The official EA Sports NHL Twitter account shared some of NHL 24’s top players in different positions and other categories, which included a Philadelphia Flyers surprise in the top-10 goalies. With the release of their top-20 goalie rankings in total, the gaming company has now revealed their top-20 left wings, right wings, left defensemen, and right defensemen, leaving only the centers as the final mystery.
As a rebuilding team caught in some flux over the last year, the Flyers don’t have too many representatives in these rankings, but one stands out the most: Carter Hart. Hart, 25, was given an 87 overall rating – good for 10th among all goalies in NHL 24.
The Sherwood Park, Alberta native will also have a Superstar Post to Post X-Factor ability, which is described as the capability to “Make elite post to post saves that most goalies can only dream of doing. Get an impressive boost to reaction time, recovery, and save ability when going post to post.”
https://twitter.com/EASPORTSNHL/status/1707047556528721968?s=20
The Flyers netminder was rated only behind some of the league’s best; that group includes Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning (93), Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders (92), Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers (92), Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets (91), Linus Ullmark of the Boston Bruins (90), Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars (90), Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators (89), Frederik Andersen of the Carolina Hurricanes (88), and Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks (87).
Although Hart had a bounce-back season for the Flyers this past season, his rating does feel quite generous in comparison to what Saros received. For further reference, Hart’s 87 overall is also higher than what Jeremy Swayman, Filip Gustavsson, Alexandar Georgiev, and Ilya Samsonov were given (86).
Konecny also featured in top-20 right wings for Flyers
The Flyers unsurprisingly had no players appear in the top-20 at left wing or either of the defense positions, but Travis Konecny was able to make the cut at right wing. The 26-year-old earned an overall rating of 86, making him level with the likes of Cole Caufield and Vladimir Tarasenko, and placing him just below star names such as Timo Meier and Alex DeBrincat.
Konecny will have the Crease Crasher, Relentless, and Tape to Tape Zone abilities, which grant the following boosts: Enhanced ability to control rebounds with significantly increased shot accuracy, greatly increased shooting and passing ability while being knocked off balance, and significantly increased pass speed and accuracy on passes within Konecny’s line of sight.
EA Sports are yet to release their top-20 center ratings for NHL 24, but it’s unlikely any Flyers make a cameo on that list. Sean Couturier would usually figure to draw in there, but he hasn’t played a regular season game since Dec. 2021. Maybe next year.