Broad Street Buzz
Fansided

Examining the Flyers Place in the Metro

By Seth Humeniuk

Mar 22, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal (13) skates with the puck against Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov (9) at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal (13) skates with the puck against Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov (9) at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
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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.

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