4 most surprising Philadelphia Flyers players in 2023-24
The Philadelphia Flyers may not have enjoyed the most successful 2023-24 season, but they still played better than expectations, and a few players were responsible.
Regardless of what the last week of the season holds for the Philadelphia Flyers, we can all agree that nobody saw them taking things down to the final game of the regular season. In October, the playoffs were a far cry, and perhaps only the most faithful Flyers fans saw this team at least keeping things interesting in their quest for an unprecedented postseason berth.
In short, the Flyers surprised the NHL universe, even if 87 points through 81 contests still isn’t ideal, nor is a minus-25 goal differential. But in the NHL, just as in every sport out there, you can’t have a surprise team without several surprise players backing you up, and the Flyers, fortunately, had more than their fair share.
One of those players was Sean Couturier, following a pair of seasons in which he played in just 29 games in 2021-22 and missed all of 2022-23, leaving his upcoming 2023-24 season a mystery. But Couturier responded well, even if he wasn’t the same player he was before back surgery sidelined him.
Flyers fans enjoyed watching several players put up surprising seasons
In his first full season back, Couturier saw action in 73 contests through April 15th, with 37 points and 11 goals. He was still outstanding as a defensive forward, good in the faceoff dot, and incredible at helping to create chances, with a Corsi For at 5-on-5 hovering near 57 percent.
Couturier was still valuable on the man advantage, and when short-handed, he made his presence felt on the latter. The Flyers only allowed five goals while Couturier was on the ice, and his on-ice save percentage stood at 89.4 when an opponent found itself on the man advantage.
It was great to see Couturier at least resembling his former self despite such a long layoff, but he wasn’t the only surprise in 2023-24. A pair of blueliners and one goaltender also helped the 2023-24 Flyers make this season memorable.
Travis Sanheim set career-highs across the board
Travis Sanheim has been a fixture with the Flyers for seven years, and he’s logged top-four minutes throughout most of his time in Philadelphia. But wow, talk about an epic points total here, as Sanheim reached double-digit goals for the first time in his career and 34 assists, both of which led to a career-high 44 points with a game remaining.
Sanheim was so good he also shattered his previous career-highs in average total ice time, with 23:48 this season, nearly a full minute more than the 22:58 he attained in 2021-22. The extra ice time allowed Sanheim to further secure career-bests with 146 blocks, 91 hits, and 35 takeaways. What’s more is the fact he committed just 46 giveaways, which was nowhere near the highest of his seven-year career.
Yes, all of the above are just basic stats, but they still indicate an overall improvement in Sanheim’s play. His advanced possession metrics may not be as impressive at even strength or 5-on-5, but he was still valuable on the power play and when the Flyers were short-handed.
On the man advantage, Philadelphia scored 12 goals while he was on the ice, and they also snagged an incredible nine short-handed goals at 4-on-5. Overall, Sanheim’s play helped fuel what you can argue was the NHL’s most surprising team this season.
Samuel Ersson may have surprised the entire NHL
Much of the credit for the Flyers unprecedented run must go to a goaltender who wasn’t even supposed to be the No. 1 netminder heading into the season. But Samuel Ersson stepped up, and, no, he didn’t enjoy a perfect year, considering his save percentage is an ultra-modest 0.890 heading into the season’s final week, but still: 50 games played, 48 starts, 23 wins, and a solid 2.86 GAA plus four shutouts is a foundation Ersson can build upon.
Many will look at Ersson’s advanced stats and scoff at his 21-plus goals allowed above expected at even strength, but let’s be honest with ourselves. It’s not like this Philadelphia Flyers team was composed of a plethora of prime goal-scorers. So, regardless of what Ersson’s advanced statistics may indicate, he was helping this team win.
Sure, the consistency issues were there, and they are something he must fix over the summer so they’re alleviated next season. But let’s also remember the Flyers core will also have another year’s worth of experience, and that, too, will help Ersson.
Overall, he wasn’t a bad goaltender, and it’s fair to say he can be the No. 1 netminder for this young Flyers team next season. If that’s the case, however, he won’t surprise many opponents with at least serviceable play.
Few came on as strongly as Yegor Zamula
Yegor Zamula didn’t put up impressive statistics, but when you look at his past performances in what were small sample sizes over the years, it’s easy to justify him making the list. Zamula scored just five goals and contributed to 15 others, but let’s compare what he’s done in 65 contests to what we saw in the past.
Before the 2023-24 season, Zamula saw ice time in exactly 26 games, helping the Flyers score just four times. He averaged just 14:48 of total ice time per, gave the puck away 17 times, logged just 15 hits, and 33 blocks. Overall, he knew how to get in front of the puck, but he contributed hardly anything else.
That changed this season when Zamula, besides his 20 points, blocked 78 shots, logged 37 hits, 17 takeaways, and committed just 22 giveaways. Nobody will say that Zamula will be a Norris Trophy candidate any time soon, but the point is, he showed immense growth.
Zamula will be a restricted free agent this summer, but given his growth, it should be tough for general manager Daniel Briere to let him walk. He may or may not have a future in Philadelphia beyond 2026 or perhaps 2027, but he’s done enough to warrant another look.
feed
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference as of April 15th)