Four Ways the 2023-24 Philadelphia Flyers Season Turns Out
This is the time of year where hockey publications, analysts, and writers prognosticate and predict what this upcoming season is going to look like. Who will be the league’s MVP? Who will win the Stanley Cup? Fans like to speculate on what their favorite teams will do. Some fans think that every year “this is our year!” Other fans are more pessimistic and realize that this year’s “gonna suck!” Being Flyers fans, they are kind of caught in the middle.
When you look at all of the ways this upcoming season can play out, there are four likely scenarios that will happen with this team. We’re going to rank them from “Best Case Scenario” to “Worst Case Scenario”.
Flyers Surprise Everyone and Make a Deep Run — (Likelihood — 5%)
This one is for the homers. Through a combination of other teams having bad luck such as injuries, bad trades, poor starts, etc and the young Flyers talent coming together, everything that could go right happens. This team clicks, they make the playoffs and end up with a favorable matchup. They escape the first round of the playoffs since the COVID Bubble (or 2011-12 if you want a normal hockey season). They don’t win the Cup, but they have a really successful season and all of the moves that John Tortorella and Daniel Briere have made truly pay off.
This is probably the most unlikely scenario out of these four, but not unsound. After all, the New Jersey Devils went from last place to having the third best record in the Eastern Conference in one season. The Eastern Conference is stacked with teams and the Metropolitan Division is probably the most competitive division in the NHL. The odds of the Flyers coming out this strong are very unlikely…but hey, anyone can hope!
Flyers Are One-and-Done — (Likelihood — 25%)
In this case, the Flyers defy the odds and experts, making the playoffs for the first time since the COVID Bubble. However, following recent trends, they lose in the first round and are out. Still, the fact that the Flyers even make the playoffs is almost a miracle. This scenario is much likelier than the previous one. It has a legitimate chance of happening, however, it would take a lot for it to come true. Even then, it is possible.
For the Flyers to make the playoffs,a lot of things need to go right. First, they will need to have all of their players healthy, and not just Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson. Travis Konecny will have to play more than just 60 games. Scott Laughton and whomever is in net can’t spend a lot of time being injured. The defense and the netminders will also have to be consistent. More importantly, the young stars that the Flyers have been developing, like Owen Tippett, will have to build off their seasons last year and gel together.
This is one of the two most likely scenarios that the Flyers will face this season. However, it still sounds kind of far fetched. But is it that far fetched? The Flyers went on a stretch from Christmas to the All-Star game where they were one of the hottest teams in the league. Any momentum that they had disappeared after the All-Star Break. This group of players has shown that they can play well together. The thing is, they have to do it consistently. If they can do it, this scenario is not out of the question.
Flyers Just Miss the Playoffs — (Likelihood — 50%)
To be honest, this is the most likely scenario the Flyers will face. The team plays well during the season, but not good enough. At the trade deadline, they sell off a few pieces that will bring in some assets that will become more important in 2024-25 and beyond. And while the team shows some stretches of brilliance, they just “aren’t there yet”.
In this case, the Flyers miss the playoffs, but not by much. Perhaps they are within six to eight points from a playoff berth. It shows a lot of growth from Tippett, Joel Farabee, Cam York and others. The team is taking steps forward and you get the feeling that the team is close to being where they need to be.
Without some of the distractions from the previous year, the players buy into Tortorella’s system and rise to the occasion. Give it another season, and they’ll be in. At that point, maybe some of the younger future stars, like Cutter Gauthier, can come up and give the Flyers the ammunition needed to be successful.
Honestly, this is where the Flyers most likely are. The team is getting better. They are taking steps to get to where they need to be. Another year of seasoning and they will probably be bringing the style of hockey back to Philadelphia that we used to be accustomed to. It means they might have to part with some player that may hurt like Konecny, Hart, or possibly even Couturier. That’s what happens when you are rebuilding. They will have a better year than last year, but how much better is the question that needs to be answered.
The Wheels Fall Off and the Flyers Bottom Out — (Likelihood — 20%)
This is the worst of the worst case scenarios. Injuries to the team mount up. The defense shows itself to be an absolute mess. The goalies are inconsistent and let in a nightmarish amount of goals; thanks in some part to the horrific defense in front of them.
Much like making the playoffs, this is unlikely, but not outside of the realm of possibility. The Flyers are definitely not on the same talent level as the Carolina Hurricanes, Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, or the New Jersey Devils. However, they aren’t the worst team either. It wouldn’t take a lot, however, for the Flyers to earn a top-five lottery pick in next year’s draft.
Again, injuries aplenty would have to hit this team. We’ve seen this happen the last two years running. While Tippett and Farabee are good players, they can’t shoulder the load of this team if Konecny, Couturier, Atkinson, and/or Laughton are out for extended periods of time. The loss of any player on a team can have a ripple effect if the team isn’t deep enough. The loss of a multitude of players can cost them a season.
Then look at the fact that maybe the young players have peaked and have given all that they are. If the young guys don’t improve, or worse take a step back, that will dampen the fortunes of the team. Every team in every sport has had some young player who showed promise one season and then … *poof*… gone. You never see them or their talent again. If Tippett, Farabee, York, Noah Cates, and others can’t handle the pressure or simply don’t have the talent, this team is doomed.
This is not as unlikely to happen as the team going deep in the playoffs, but it is still less likely than the other two scenarios. The Flyers may not be good, but they are not bad enough to just simply have a totally craptacular season. Although if it got to that point, that means a LOT of things went really, really wrong.