The Philadelphia Flyers return to action on Thursday night, where they take on the rival New York Rangers in their first game back from the Winter Olympics. The Flyers are looking to get back to their winning ways, as they entered the Olympic break losing seven of their last 10 games, and own 61 points through 57 games, solidifying themselves outside of the playoff picture.
There's still a chance for the Flyers to turn things around, even with the trade deadline fastly approaching on March 6. After all, the Flyers are eight points outside of a Wild Card spot. Even with how open the Eastern Conference is, they aren't being given good odds to make the into the postseason.
The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn unveiled his latest playoff report following the Winter Olympics (subscription required). For the Flyers, they are placed in the "long shot" tier with just a 10 percent chance of making the playoffs.
"If I got one thing right about the East (for now anyways), it’s the Flyers falling back down to earth," writes Luszczyszyn. "The Flyers went 3-8-4 over the last month, dropping towards the bottom of the East. The big problem: too many starts for Samuel Ersson, who had an appalling .837 save percentage in nine games and a league-worst GSAx."
The Athletic calls the Flyers 'long shots' to make the playoffs post-Olympics
This is a far cry from how the Flyers looked earlier in the season, as they looked at least destined to make the playoffs. The offseason additions of Trevor Zegras and Dan Vladar paid off. But the injuries began piling up and young players on the roster haven't taken that next step forward like the team had hoped. Now, they are given incredibly slim odds of making it to the playoffs.
Luszczyszyn points out that the goaltending has been an issue for the Flyers. It has nothing to do with Vladar, who has been solid this season with a 17-9-6 record, a 2.46 goals allowed average, and a .905 save percentage. But the backup situation is dire. Samuel Ersson started nine games for the Flyers after Vladar was sidelined for two weeks due to an lower body injury. But during that nine game stretch of starts, as Luszczszyn brings up, Ersson had a 4.37 goals allowed average and just two wins, along with the. 837 save percentage. No team is winning that many games with those numbers.
Ersson started 24 games this season for the Flyers, where he has a 8-10-5 record, a 3.51 goals allowed average, and .856 save percentage.
Look there is still over 20 games left for the Flyers to play to potentially turn things around. But with the trade deadline arriving next week, General Manager Danny Briere will have to decide whether or not they have a massive sell-off or stand pat. Rasmus Ristolainen is already being listed in trade rumors and the team is reportedly open to listening to offers.
We'll see if the Flyers can truly turn things around in this final stretch of the season.