Carolina Hurricanes Division Rivals: Philadelphia Flyers

Leading up to the season we are going to have a Metropolitan Division Season projection series.  We will be starting with the last place team and finish with the Hurricanes.  Today we will be covering the Philadelphia Flyers.

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Head Coach: Dave Hakstol (1st year with the team), Nothing says prepared for the Philadelphia sports market like a North Dakota hockey coach!

2014-2015 Record: 33-31-18

2014-2015 Result: 6th in the Metro, 24th Overall (Missed the Playoffs)

The Flyers had a disappointing season in 2014-2015. Following up their playoff appearance in 2013-2014, the Flyers finished 6th in the Metro and missed out on the playoffs.

Their performance may not have been as bad as their record showed, The Flyers set single team records in overtime losses, shootout losses, and penalty minutes. The Philadelphia lost a total of 18 games in extra time and 11 in the shootout skills competition. The most interesting record that last years team set was for fewest PIM’s with only 857, which is typical Flyers hockey. 

Despite losing in many close games the Flyers GM Ron Hextall has been acting as if the team is further from winning than a rebuild. This awkward transition phase is often a stressful time for an organization and fans as Carolina Hurricanes fans know.  The Flyers are not looking to be in contention for a playoff spot but also don’t get a high draft pick. 

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The Flyers traded Scott Hartnell before the season started, and moved Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn mid season for draft picks. Though Coburn was not having a great year, Timonen was still able to contribute in a big way to the Blackhawks, and Scott Hartnell ended up with a 60 point (28g,32a) season.  

Key Additions: Sam Gagne (trade), Michal Neuvirth (Free Agency), Ivan Proverov (Draft)

Ron Hextall was able to orchestrate a salary cap dumb trade to perennial salary floor team, the Arizona Coyotes, in return for Sam Gagner. This was a great trade for the Flyers who gave up virtually nothing (Pronger’s contract, and 3rd pairing defenseman Nicklas Grossman) to acquire a center with scoring ability. This offensive boost is what they Flyers need to win more close games and avoid giving up the additional point in extra time.

The signing of Michal Neuvirth adds a much needed veteran backup goaltender behind Steve Mason. I saw a lot of Neuvirth when he spent time in Washington and is a very capable goaltender who can give Mason some time off.

The last major acquisition of the offseason so far is the drafting of Ivan Proverov.  Many scouts thought that Proverov was a better defenseman than future Hurricane, Noah Hanifin. In his 2014-2015 season with the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings Proverov scored 61 points (15g, 46a) in the regular season and 13 (2g,11a) in the postseason.

Both Gagner and Proverov have the ability to come in and have an immediate impact on the Flyers.  

Feb 24, 2015; Raleigh, NC, USA; Carolina Hurricanes forward

(12) skates with puck against the Philadelphia Flyers forward

(28) during the 1st period at PNC Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Key Losses: None

Depth Chart:

Matt Reid-Claude Giroux-Jakub Voracek
Brayden Schenn–Sean Couturier–Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl–Scott Laughton-Sam Gagner
Chris Vande Velde-Piere Edouard Bellemare-Ryan White

Nick Schultz–Michael Del Zotto
Andrew MacDonald–Radko Gudas
Luke Schenn-Ivan Proverov

Steve Mason
Michal Neuvirth

2015-2016 Outlook:

The Flyers are in an interesting transition period, this year will be an important one for the organization.  If they lose out and miss the playoffs they will most likely go into a full rebuild mode, but they may have the talent and with luck on their side they could make the playoffs, the latter being more likely.

With a first time NHL coach in Dave Hakstol, you should expect the Flyers to come out to a slow start. For a small market team this may not be a bad thing, but in the notorious Philly sports market, it will add a lot of pressure on the team to perform well. I see this being a VERY difficult first position for a head coach.

Carolina Hurricanes

Steve Mason performed well and had a sv% of 9.38 last year, without great defense aheda of him.  Mason combined with a competent goalie in Neuvirth should give the Flyers hope between the pipes.

The main issue with the goaltending is consistency, with both of these goalies they show great upside, but have very streaky seasons. Looking at Mason’s stats he has up years and down years that seem to alternate every year.

The major issue when looking at the Flyers’ roster and upcoming season is possession.  Philly has a lot of offensive talent on their roster, but gave up 30.4 shots per game which is good enough for 7th worst in the league.  

The most telling stat has to be that only 7 of the 21 players that played over 300 minutes last year had a corsi for percentage(CF%) that was over 50%. In comparison the Hurricanes had 15 out of 21 players with over a 50% CF%. This is a really telling stat that shows the Flyers were not able to maintain any kind of meaningful possession last year.

If they want to win games and make their scorers matter, they are going to have to be able to limit the shots that they are letting up.  The Flyers had four 20 goal scorers and 4 players over 50 points last year.  In comparison the Hurricanes only had one 20 goal and 50 point scorer in Eric Staal.

Despite the Flyers strengthening their forwards, they are still thin on the back line, so I don’t expect that the shots allowed number will go down this season.  The forwards will not be able to overcome the defensive issues.  

The weak/young coupled with a new coach and new system will lead to another down year for the Flyers.  I expect the Flyers to come in 7th in the Metropolitan Division and will continue the their transition phase.