This has been a hard last two months for Philadelphia sports fans. The Phillies were unceremoniously bounced out of the playoffs in the first round with barely a whisper. The Eagles have just about all the offences hurt and are heading for a horrifically bad season. But hey, at least the Sixers are healthy (for now).
The Flyers have gotten off to a historically bad start. After 17 games, they have a 4-9-4 record. The sad thing is the Metropolitan Division is so atrocious; it wouldn't take much for them to climb out of the cellar. Three wins would equal six points and place them in third place (assuming all the other teams ahead of them also lose).
However, this team can't seem to get things going. They'll win a game or two and then all back down again. Nobody has any real solution. Line change, call-ups, waiver wire pickups—nothing has really changed much. With the lone exception of Matvei Michkov, this team is sputtering.
The sad thing is there is no one problem. It's not like you can point your finger out and say, "it's the goaltending" or "it's the power play." It's a whole slew of things that are hindering this team. Unfortunately, it may not be things they can fix this year, and it may spread into upcoming seasons. Let's take a look at some of the issues that could be plaguing this team.
Coaching has been an issue
A lot of people are calling for Rick Tocchet's head right now. Would a shake-up at the head coaching position fix it? I'm not sure. They fired John Tortorella because he didn't gel with the younger players. Tocchet comes in and turns them around, and they storm into the playoffs. Now a year later, with virtually the same roster as was here in May, they can't win?
Is the problem the players, the coaching staff or the constant changes to the lines? There are plenty of things that could be contributing to it, including how the team is handling Michkov and the pressure being put on Martone. However, not much has changed since last season, and it's becoming pretty clear that whatever made this team special just isn't there anymore.
So if he is fired, who replaces him? The coaching carousel for the Flyers would just keep turning, and at some point, you'd hope the organization could find a head coach who sticks around for more than four years. There also has to be some concern about whether another coach would actually be any better under the circumstances or even want to come in and try to turn this mess around.
Firing Tocchet solves nothing. It was just an admission that the team is lost. However, something drastic might have to be done in order to shake the team up and wake them out of their slumber.
Has culture become an issue?
Over the last few weeks, we've been hearing a lot of rumours coming out of the Flyers' locker room. Which isn't ideal, especially for a team that tends to be pretty tight-lipped.
Veteran players are calling younger players "soft." Is there contention in the locker room, with veterans struggling to connect with the younger players? It raises questions about whether the older guys are taking the younger players under their wings and helping them improve, or if the younger players simply aren't listening to the advice they're being given.
However, the younger players could also call the vets complacent. Long time guys like Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, and Travis Sanheim know nothing but losing. They've never seen winning; or at least much of it. Maybe they are so used to it, they don't care any more. An apathetic team is one that nobody here wants to see. It's poisonous and contagious. The only way to fix that is to dump those players. That was (allegedly) the reason the team jettisoned Frost and Farabee a few years ago.
Trade...Trade Who?
There are rumors that teams are looking at the Flyers, salivating to pluck players off the roster. "Is Michkov available? What about Konecny? It seems like the majority of the roster is being linked in trade rumours.
It's clear that Philadelphia is unlikely to land a Dylan Larkin or Nikita Kucherov. But hypothetically, if they were, who would they give up? With how poor their season is gone, a lot of their players have lost trade value, which makes it extremely hard for the Flyers to trade their way out of this mess.
Any one of these issues is difficult for a team to deal with. All of them together are catastrophic. I hope I'm wrong in my assessment of the Flyers, but when you watch them, something just feels off. It's hard to put your finger on exactly what it is, but they don't look like the same team we saw last spring. If they can't find a way to get that back, the consequences could stretch well beyond this season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google