2014-15 Philadelphia Flyers Season Predictions

Season Predictions

The 2014-15 Philadelphia Flyers are similar in many respects to the team that ended last season, but if you look closely one can see new GM Ron Hextall putting his stamp on the club.  Gone are the slow skaters that took significant penalty minutes and in are plus skaters with less penalty minutes.

The club that takes the ice in Boston should be faster, more disciplined, and more adept with the puck.

Players were made aware that they needed to show up in shape for training camp after a few were called out in Ron Hextall’s initial press conference.

While the Flyers were a poor puck possession team last year that can be partially attributed to the Flyers leading the NHL in penalty minutes.  The team often had problems getting in sync with the even strength lines never getting the opportunity to present a sustained forecheck like the Los Angeles Kings.

The constant swapping between special teams units can wreck havoc on a lineup as players constantly move from one role to the next. 

The lack of production from the fourth line was a problem as well with Zac Rinaldo and Jay Rosehill not assisting the top three lines causing a shortened bench for most games. 

This season the fourth line should be able to log a few more quality minutes per game, giving the Flyers the ability to properly reset the top lines after prolonged stretches on special teams.

While the third line seems to be a work in progress when compared with the top two lines they should feel the most pressure to produce with exciting young rookies like Scott Laughton starting the season with the Phantoms.

The same goes for the blueline where a number of players with less than two years remaining on their contracts will feel the heat from young defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere, Samuel Morin, and Robert Hagg. 

Ron Hextall learned from Dean Lombardi in Los Angeles that prospects need seasoning in the minors and he wants them to prove that they belong on the roster rather than being handed a role. 

To that extent, it is more than likely that the top prospects will spend at least a full season with the Phantoms unless they force Hextall’s hand, putting him in a position where he needs to make a deal.

The first call ups may not be the sexy names that fans salivate over, but the guys called up will be asked to fill specific roles, be it as an enforcer or penalty kill specialist.

The roster this year is a work in process with the team that ends this year likely looking very different from the team that starts this year. 

While the Flyers do not have a lot of wiggle room under the cap and Pronger, Timonen, and White on LTIR they do have some flexibility in terms of making deals and we will likely see a few deals done as the year progresses.

The division itself is challenging with the Pittsburgh Penguins always a favorite and the New York Rangers are coming off a run that took them to the Stanley Cup finals before losing to the Los Angeles Kings.

The late trades by the New York Islanders to add defense to their roster indicate that they will be knocking on the playoff doors as will the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

A small step back should not be looked at as a disappointment as the Flyers are in the process of retooling their roster to emphasize more skill and better skating over slow, pugilistic play. 

There are a number of pieces to the puzzle that are already in place with this roster.  The top two lines can match up with any team in the NHL.  The third line is a bit of a work-in-process while the fourth line transitions to more of a speed and grind line rather than a pugilistic line.

The Flyers were able to manage to make the playoffs with almost the same lineup last year after a horrendous start.

This year under the steady and analytical minds of General Manager Ron Hextall and Head Coach Craig Berube the Flyers will shift from a grinding team to a faster and more disciplined team.  

The Flyers should be in the mix for a playoff spot in the highly competitive Eastern Conference where a number of teams have their eyes set on the playoffs.

More importantly, the roster should be judged not on how they start but how they finish as tinkering will take place over the course of the season as new stars emerge from the Phantoms and trades are made to create a better overall roster fit.

The Flyers benefitted last year from a very healthy roster logging some of the fewest man games lost in the NHL.

If they can stay healthy the Flyers should be a playoff team as they have significant scoring depth and adequate defense to get into the playoffs.  Once there it will depend on matchups.

The keys will be to stay healthy and cut down on the penalty minutes while playing a more skilled and disciplined style of hockey.

In terms of actual numbers from players I am looking for balanced scoring much like last year when eight players netted over 20 goals.


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You can follow me on Twitter @dcurban1

Your 2014-15 Philadelphia Flyers Forwards

The 2014-15 Philadelphia Flyers stand in start contrast to the team assembled just a year ago.  Gone are 20+ goal scorer Scott Harnell and fourth line stalwarts Adam Hall and Jay Rosehill. 

Added into the lineup are Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Jason Akeson, whose playoff call-up added some jump to the roster.

Enforcer Jay Rosehill has been sent down to the Phantoms as of the time this article was penned and posted, but may be recalled after some LTIR issues are dealt with.

