NHL Preview - Philadelphia Flyers

Philadelphia Flyers

2015-16 season: 41-27-14, 96 points Lost in 1st RD of Eastern Conference Playoffs	Head Coach: Dave Hakstol (2015)
5th Place Metro Division	General Manager: Ron Hextall (2014)
8th Place Eastern Conference	AHL Affiliate: Lehigh Valley Phantoms ECHL Affiliate: Reading Royals
Cap Space: $1,038, 334

Players Lost in the Offseason

POS.	Player	New   Team	Contract
RW	Ryan White	Arizona Coyotes	1 year, $1,000,000
RW	Sam Gagner	Colorado Avalanche	1 year, $650,000
RW	R.J. Umberger – bought out	Free Agency
D	Evgeny Medvedev	Avangard Omsk (KHL)
D	Davis Drewiskie	Free Agency
G	Jason LaBarbera	Retired
G	Ray Emery	Free Agency

Incoming Free Agents

POS.	Player	Old   Team	Contract
C	Boyd Gordon	Arizona Coyotes	1 year, $950,000
RW	Dale Weise	Chicago Blackhawks	4 years, $9,400,000
C	Andy Miele	Detroit Red Wings	1 year, $600,000
D	Will O’Neill	Pittsburgh Penguins	1 year, $575,000
D	T.J. Brennan	Toronto Maple Leafs	2 years, $1,250,000

2016 Draft Picks

RD	Pick No.	POS.	Name	Junior/College/Club Team
1	22	C	German Rubtsov	Russia U-18 Team
2	36	C	Pascal Laberge	Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
2	48	G	Carter Hart	Everett Silvertips (WHL)
2	52	RW	Wade Allison	Tri-City Storm (USHL)
3	82	LW	Carsen Twarynski	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
4	109	C	Connor Bunnaman	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
5	139	D	Linus Hogberg	Vaxjo Jrs (Sweden)
6	169	C	Tanner Laczynski	Lincoln Stars (USHL)
6	172	C	Anthony Salinitri	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
7	199	D	David Bernhardt	Djugarden Jrs (Sweden)

Top Three Prospects

POS	Name	Draft Info	Current Team
G	Anthony Stolarz	2012 2nd RD (45)	AHL/ECHL
LW	Taylor Leier	2012 4th RD (117)	AHL/ECHL
C	German Rubtsov	2016 1st RD (22)	Vityaz Podolsk (KHL)

Projected Lineup

Forwards

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
LW	Jakub Voracek	27	Czech Republic	2024
C	(C) Claude Giroux	28	Canada	2022
RW	(A) Wayne Simmonds	28	Canada	2019
LW	Brayden Schenn	25	Canada	2020
C	Sean Couturier	23	Canada	2022
RW	Matt Read	30	Canada	2018
LW	Michael Raffl	27	Austria	2019
C	Boyd Gordon	32	Canada	2017
RW	Dale Weise	28	Canada	2020
LW	Scott Laughton	22	Canada	2017 (RFA)
C	Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	31	France	2017
RW	Chris Vandevelde	29	USA	2017

Defensemen

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
D	Nick Schultz	34	Canada	2017
D	(A) Mark Streit	38	Switzerland	2017
D	Michael Del Zotto	26	Canada	2017
D	Shayne Gostisbehere	23	USA	2017 (RFA)
D	Andrew MacDonald	30	Canada	2020
D	Radkos Gudas	26	Czech Republic	2020

Goalies

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
G	Steve Mason	28	Canada	2017
G	Michal Neuvirth	28	Czech Republic	2017

Extra Skaters

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
C	Nick Cousins	23	Canada	2017 (RFA)
C	Jordan Weal	24	Canada	2017 (RFA)
D	Brendan Manning	26	Canada	2018

