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Flyers 2023 Not So Bold Predictions: Year in Review

By Walt Gebelein

Oct 13, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella during Opening Night ceremonies against the New Jersey Devils at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 13, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella during Opening Night ceremonies against the New Jersey Devils at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
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Gritty Spawns Others (Loss)

If there is a silver lining to the Pride Night situation, pausing the progeny of Gritty could be it. Without a doubt the Flyers marketing department, if not the entire organization, was put into damage control mode in the months following Pride night, putting any Gritty clones on the back burner. But beware, Grittney has not been suedout of existance by the Comcast legal team and as far as I know Gritty has not yet been fixed and still might be able to slip one past the goalie.

Deslauriers Plays More than any Flyers Rookie Forward (Loss)

Thank God for Noah Cates. Deslauriers, the Flyers PIM leader, played in 80 games this season, while mighty Noah Cates played in all 82 and looks like he will do it again after signing an deserved extension. I don’t think I have been happier having a prediction be wrong than in this case. In the Flyers 2017 draft, which included Nolan Patrick and Morgan Frost, Cates looks like he may have the longest NHL career.  On another note, Deslauriers is signed through 2026.

Sanheim has a great year…. (Loss)

Keep in mind this prediction was made prior to the massive extension Sanheim signed. I thought he would be playing for his next contract.  The views on Sanheim are split. Some pundits think he had clearly regressed, others think his season was passable, if a little underwhelming. Even as a Sanheim detractor, I would gauge his work this past season as amongst his better. Unfortunately, a “not a bad as normal” rating is more than a stone’s throw from great.  Sanheim put up paltry offensive numbers, with advanced statistics that did not wow, but was only a -4 in regard to goal differential. With even less talent on the team this season, Sanheim will be a player to watch with interest.

…. And then is Traded at the Deadline (Loss)

Again. This prediction was made before the mega extension of Sanheim. There are not enough Tory Krug’s in this league to ever move this contract. We will be seeing Sanheim in Flyers’ orange for some time. But I don’t think the book is completely written on Sanheim. I could see him taking the leap I expected last season this year, thus making him a productive, though be it over paid, player.

Flyers Trade JVR (Loss)

I would have bet my house on this happening.  Thank God I didn’t. But that is Chuck Fletcher for you. When you think he is going to zig, he signs as many long term deals as he can and fails to trade JVR. I would have preffered he zagged. I guess we should be happy Fletcher did not get Gritty pregnant or burn the practice facility to the ground.

Fletcher Fired (Win) By Christmas (Loss), Parlay Loss

When you sign an oft injured Couturier and a mid-tier defensemen to massive extensions and it doesn’t get you fired, I guess you start to wonder if anything can.  Maybe this turned into the sad version of “Groundhog Day” where trader Chuck was testing the limits to see just how far he could take it. In the end, turns out the final nail in the coffin for Chuck Fletcher was his inability to trade JVR for a 6th round pick. This incident was a pretty minor scrape in the train wreck that was Fletcher tenure as GM  but I guess it was finally enough for whomever makes the decisions.  We wish Chuck well as he seeks another franchise to transform.

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