Well, this Flyers season, which began with "some sort of expectations," is halfway over now. The season has been fraught with inconsistent play, short winning streaks followed by short losing streaks, and questionable goaltending. Even John Tortorella has been expressing how this team has been playing "unevenly this year."
To be fair, this is expected. This team is among the youngest rosters in the NHL. Their goalies have been inconsistent, but they are relatively mostly untested before this season. So for this team to be right on the verge of grasping a playoff spot is quite remarkable. Much of that has to do with the fact that the Metro Division is a mess. As bad as this team has been, they haven't been that bad. The problem is, they haven't been consistently good either.
With that in mind, let's give assign grades for all of the players on this team.
Forwards
Travis Konecny
Travis Konecny is sitting at 20 goals and 26 assists. He is 10 assists away from a career-high. He is on pace for his first 40-goal season and he could possibly break 100 points. Konecny has been the one shining light for this team. He's taken this team on his back and become the leader that this team needs. We just need the rest of the team to follow his lead. --- Score: A+
Matvei Michkov
So far, Matvei Michkov has shown flashes of everything he was advertised; but only flashes. He is a killer on the power play but struggles at even-strength scoring. There are some finer things that he needs to work on and Tortorella has been trying to work with him on those. To be fair, he is a rookie and is still learning. At one point, he was the leading NHL rookie scoring leader, but a cold streak has cooled those stats off as of late. Maybe he can regain his touch. His future seems to be bright. --- Score: A-
Sean Couturier
Couturier is not who he once was, nor should we hold him up to that standard. He's had a rough couple of years recently. Still, he has value. He is a valuable mentor to the younger players. He is close to topping the numbers he put up last season. He is not as fast as he once was, but his hockey IQ is still there. --- Score: B
Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster
Tippett and Foerster are one of a mighty handful of players that this team seems to be collecting recently. They have talent, but they seem to kind of stagnate. Tippett is playing well and should crack that 20-25 goal mark, but he should be cracking 20 at this point in his career. Foerster, likewise, has not seemed to be growing much from last year after scoring 20 goals. He, like most of the players on this team, is too hot and cold streaky. Both should be better than what they have been producing. --- Score B for both
Scott Laughton
To his credit, Laughton has been bouncing around the lineup with different linemen all the time. Offensively, he is on pace to beat what he did last year. Defensively, he's been ok. The hard thing for him is finding consistency, but considering his linemates have not been consistent all year, that is hard to do. However, for the young forwards on this team, much like Couturier, he can be a solid mentor. --- Score B
Noah Cates
After an injury-prone season last year, he seems to be bouncing back. Cates is part of one of the Flyers' most consistent lines. He has been coming on strong as of late and that is what this team needs. He leads the team with a solid +/- of +7. The better he gets, the better the bottom six lines become. That will help this team a lot as the season goes forward. --- Score B
Morgan Frost
When he's on, he's on. When he's not....well, you know. Frost is the epitome of what makes this team so frustrating. He is good but never great. His long-running problems with Tortorella have been well documented. The coach wants to get the most out of him and the coach can't seem to unlock the great player that lies within. His 19 points so far this year are a great regression. He probably isn't going to be around much longer. --- Score C
Ryan Poehling
Poehling is a bottom-six center. His production is down this year, but that doesn't matter. He's not supposed to be one of the guys that this team counts on to be strong (see Frost, Farabee, etc.), but anything he can do is a bonus. Hopefully, he can start to turn it around soon --- Score C
Garnet Hathaway
Hathaway has taken over from Nic Deslauriers as the team's bruiser. Much like Poehling, he's not supposed to be a top-scoring member of the team. His value is in hitting other guys with checks and fists. --- Score C
Bobby Brink
Where is the Brink that impressed everyone last year in training camp? He hasn't been seen. Put him on a milk carton. Much like Frost, we see potential, but it isn't coming out. He may be just destined for a bottom-six role. He has been a healthy scratch for a lot of this year as he is not producing. --- Score C-
Joel Farabee
Copy and paste everything for Frost and a little bit of Brink in here. He has talent but is seemingly regressing. He isn't producing as much as he should be. Why? Who knows? --- Score C-
Defense and Goaltending
Travis Sanheim
The Flyers' top defender is showing why the team has invested in him. Offensively, Sanheim is putting up numbers similar to last year. Defensively, he's been solid. With all the injuries and roster turnovers on defense, he's been the one consistent. He's averaging close to 24 minutes of ice time. We need him to stay healthy. He is the backbone of the defense and should be for years to come. --- Score: A-
Nick Seeler
Seeler has battled injuries all year. You can see a difference in this lineup when he is in and when he is out. He's a solid defender and is going to set career highs in goals, assists, and points. He is one of Tortorella's guys. Seeler is the best defender who is not named "Sanheim". --- Score B
Rasmus Ristolainen
Ristolainen is never going to be the scoring defender the hoped for. He has stepped up his defensive game. Is he a long-term solution here? I don't know. He is probably the third-best defender on the team. He's not great, but not bad either. --- Score C
Cam York
Then there is York. When he is good, he is amazing. However, he has a lot of off nights as well. He has played through injuries and been scratched. Is he improving or is he regressing? Not sure. --- Score C
Emil Andrae
Andrae has appeared in just 20 games, filling in for injured players on defense. In those 20 games, he's been steady and has even scored a goal. To be honest, I'd rather give him a chance than some of the other guys here on defense. --- Score C
Jamie Drysdale
Drysdale has been hurt. He's been inconsistent. Much like York, he's been expected to do more offensively, but it hasn't happened yet. However, he is still young and could improve. How much longer can the team wait on him is yet to be seen. --- Score C-
Egor Zamula
It was a nice feel-good story. Here is an undrafted guy who somehow cracked the roster of an NHL team. He's not good offensively and makes too many defensive mistakes. It's just not working out. --- Score D
The Goalies
To save time, we can lump Sam Ersson, Aleksei Kolosov, and Ivan Fedotov together. Ersson has been the best of the bunch, but he has been off this year. I tend to think he's been playing hurt when he has been healthy. Injuries have slowed him down. Fedotov and Kolosov have been pretty much the same thing in the net. They've had good games and rough games. And to be fair, it's not like the defense has helped them out a lot. Their scores are higher just because I'm giving them credit for the difficulties they've faced this year. --- Scores: Ersson B-, Kolosov and Fedotov C+