Season Outlook

• Philly got off to a bad start last year, not really turning it on until February, and were able to play themselves into the 2nd Wild Card spot.  They dealt with a goaltending dilemma all season, splitting time between Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth, with Neuvirth definitely being the better of the two but Mason still getting most of the starts.  On offense, Wayne Simmonds was the Flyers' most consistent scorer, netting 32 goals.  On the other end of the spectrum, Jakub Voracek regressed severely from his 2014-15 season, when he scored 22 goals and 81 points.  Instead, Voracek only had 11 goals and 55 points last year, which is not a lot of production for someone receiving a salary in the realm of Sidney Crosby's.  After earning a contract extension last offseason, you have to question whether Voracek is in fact an elite goalscorer who is worth the $8+ million/season that he is getting paid.  On defense, the Flyers got a wonderful surprise from rookie Shayne Gostisbehere, who played point on their first powerplay unit and earned serious Calder Trophy consideration.  All-in-all, first year head coach Dave Hakstol did an excellent job, getting the Flyers into the upper-half of the league in a lot of offensive categories.  Their struggle came on defense, which is an underwhelming unit, apart from Gostisbehere.  They did a bad job of suppressing shots and put far too much work on their goalies.

CAT.	Goals For	Goals Against	PP %	PK %	PDO	Corsi For	Corsi Against	Corsi For %	oZS%	dZS%
Stat	214	218	18.93	80.13	100.1	4901	4715	51.0	51.7	48.3
Flyers’ Rank	23rd	15th	11th	21st	15th	4th	23rd	12th	11th	11th

PDO= Even Strength Shooting Percentage + Even Strength Save Percentage

Corsi For= Shots + Blocks + Misses while in possession of puck

Crosi Against= Shots + Blocks + Misses while not in possession of puck

Corsi For %= Corsi For/(Corsi For+Corsi Against) -> Above 50% means that team controls play

oZS% = Offensive Zone Start Percentage

dZS% = Defensive Zone Start Percentage

• During the offseason, Philly didn't do a whole lot, bringing in Dale Weise and Boyd Gordon to skate on their third line.  I think that the Flyers are going to rely on continued development from Gostisbehere (and other players who will be getting called up) and other young players and bounce back seasons from players, including Voracek and captain Claude Giroux.  What I find most interesting about the team is how they've allocated their money.  Voracek and Giroux both have salaries near the top of the league, yet pay Simmonds under $4 million per season. They were forced to pay Brayden Schenn over $5 million per season and are spending a significant amount of money on a defense that was mediocre last season.  They're going to have to make decisions on this unit during this season, as four of six need new contracts after this year, including Gostisbehere, who is deserving of a large raise, possibly in the area of Aaron Ekblad's extension.  Additionally, both goalies need new contracts after this season, and it's probably safe to assume that they only bring one of them back.  I think that Philly is on the right track currently, and stands a great chance at making the playoffs again this season.

Breakout Candidate:

• C Sean Couturier - Couturier has burst onto the NHL radar in recent seasons and is playing for Team North America at the World Cup.  Last year, he would have set a career high in points had he played a whole season, but was limited to just 63 games, and had 39 points.  I think that Couturier will eclipse the 50 point plateau this season and will be a pivotal piece for the Flyers if they desire to make the playoffs.

Regression Candidate:

• D Mark Streit - Streit will turn 39 this December and I believe his age is starting to catch up with him.  He was only able to play in 62 games last year, and his point production dropped greatly, all the way down to 23, his lowest since the 2005-06 season.  I think that his age will continue to cause problems for him and he will continue to regress because of it.

Bounceback Candidate:

• RW Matt Read - Read has been an important player on recent Flyers teams and has even scored more than 20 goals on two occasions.  He only put up 26 points last season, which simply isn't enough production for someone who is skating on a second line.  I think Read is better than what he exhibited last season, and he will bounce back to his regular production this year.

*All statistics and information come from: rosterresource.com, thehockeywriters.com, hockeydb.com, hockey-reference.com, and generalfanager.com