It’s time to practice patience and stand behind the Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are once again going through a downward spiral, but it is nothing we have not become accustomed to over the last two seasons. At the halfway point of the season, it is time to see exactly what they have, what they need and the overall issues that have plagued this team.
This was it for Alain Vigneault. This was his last chance to potentially win a cup as a head coach. You may be asking why I say that? Well, AV coached his way out of Vancouver and New York making the same mistakes over and over again. Playing older players who jumped the shark years prior over young talent who can make an impact. AV was also a coach who did not like to have practices nor make adjustments in game with the big kicker of his teams usually being outplayed and out hustled due to lack of preparation and overall lack of accountability on his own doing.
While he has had a good career as a coach, his own hubris was always his downfall. While there were players who did deserve blame from time to time, there were players who were never held accountable. You can look back to his years as the head coach of the Rangers and see the same failings that got him run out of the Big Apple happened here in the City of Brotherly Love.
While AV clearly was not the answer after his first season, as his trends have shown, the answer for this team is out there. Whether it’s a Rick Tocchet or a Claude Julien, we have seen that Mike Yeo is not the answer and Chuck Fletcher not filling out his staff tells you that he knows this as well. At this point in the season, being 13-22-8, this team needs to just accept where they are sitting and just let the tank happen.
The trade deadline is approaching fast as well and the Flyers have a few options to look at in order to build and grab some pieces for next season. While Chuck Fletcher does not entirely know what he has in personal, he has an idea of what he is looking to build towards. With rumors flying around Claude Giroux and now Martin Jones, there is a lot that can happen.
If Giroux ends up waiving his no movement clause, you could get a good bounty for a player who could be a huge piece for a team looking to make that run at the cup and help take them over the top to be at that contender status. You need to get some pieces who can help make an impact next year and maybe some big draft picks that could be bundled for a player at the draft. Regardless, I still see Claude Giroux retiring as a Flyer and becoming cemented in Philadelphia history as one of the greats.
Martin Jones has also been having his name thrown into the hat for teams who need a goalie. While his stats have not been great, his play has been better. While he got shelled in his last start versus the Buffalo Sabres, a lot of those goals were not his fault entirely. Jones has a record of 6-7-2 while only being pulled once this season. With a SV% of .901 and a GAA of 3.56, Jones has only had 2 really bad starts and six quality stats. There are teams who are looking to make a push who could use his services and the Flyers could use some extra draft picks as well.
James van Riemsdyk needs to be moved as well. Even if the Flyers need to eat some salary, they need to get it done. Teams could use a powerplay specialist like JVR who can set up his office and score goals on a successful powerplay. The Flyers need to get speed. JVR does not skate hard every single shift, but when you actually see him move his legs, he is effective, but as the season has gone on, his legs stopped moving and all together the forecheck and aggressiveness that he showed early on is all but gone.
While those should be your big three players to try to move and all for different reasons, the biggest player for me is JVR just to try to shed cap and a pylon. This is going to be a decent free agent class ahead of this offseason as well and having some money to throw at them will be important.
Now while those are players who should be moved or at least looked at to move for some packages or players, it is time to figure out what exactly this team has with the injuries and the different prospects that we have dealt with this season. First we can look at players entering free agency after this season.
While we discussed a move for Claude Giroux, he will still most likely be a rental for most teams as I believe he could re-sign with Philadelphia. While he wasn’t born in Philly, he grew up here and has the heart of one of us. I think he wants to raise his kids here. In 39 games this season, Giroux has 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points. He is one of the team’s most dominant players and it shows on the Corsi with him having almost a 53% Corsi rating in the offensive zone.
On the flip side, Keith Yandle should not be re-signed. In fact, they should find his replacement after next game. Let Yandle get his record and be done with him. His sloppy, irresponsible plays at the blue line and over all just being a liability night in and out need to stop. I would buy him out ASAP and continue to play either Connauton, Seeler or think about playing Zamula as a rotation and share these minutes.
Rasmus Ristolainen NEEDS TO BE RE-SIGNED. By far, Rasmus has been one of their best defensmen. He is a big, strong defensive defenseman with a hard slapshot and some decent offensive IQ. Him and Sanheim have been one of your most consistent pairs this season and I can only see them getting better. If the Flyers can make a good third pairing, it would take some pressure off of Sanheim and Ristolainen and let them play their game more fluidly and get a little more rest on the bench between shifts.
If Derick Brassard can make a comeback from all his injuries and re-sign at the price they got him for, I, as a coach, would put the FAB line back together. While Brassard has never been a big stat sheet filler, he was a big piece to this team early on. In 19 games, he has four goals and seveb assists for 11 points with a +/- of 7 and one of the few players to have a positive plus but I also know this is most likely due to him being hurt. The FAB line was their most effective line this season and there is no reason they should not being playing together again.
