finishing 28th in the NHL in point percentage in 2020-21, the Blue Jackets are now faced with the uphill task of re-signing Laine. Efforts to clear cap space for a high-priced deal might end up costing them star defenseman Seth Jones, who has also been linked to the Flyers. New head coach Brad Larsen will have his hands full trying to make a return to the playoffs in a stacked Metro.
New Jersey Devils
To nobody’s surprise, the New Jersey Devils suffered through a hellish 2020-21 season (get it! because their name is… you get it). They finished in the bottom 10 of both goals scored and goals allowed, ranked fourth worst on the power play and dead last in the league on the penalty kill. Overall, their .403 points percentage was better than only the Anaheim Ducks (.384) and the historically bad Buffalo Sabres (.330).
They do have significant offensive upside with former first overall picks Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier but very little in the way of depth scoring… or defense… or goaltending. New Jersey will pick twice in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft this summer, including fourth overall. The additional draft selection could help lead to success down the road, but there’s little reason to expect they’ll contend for a playoff spot in 2022.
So… Where do the Flyers Fit in Here??
After this season, you’d have to put the Flyers in the pretenders tier. However, I believe there’s enough of that great 2019-20 team left that I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if they ended up contending next year. However, I think the best place for them in the Metropolitan Division pecking order at the moment is in the middle-tier sandwiched between the Penguins and Rangers.
Last season was bad in ways that almost seemed statistically impossible, so I wouldn’t put any trust in this team to make the playoffs. Then again, the Flyers did manage to post a positive points percentage despite enduring one of the worst defensive/goaltending seasons we’ve seen this century, AND they’re returning the majority of a corps that was considered a true Stanley Cup contender before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sure, they expect to lose a top-six forward or middle-pair defenseman to Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, but many other teams will be in the same boat. The good news is that the Flyers have the resources to go out and address their gaping holes, especially on defense, but they will absolutely need to do so in order to contend.
Honestly, this Flyers team may be the most difficult to project in quite some time due to all the uncertainty of the offseason and the bipolar nature of the team the past few years. Maybe they contend for a playoff spot, maybe they contend for the first overall pick. We probably won’t have a good sense of how this team will do until training camp opens up in October, so stay tuned for another piece then!