The Philadelphia Flyers are suffering through a miserable March which has removed all doubt from the question of whether or not they could make a surprise run at the NHL postseason.
We've heard from the Flyers' brass multiple times how the club is still not ready to compete and, by and large, the fanbase is on board with this as long as progress is being made. But when you see the seasons that some other Eastern Conference clubs are having, it really makes you start to wonder why the Flyers can't seem to get things together so they're playing meaningful hockey in April.
The success of the other conference teams reflects poorly on Flyers' drawn-out timeline
First, the Washington Capitals. It seems eons ago now, but the Flyers and Capitals had a Game 82 showdown last season with a playoff spot on the line. The Flyers lost, of course, with Washington making the playoffs but then being subsequently dismantled in four games in the first round. It looked like both clubs were in the same boat, frankly.
But fast forward less than one year later, and the Capitals are vying for the President's Trophy while the Flyers are tracking to finish well back of the playoff cutline. What happened? Conceding the fact that the Capitals have the soon-to-be all-time leading goal scorer in league history, they also made several big moves last offseason that have all paid off in spades.
After their starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper regressed last season and ceded the top spot to Charlie Lindgren, Washington proactively decided that they had to get better in the net. And so they acquired Logan Thompson from Vegas. Thompson has been a revelation, posting excellent numbers along with an eye-popping 31-4-5 record. Washington shored up the net position long-term, and it certainly seems like they won't have to worry about developing a starting goalie internally for quite a while.
Compare this with the Flyers' volume approach which hasn't yielded any positive results whatsoever in the last year. The Capitals also solved two problems at the same time by trading Kuemper to Los Angeles in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois, who has posted 61 points in 70 games and has been a good fit within their forward unit that needed it. On top of this, Jacob Chychrun has been a stud on Washington's blueline, posting 18 goals. He sure would have looked nice on the Flyers instead after they were rumored to be circling him at last year's deadline and during the offseason.
The Capitals swung big by making multiple moves last summer, and they all seemed to work. There's always luck involved, but you have to admire the aggressiveness. Meanwhile, the Flyers bided their time as they waited out the last remnants of the salary cap purgatory that still exists thanks to the Chuck Fletcher regime.
One wonders if this upcoming summer, next summer, or any summer will ever come along where the Flyers shake things up as much as the Capitals just did. As much as experts say that you can't build an instant contender, it looks like Washington may have accomplished it through smart acquisitions and internal growth from players like Aliaksei Protas (29 goals) and Connor McMichael (25 goals) this year. It would be nice to see this kind of progress from the Flyers' younger players, but it just hasn't happened.
The Columbus Blue Jackets recently hit a skid which will probably keep them out of the playoffs, but they have had a successful year when put in the context of what they experienced before the season with the death of Johnny Gaudreau. Like Washington, Columbus has also gotten big leaps in performance from rising players such as Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson, while defenseman Zach Werenski has elevated his game to reach superstar status.
Not to open old wounds, but let's just remember that the Flyers selected Ivan Provorov one pick before Columbus took Werenski in the 2015 draft. Provorov is in Columbus now, of course, and he's also having a good season as he skates the second-most minutes on the club after Werenski.
Columbus looks like the kind of team that, if they ever sort out their goaltending, could be competitive and fun to watch for years to come. And they've given their fans a big boost this year with the heart they've shown on the ice in response to a terrible tragedy.
Lastly, the Montreal Canadiens offer the best comp for what the Flyers might have been able to accomplish this season if things had played out differently. The Habs finished 11 points back of the Flyers last season as they looked to be headed even further to the depths of the standings during a full teardown. Yet here we are in the final week of March with Montreal currently sitting in playoff position as they attempt to hold off the likes of the Rangers and Islanders.
Montreal franchise pillars Nick Suzuki and Cole Caulfield will likely both set career-high totals in points before the end of the regular season, with Caulfield already blowing past the best goal total of his career. One wonders if the Flyers possess this kind of dynamic young talent in their organization or are even capable of acquiring it. These are the type of players that Matvei Michkov can only dream of playing with on the Flyers to this point, with the possible exception of Travis Konecny.
Burying the lead, super rookie defenseman Lane Hutson is the likely Calder Trophy winner this year, shouldering a heavy workload on the Canadiens' back end. Clearly, every other team in the league whiffed by letting him fall to pick No. 62 in the 2022 Draft, so the Flyers can't be singled out on this one. Maybe Oliver Bonk turns into a similarly dynamic player for the Flyers, but until then you just have to shake your head about the stalled progress of Cam York and others that seems to render their blueline so overmatched year after year.
All of the Flyers' woes can't be solved by a single draft class, a trade-filled offseason, or even a splashy free agent signing, but the three Eastern Conference foes just mentioned were all hovering around or below the Flyers' level last year, and still found a way to become relevant this season.
The Flyers may still be focused on steady progress rather than a big jump, but don't let anyone tell you that quick improvement isn't possible. If the Flyers are eventually able to get back to contender status, the wait will have been worth it. But that doesn't mean that their fans wouldn't settle for a little more instant gratification.