Zack MacEwen is a F%$#@^& Flyer. He is what AV told this team to be. He bleeds, sweats and works hard just like this city does and exactly like this team was built around. MacEwen has had a ton of great chances this season that he just hasn’t been able to finish like most of this team. Playing with two more players who can help him get to those hard areas and score will be a big boost to him. He is also an energy player, which is something that isn’t able to be taught. You either have it or you don’t and Zack has it!
Justin Braun is a weird case. He is playing a lot better than he should be and playing some of the best hockey of his career. Re-signing him to be a third pairing defenseman would be a big boost for this team if he can continue to play the way he is this season. The big question to signing him would be Cam York, Yegor Zamula or a piece you get in a trade who is younger who can play on that third pairing.
Jackson Cates and Taylor Lacyznski are very similar players who work hard and have skill. They will most likely return with two way contracts, but Cates has gotten more of a showing this season with all the injuries. Him and Lacyznski were two of the prospects I expected to get showings this season and both who I believe can develop into nice pieces for this team down the road.
Morgan Frost is an interesting case. Frost has been nothing short of a disappointment for what was given up for him. Frost has not been able to fill Brayden Schenn’s skates and it is frustrating because he has shown flashes of being a similar player to Schenn and even better sometimes but only when has been with players like Voracek, Giroux and Konecny. While he may just be a playmaker, the Flyers needed him to score like he was on the Phantoms and it may just be that he is one of those great players in the minor leagues who’s game just never fully translates to the majors.
Felix Sandstrom would be a great option to become Hart’s backup. Felix has been good for this club in Lehigh and looked really solid in his NHL debut. I would give him a three-year contract and let him prove it. In fact, this could be another Steve Mason/Michal Neuvirth situation all over again with two goaltenders who could be both starters. This would be a wonderful situation for the Flyers moving forward. It could potentially be the beginning of their goaltender woes disappearing.
Gerry Mayhew has been a lifetime AHLer but he has been making the most of his chance in the NHL. Having him on the Phantoms for a few more years on a two-way contract would be huge! Having guys you can trust to call up, especially with COVID still affecting the league, is pretty big. I would bring him back and continue to give him looks and potentially give him a shot as a fourth liner or above next season if he can cut it in training camp next season.
While there are more free agents to touch on, these are players who have been hurt and also haven’t had much time up with the Flyers who may just end up being AHLers for their entire careers. The injuries have been an absolute killer to this team this year. The injuries, alongside COVID, have kept important players out of this lineup and destroyed any chemistry that could have been built for the offensive side of things.
Sean Couturier is the most important piece you have on this team. Selke winner, top line center and leader. Couturier makes plays, scores big goals and can make anybody around him better. This season, he has been dealing with injury after injury and tried to play through as much of the pain as possible and I commend that but clearly, Chuck Fletcher shut him down because he knew which way this team was trending and he wants to have a healthy roster for next season. I don’t know if Couturier will be back. When he went out on IR, they said they were unsure when he would return and it is clear they may have shut him down until he is 100% healthy.
Ryan Ellis has been the biggest loss for this team this season. The Flyers played their best hockey this season with him in the lineup. Since his absence, the Flyers defense and ability to move the puck out of the zone went way down and teams really took advantage of it. Provorov plays his best when he has a great partner and Ellis absolutely is a great player who just can not stay healthy. He is locked up through Provorov’s tenure here in 2025. If he can stay healthy, Ellis and Provorov can be a dominant and shut down pair.
Kevin Hayes is a warrior. Dealing with the emotional and physical damage that he has had to overcome from this past offseason is really inspiring. Losing his brother, having two surgeries and having to have fluid removed from his adductor area is no joke. The fact he stayed and played as many games as he did has gained a lot of respect from me. When fully healthy, Kevin Hayes is a deadly player who can score short handed, on breakaways and make great passes for scoring chances. He is the type of center you need as your number two.
Wade Allison makes the injury list because he is already injured once again. He has only played one game as a Flyer this year and has been bitten by the injury bug repeatedly. When healthy, he is a third or fourth line scoring forward who has a big body and can forecheck. He also brings some speed and energy to the line he plays on as well. Allison will be a big piece to the puzzle when JVR is eventually moved as long as he can stay healthy.
Now all of this is good, but what do you have leading the way for this team? Therrien and AV being fired were the best things to happen to this team but not giving Yeo any help and fill out his staff is kind of a set up. The injuries and COVID sit outs have not helped this team either. The biggest thing is that Yeo hasn’t really been able to implement a good lineup with actual talent night in and out. When he did, they had a seven game point streak and the last time they had a win.
This team has the pieces and the leadership to win games and more specifically, playoff rounds, but you can’t gain any traction when your wheels constantly get stuck in the mud from all the adversity they have to face and you can make the argument every team has been through it, but the Flyers have had it at the worse extent.
We have heard to be patient and to give this team some time countless times before. This time is different. We are in win now mode. Chuck Fletcher will do what he can to make this team better, but this team has potential. A coach is the biggest missing piece and I hope Fletcher gets it right this time!