The double edge sword of the Flyers recent success

How the Flyers’ would handle goaltending entering the 2024-2025 season was anything but straightforward, a situation head coach John Tortorella said “ scares the crap” out of him before the season. The long-term plan behind the net was turned upside down midway through last season, when the young and promising Carter Hart would leave Philadelphia mid-season, citing personal reasons. The 26-year-old would never return to Philadelphia, as a sexual assault allegation from his past would lead to the two sides parting ways at the end of last season.

Ersson played better than expected as the number one option after Hart’s abrupt departure. However, the backup play at goaltender for the Flyers was still little to be desired at the time. This led the team to sign Ivan Fedotov to a one-year deal in May of 2022, an interesting prospect who had an extensive history of international play.

Trials and tribulations would follow after this inking, as mandatory military service and legal disputes with the Russian Red Army team, CSKA Moscow, delayed his first start with Philadelphia until the end of last season, a game in which the Flyers were in a competitive playoff push in the Metropolitan Division. Fedotov would fall 2-4 to the Sabres in this game. He would not start again until this year

Don't call it a comeback

The Flyers haven't been able to catch a break after placing Ersson on IR this past Sunday. He is expected to miss at least two weeks as he continues to battle his lingering lower-body injury. At the beginning of the year, this goaltending controversy would have seemed like the last thing the orange and black needed. In addition to their issues behind the net, the defense was in shambles, the quality of their depth was far from optimal, the offense struggled to execute on scoring opportunities, and when they did score they couldn't establish momentum or build off it.

Despite all these issues, the Flyers are miraculously one of the hottest teams mid-way through November. The team showed tenacity after their disastrous 1-5-1 start, now boasting one of the best last 10 records in the league at 6-3-1. A big factor in this streak was Ivan Fedotov, and nobody exemplifies the resilience of the entire squad better than him. The 27-year-old is undefeated in his last three starts after being the perennial lame-duck candidate to not only the fans but the coaching staff as well. 

The whole team has stepped up its play in response to Fedotov’s performance. Comparing the start of the season to the end of October up till now, the Flyers defense has gone from, literally, the worst goals allowed per game to close to top-5 in the league in this metric. The Flyers are taking a lot more shots than they were at the beginning of the year, creating much more scoring plays and second-chance opportunities. 

In addition, the Flyers are improving tremendously at keeping leads and building momentum from them, not allowing quick answers from the opposition as they were doing earlier in the year. The young talent is showing a ton of promise lately, an encouraging sign for the team’s depth in years to come. Helge Grans showed promise in his first NHL start against the Avalanche, Emil Andrae is a powerhouse in the defensive zone, Foerster is playing great and, of course, Michkov is on pace to become the frontrunner for the Calder Memorial this year.

Two sides of a coin

Whether you believe in momentum in sports or not, the Flyers certainly have it as they head into their matchup with the Hurricanes. However, Ersson’s injury and Fedotov’s subsequent dominant performance create a conundrum for the Flyers. The determination of the Flyers is something that goes back to the Broad Street Bullies, an identity that is unlikely to dissipate anytime soon. Depending on who you talk to, this resilience may not be in the team's best interest.

There exists a never-ending dichotomy in sports, no matter the game or team. In one camp is the “newer” age of thought. Avoid that dreaded no-man's land in the middle of the standings and lose enough games to put your team in a good draft position in the offseason. Philadelphia fans were already well aware of this tactic when the Sixers practically invented it a decade ago.

The camp would argue that this “process” is the way to go at the Wells Fargo Center, supplementing Michkov with another exciting young talent early in the first round. The salary cap era creates challenges to bring in high-end talent outside of the draft. Of course, the Flyers do have three first-rounders and three second-rounders in next year’s draft. However, we all know that trading up rarely, if ever, happens in the NHL Draft. It is nothing like the excitement we see with its NBA and NFL counterparts. If the fans truly want a Hagens or McQueen (for which they have been clambering), a low teen pick is not going to cut it.

On the flip side, if we know anything about Tortorella, it’s that he would never allow talk of “tanking” or this mentality. The hockey “truthers” would agree, arguing that tanking does more harm than good. How often does a top-10 pick turn out to be a bust? Will poor attendance and loss of interest in their team outweigh the potential for a future stud? They would shine light on the Penguins as a prime example of what having a winning culture can do and point to the Sabres as a reason to avoid it. Let's not forget the season started on a gruesome road-heavy schedule against teams that will most likely end the season in the top half of the league.

The Flyers are, in fact, in a rebuild. However, these next two to four weeks will be a deciding time for the boys on Broad Street on just how “in” they will go with this rebuild. There is an argument for anything other than a bottom-five draft pick next year being a disappointment. On the other hand, if the team continues its recent success under Fedotov, the conversation may be entirely different come the mid-season mark. Can a team undertake a rebuild if they find themselves 14-12-3 once the jingle bells ring?