The Olympic break is allowing us to watch some world-class hockey. It's also giving the NHL a three-week breather. The NHL trade deadline is looming, and teams are gearing up to make a mad dash for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Philadelphia Flyers are among those teams.
Currently, the Flyers are in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division standings. They are eight points behind the Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot, thanks in large part to a post-Christmas skid, during which they won just four of 13 games. Still, they have played fewer games than many of their divisional rivals and have a chance to make up ground.
The Eastern Conference, in general, and the Metropolitan Division in particular, are all really right. It's not going to take much of a winning streak by Philly, combined with someone above them imploding, to move up the standings. The Flyers still have 26 games left in the season. A lot can happen in the quarter of a season that is left
So what do the Flyers need to do to be successful down the stretch? What will be needed to make the playoffs?
Get Healthy
Around the same time that the team started to struggle, we saw that the Flyers were being hammered by injuries up and down the roster. Rick Tocchet tried to juggle lines to stabilize the team, but the team struggled. Injuries and losses are related.
The time off will allow injured players to get better. Not all guys will heal, but there are probably other players who are playing with something tweaked or sore. The break will give everyone a chance to relax, heal, and get back to full playing capacity. This will help the team be stronger when it comes time to compete against everyone else.
Be Wise at the Deadline
The Flyers are in a unique position this season. They could buy, sell, or stay pat, and all of them could be reasonable choices. They only have a few pieces that could reasonably be traded to a contender as a "loaner" (i.e., potential free agent). They could reach high for a star from some other team at the cost of some good players/prospects to make a playoff run. They could also be content with the team they have and hope for the best.
Some feel that Rasmus Ristolainen could be on his way out. Others, as always at this time of year, hint that Travis Konency and Owen Tippett will be traded away. Most likely, the Flyers will be keeping their stars here, unless something really awesome comes this way.
But that goes to prove the point. The Flyers are close enough to the playoffs to make it, but just far enough away that it could be tough. Daniel Briere has built up a fairly good squad that plays well together. They are only a few pieces away from being legit contenders. However, to build that team, he has to bring in the right guys. Trading away players, picks, or prospects to bring someone else in could ruin the chemistry of this team. It could also ruin the future that this team has been working for.
So, again, the Flyers are in a unique position. Minor tweaking could help or hurt this team. So could major moves. What's the right thing to do? Not sure yet. We'll have to see what's available.
Back to Basics
This team started like gangbusters, playing fundamentally sound hockey. Dan Vladar is playing out of his mind, and the team needs to rally around that. At the same time, they need to fix some major flaws.
The power play is garbage. It has been garbage all season. It has been garbage for years, actually. It's confusing because this is a talented team, offensively. Why they can score with five people facing them instead of four is a headscratcher. They've had their chances, and not scoring on those chances has probably cost them some wins.
Speaking of costing themselves wins, they need to stop letting teams beat them in the last 10 minutes (not counting OT) of the games. These late-game collapses are hurting the morale of the team. They are better than what they have been playing, and we've seen that.
Rally Around Each Other
Again, we've seen Vladar play out of his mind. Christian Dvorak has been better than advertised. Trevor Zegras has been a lot of fun, too. Konecny is heading for a career-high season, and Tippett has been stepping it up lately. After them, there are some bright spots.
Jamie Drysdale is starting to show us why the Flyers traded for him in the first place. Nikita Grebenkin and Carl Grundstrom have been amazing in their stints in Philly and could be intriguing pieces of this team moving forward. Denver Barkey has had some confidence issues at times, but has shown he can help set up some goals. Emil Andrae is helping everyone forget Egor Zamula fairly easily.
Overall, this team is playing well enough. They just have to remember that. Rally around each other, support and encourage each other, and start fresh. The losing streak is over. Now is the time to start that last quarter of the season and push on.