Four Ways the 2023-24 Philadelphia Flyers Season Turns Out
By Scott Cole
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.