The biggest change to the roster will be the promotion of Matt Read and Sean Couturier to the second line from last year’s third line, a move that will make many fans happy.  Already in preseason games they appear to have clicked with Wayne Simmonds making for a potentially strong second line to supplement the Schenn-Giroux-Voracek top line.

The third line will comprise Vinny Lecavalier, Michael Raffl, and R.J. Umberger back for a second tour with the Flyers.

The Flyers will stand in stark contrast to last year's team in a number of areas and it is in these areas where Ron Hextall has already put his stamp on the roster. 

In the offseason, Hextall spoke a bit about roster construction and the difficulties in finding a perfect three man line.  He talked about finding two player combinations and then inserting a third player to complement the first two. 

That said, Brayden Schenn will be called upon to complement Flyers Captain Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek on the left wing.

Fans have been expecting more from Brayden and the promotion to top line left wing should do the trick.  Last season’s 20 goals were only 3 goals behind Voracek and 8 goals behind Giroux, not that much of a drop-off considering he centered the second line.  His six game winning goals was second on the team to Giroux’s seven. 

Fans need to keep in mind that this will be Brayden’s second full 82 game season with the team and only 23 years old.  He is still growing into his role and maturing as a player, but another 20+ goal season is not out of the question.

The second line will now be manned by Sean Couturier and Matt Read, a strong combination that has clicked since they were paired together.  The complementary piece, if you can call him that, is Wayne Simmonds the Flyers leading goal scorer with 29. 

Simmonds will have an interesting role as Couturier and Read are well known around the league for their strong defensive play, but not as well known for their offensive prowess. 

Read was able to tally 22 goals and Sean Couturier just 13 but do not let Couturier’s numbers mislead you.  Couturier logged 3:25 seconds of shorthanded ice time per game, leading not just the Flyers but the NHL for forwards as well.  Word around the NHL was that a number of teams held Couturier in high regard and were surprised when the Flyers did not push for him to be included in the candidates for the Selke trophy.

At 21 years of age Sean Couturier has shown a level of play on par with the top ranked players in his draft class.  More will be expected of him offensively centering the second line, but as fans we have to remember how far Couturier has come in a short period of time and his age.

The third line appears to be a work in progress as RJ Umberger replaces Scott Hartnell and Michael Raffl returns for his sophomore season with Vinny Lecavalier centering the third line. 

Time will tell how they work together, but for now the third line appears to have a nice mix of skills that may work out best in the end.

Finishing out the forward corps is a fourth line of Zac Rinaldo, Pierre-Edouard Bellemere, and Jason Akeson.  The three will be asked to provide a bit of grit along with some push to give the top lines a bit of rest.  One key here that is a huge difference from previous years is the plus skating ability of all three players. 

It should be noted that in not having Scott Hartnell, Jay Rosehill, and Steve Downie not on the roster the Flyers lose 263 penalty minutes, not a trivial amount when one considers the Flyers led the NHL in penalty minutes last season with 1180 minutes of penalty time. 

Broken down further the Flyers accumulated 14 minutes and 23 seconds of penalty time per game and 357 minor penalties.  The loss of Scott Hartnell, Jay Rosehill, and Steve Downie amounted to 68 minor penalties or almost 20% of the total.

If Zac Rinaldo can play more restrained hockey and bring down his total from 150 penalty minutes and 29 minor penalties then the team will be much more disciplined allowing for more opportunities for the top line players. 

Why do I mention more restrained play?

One of the complaints about the Flyers has been about their poor puck possession statistics.  Part of the may be due to a number of poor skating players who moved on in the offseason along with the high number of penalty minutes.

The high number of penalty minutes led to some problems last season where an ineffective fourth line would be trotted out on the ice to rest the top three lines which were constantly juggling time between the power play and penalty kill.

A more effective fourth line combined with fewer penalty minutes should provide additional shifts for Sean Couturier and Matt Read to capture more power play and even strength ice time leading to better puck possession statistics overall.

A point that Hextall has made with his draft picks is their ability to be plus skaters.  In the past the Flyers fourth line consisted of many slow afoot forwards whose sole goal was to provide the muscle.  The addition of a plus skating fourth line will mean more effective play from the top to the bottom as the fourth line could be trusted with more responsibility.

Later today the defense, goaltending, and my thoughts about this season.