Flyers Offseason: Players Who Need To Step Up

With the Flyers needing what is likely a complete culture overthrow, it will take some of the current players in place to make that happen. The players on this list are those that are a part of the new core that is forming. This is a new era for Flyers hockey and these guys need to lead the way if ownership and Chuck Fletcher feel like they deserve to stay.

There are a few names who can be given some slack like Oskar Lindblom and Kevin Hayes because I believe both are going to have huge seasons moving forward. Lindblom has slowly returned to form, and I think this season will be his breakout year all over again. For Kevin Hayes, he had a few things going on this past season, but when he was fully healthy, he began to light it up.

Forwards

Travis Konecny

The reason I put Konecny on this list and not the players to move on from list is because I believe his ceiling is even higher than Provorov’s. Konecny is the type of player you need on your roster not only for the regular season, but playoffs as well.

A chippy and hardworking forward, Konecny has worked on expanding his game to a 200-foot game this past season and you can see it was paying off. With energy and charisma, he is a great locker room presence.

While he has had issues finding the back of the net, I expect that to end when you find a coach who will help him get to that next level. In 19-20, under AV’s system, Konecny seemed like he was finally having his breakthrough year and was projected to score over 30 goals. This obviously didn’t happen due to the stoppage. You can see glimpses of that same player game in and out and after the Giroux trade, you saw him step up to lead alongside Farabee when challenged by Mike Yeo.

While Konecny wasn’t exactly lighting it up in the back of the net, this was still his second best season in points. The 24-year-old had a bounce back year with 16 goals and 36 assists for 52 points. The year prior, Konecny only had 11 goals and 23 assists. Konecny’s playmaking and moving without the puck opened looks for his teammates and overall has given him new skills.

For me personally, I think Konecny can have a breakout year being that he is only 24. This team needs to be able to move the puck out of the their zone and Konecny has some good hands to help carry the puck up ice through the neutral zone. This skill is going to be important under either DeBoer or Trotz.

Konecny, in my mind, needs to hit the 30 goal mark this season and end up with at least 60-80 points. If he does this, then this team should have no issues making the playoffs.

Sean Couturier

Sean Couturier needs to have a full season of being healthy. His new eight-year contract will start this season and he needs to prove he is worth the 7.75M AAV. While I am not sure who will be the next captain of this team with the recent departure of, it feels like it will be between him and Kevin Hayes.

In today’s NHL, the best player on the team isn’t the captain anymore, the best leader is. With that being said, it will be up to the next coach and the players on who they vote for.

While Couturier is still the best center on this team, he still has a lot to prove. Two seasons removed since he won the Selke, it is up to him to play that way to get there. Couturier also hasn’t had a full season since the 2019-2020 season and that was only because of the break. His last full 82 game season was in 2017-2018.

With that being said, this may have been a blessing in disguise for Couturier not to play this entire season to get his body right. It is not easy the way he plays his game and there is no doubt he can pile up the injuries, but he needs to try to stay healthy to lead this team.

Couturier isn’t a huge threat in the offensive zone, so he will need to become one. For most of his career, he has played with either Claude Giroux or Jakub Voracek. This season will be his test to breakout on his own and become the best of those two. If Couturier goes out there and gets maybe 20-25 goals but 50-60 assists as a top line center and keeps his +/- to a positive 10 or higher, then that is all we can ask for.

Couturier is a big piece to this puzzle, and he can not help when he is sitting up in Wells Fargo Center watching in the press boxes. He needs to be able to lace up his skates for at least 76-80 games to consider his season a success.

Cam Atkinson

Talk about a guy who loves to score goals as much as Alex Ovechkin. Whenever Cam Atkinson scores, regardless of the score, you will see him smile and celebrate like he is a kid back in Pee Wees. Atkinson hasn’t exactly been the perennial goal scorer we have come to know over the years on the Columbus Blue Jackets.

While he did have a bounce back year from his weak one in Columbus where he was riddled with injuries, Atkinson still has some figuring out of his own. New team means new teammates which again means trust. I think he can score 30-40 goals next season, but he needs a play maker who can dish him the puck in his sweet spot.

Cam Atkinson has a hard shot and great speed. Pairing him with Farabee and Brassard was the best hockey all three played. Farabee and Atkinson had some really good chemistry and putting Couturier in the middle of them might be the missing link. A line needs balance and Atkinson needs another guy who can take some of the heat off of him in the zone in order to free himself up.

The Flyers have three more years of control of Atkinson, and I know he is one of the veterans on this team who not only want to win a cup, but want to do so multiple times. Losing is not fun and this team did a lot of that last season. Atkinson needs to be one of your go to guys for goal scoring in order for this team to be successful.

Joel Farabee

Joel Farabee just continues to get better each season. Claude Giroux kept saying when asked about him that he may be good enough to surpass his own records. Eventually, I believe that. This season, with a new core creating itself with the departure of Giroux, it is time for Farabee to step up. Going into his fourth year, Farabee needs to make an even bigger impact then he did this past season.

The 22-year-old is going to need to hit the 25 to 30 goal marker this season along with tallying at least 30 assists. The Flyers need him to have a career/break out year if they want to continue to get better. Farabee is a part of this team’s future and there is no doubt about that.

His work ethic, passion and love of the game is what makes him so good. The day he went back into the tunnel and destroyed his stick because of how things were going was the day I went out and bought his jersey.

Not every young kid has that awareness to not only leave the public eye, but to have the passion to want to be better. We saw that out of Nolan Patrick once, but Farabee is a much better player. With his skills still developing, I can see him becoming an all-around player. Farabee took some shifts this season at center and played well. It is not easy to jump from wing to center but Farabee took the challenge with no complaining.

Farabee will develop into a big piece but if he regresses a bit, do not hit the panic button. He’s still only 22 years old. The kid will have plenty of time until he hits his prime.