Philadelphia Flyers 2017-18 Season Preview

The Philadelphia Flyers are a far cry from their Broad Street Bully days. Heck, they’re a far cry from the early 2000s when they had guys like LeClair, Recchi, Roenick, and Brashear patrolling the ice.

The NHL has changed and so have the Flyers.

FORWARDS

Claude Giroux – He’s coming off a down year in which he recorded 58 points. He’s better than that. Perhaps the players around him had gotten a bit stale, or maybe not. Maybe his stats will continue to slide. That being said, I think he’s capable of 70+ points this season.

Jakub Voracek – I get the sense that no one really talks about him outside of people in Philadelphia and his fantasy hockey owners. He’s normally a lock for 20+ goals and 40+ assists.

Wayne Simmonds – He would’ve fit perfectly on the Flyers in the early 2000s. He’s a throwback to the power forward days. He’s big, strong, and will score 30 goals.

Notable: Sean Couturier, Nolan Patrick

DEFENSE

Shayne Gostisbehere – “Ghost Be Here” is not how you pronounce his last name, unfortunately. He came out of nowhere two seasons ago and has been an offensive bright spot ever since.

Ivan Provorov – He’s 20. It’s his 2nd NHL season. And he’s already logging 25 minutes/game. He’s going to be really good, both offensively and defensively. Look out in a few years.

Radko Gudas – He has a reputation around the NHL of being dangerous. Gudas is the epitome of Team Iceland in the Mighty Duck movies. Simple as that.

GOALIES

The Flyers needed a good goalie yesterday. Nope. Scratch that. They needed a good goalie about 20 years ago.

Brian Elliott – He’s only started more than 50 games, once in his career. For a 9th round pick in 2003, he’s carved out a nice career. I just don’t think he’s the answer the Flyers have been looking for.

Michal Neuvirth – He’s shown small glimpses of being good, but ultimately, he’s a backup goalie in the NHL.

FUN FACTS

1. The Flyers play their home games at Wells Fargo Center, which is also the home of the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) and the Philadelphia Soul (AFL).

2. They lost in the Finals to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, when Patrick Kane scored in overtime and no one saw the puck go in the net but him.

3. Ron Hextall is the General Manager. Dave Hakstol is the Head Coach. Names are fun.

4. They finished last season with a record of 39-33-10. They had a 2.4% chance of ending up with the 2nd pick in the NHL Draft. Well, they ended up getting it. They selected Nolan Patrick.

WHAT CHRIS THINKS

The Flyers seem to have had the same team for the last 5 years, but evidently that is not true. Curious to see how Brian Elliott survives the team Ilya Bryzgalov described as, “goalie hell.”

LAST MINUTE OF PLAY

Goaltending will hold this team out of a playoff spot. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true. I don’t know how, where, or when they’ll get a real number one goalie, but until they do, they won’t win anything.

ONE WILD PREDICTION

Claude Giroux scores at least 30 goals for the first time in his career.

POST-GAME

Last Preview: Ottawa Senators
Next Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins