Flyers Offseason: Players Who Need To Step Up

Ryan Ellis

Talk about a ghost in the machine. Many fans have been questioning this trade because the Flyers have seen Ryan Ellis for a grand total of four games this season. Maybe if Ellis didn’t try to rush back, he may have been able to play toward the end of the season

He rushed, as well as Hayes, and both were reinjured pretty quickly. Ellis wasn’t truly able to explain the injury as it took a long time to even diagnose. It involved his pelvic region and was said to be a multi-layered issue. Ellis said he hopes to be ready by training camp as many hope the same as well.

Since the trade, he has played 4 games but tallied one goal and four assists. The Flyers looked really fluid with him in the lineup and didn’t have much issues moving the puck during that time. Ellis is your true number one man but he needs to play close to a full season to earn that.

If the Flyers do choose to move on from Provorov, that means either finding a partner for Ellis in the FA market or the exact sentiment I had earlier, Cam York or Ivan Provorov. I personally would like to see what the team has with a Provorov and Ellis defensive paring but again, getting top end scoring talent in here is priority one alongside getting healthy.

Travis Sanheim/Rasmus Ristolainen

Now you may be asking why these two are together. That answer is simple. As long as both players are on the Flyers, they will likely be connected. Sanheim and Ristolainen complement each other and just need some time to still adjust or more importantly, trust each other. Looking at both players last partners in the NHL, they haven’t had a complimentary player to each other.

You may be asking what a complimentary player would be for them. Sanheim is an two way defenseman who can both carry and score the puck but defend on his side of the ice and do it effectively. Ristolainen is similar but he is a big defensive defenseman with a heavy shot. He gives Sanheim the ability to open up his game offensively at times and when Sanheim has done so, he has scored goals.

These two are currently intertwined and the Flyers need them to play almost like a top pair because that is what their ceiling is together. They proved to be the best pair the Flyers had this season and just need both players to trust each other, but also need the forwards to recognize that is not only up to these two when in their end.

More of this is on Sanheim in my opinion because he is the better of the two, which is why they chose him over Myers when it came time. Both players are still young and have much to learn, but I think next season, given the right coach, this pairing is going to be really good.

Carter Hart

The Metropolitan has gotten better, and the goaltenders are doing the same. Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin, Ilya Samsonov, Tristan Jarry are all good goaltenders. Before it felt like Carter Hart was going to be the best out of these young goaltenders, but right now it has not been that way.

While not all the blame is on Hart, he does need to be better. The defense and the system they have played in was atrocious, Hart did work hard to keep his team in games. It is hard to win hockey games when the possession stats are not in your teams favor nor the shots or offense generated.

Goalies have so much energy and when the play is on your end constantly, you are going to give up goals. The Rangers did exactly that against the Lightning in the opening game of the ECF. They hemmed the Lightning in their zone for over two minutes and ended up scoring a big goal.

Carter Hart needs to step up as a leader and hold some of these guys responsible. Hart also needs to continue to battle and not get in his own head after giving up a bad goal. Hart still had an above average SV% for being on a bad team. It is time for him to prove he can be a Vezina candidate and eventual Stanley Cup Champion.