Lessons Flyers Can Learn from Stanley Cup Finalists

The Stanley Cup playoffs have reached their inevitable conclusion. It is the Vegas Golden Knights versus the Florida Panthers in what is sure to be an epic showdown. And while the Flyers are not in the playoffs right now, they are preparing to make some moves that will make the team better. Some of it may come in trading players and some of it may come in re-signing others. Some of it could be from the free agency market and some of it will be in the draft.

While we wait to see what moves Daniel Briere and company will be making, there are some lessons to be gained from both the Knights and Panthers. Some of these lessons, if applied correctly, can help the Flyers return to their rightful status as among the elite teams of the NHL.

Goaltending, Goaltending, Goaltending

These playoffs have really stretched the imagination about what “good goaltending” can be. A team like Vegas has been rotating Adin Hill and Laurent Brossoit in net. Florida started with former Flyer Alex Lyon, who helped bring them into the playoffs. After he stumbled, the Panthers turned to another former Flyer, Sergei Bobrovsky, and resurrected his career. Likewise, Carolina rotated a duo of Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen.

So what is the answer? Do the Flyers have a stud goalie like Carter Hart or a duo like Carolina or Vegas have? After all, the Detroit Red Wings had a dynasty on the backs of Chris Osgood and Mike Vernon. But other teams have had dynasties using just one goalie.

If the Flyers can find two good goalies to go back and forth with, then go with that. If Hart is part of that duo, great. If the answer is to trade Hart, sign a free agent goalie, and rely on some combo with either Sam Ersson or Felix Sandstrom, that do that.

There is no easy answer for this. And Hart’s future will be a hot topic for discussion as there are legitimate reasons to hold onto him as well as to trade him. But when you look at Florida and Vegas, you can’t help but see what happens when you have good, dependable goaltending.

Depth, Not Stars

The Carolina Hurricanes have Sebastian Aho. The Dallas Stars have Joe Pavelski. The Panthers have Matthew Tkachuk and the Golden Knights have Jack Eichel. After that, each of the final four teams have a bona fide star player. After that, the teams have well rounded lineups, but not “stars”, exactly.

If you look at the Golden Knights and the Panthers, they can throw four solid lines at you. The same could be said about Carolina, Dallas, and even Boston (despite a first round exit). It’s not like Edmonton that relies too heavily on the Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl line. Shut that line down, and it’s over.

We saw that with the Legion of Doom line in the 90s. Shut down Eric Lindros and John LeClair, you will probably beat Philadelphia.

The Flyers have enough young talent on this team potentially through three solid lines with a dependable fourth line out there. If you don’t know which line to send your best defenders against, it is hard to defend against them. A team with lots of depth, which can attack with any line, is a hard team to play against. If the Flyers young stars can take that next leap forward, they could easily be a team like the New Jersey Devils and throw wave after wave of young scoring talent at you.

Likewise, Vegas is really strong on defense. Florida’s defense is a little sketchy as they give up too many shots. Carolina’s defense kept all the games close; and in their case, it was their offense that let them down. But a team that has a deep corps of players on the blueline is hard to beat. Remember the Devils’ teams of the late 90s. They didn’t win because of their offensive prowess but because their defense was so tough.

It’s Never Too Late to be Confident

The Florida Panthers were effectively done. If the Pittsburgh Penguins won any of their final three games, or gone into overtime, against three teams that that were not playoff bound, the Panthers are out. Florida had benched Bobrovsky in favor of Lyon. Florida won out on almost every game in the last few weeks while the Pens whiffed.

Likewise, the Panthers were down 3-1 against Boston and came back to win the series. They were underdogs against Toronto and Carolina. Yet they won. Their confidence carried them.

We saw spurts of confidence like this in Philly this year. After the Christmas break and just before the All-Star game, the Flyers got really hot. Then, they got cold again after the All-Star break and just before the trade deadline. Maybe they got the trade deadline jitters. Who knows?

But when this team was confident in themselves, they did wonders. They got scoring from all sorts of places. Confidence breeds winning. Winning breeds confidence. It’s one reason the Panthers are so dangerous right now. They are playing as if they can’t lose. We saw the same thing here in Philly with the Phillies last year in the playoffs. If they Flyers can catch that sort of confidence, watch out!