The NHL decided that the holiday season was a good time to cool things down for a while and send everyone home during a COVID surge.
For the Flyers, it might just come at an opportune time. They’ve had injury troubles for most of the season, fired their head coach, and are clinging to a 12-12-5 record through 29 games. They have amassed 29 points and tied for 5th in the Metropolitan. They are 11th overall in the Eastern Conference and 24th in the league.
Unfortunately without a major turnaround and some fantastic luck, the payoffs look like they might already be out of reach. Coming out of the break, it would be easy to say that this is the time for the Flyers to give up, trade their vets and enter a rebuild. Rebuilding though is the dirtiest word a hockey fan can utter in Philadelphia and it’s possible that the Flyers could manage to come back and make the playoffs if everything breaks their way.
Here’s what needs to happen
The Depth Must Come Alive
The Flyers have had a serious lack of depth scoring plague them for the better part of the last decade. Right now the team is being paced by Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, and Claude Giroux, who leads the team in points. The rest of the team needs to start stepping up their game.
Travis Konecny, Joel Farabee, and James van Riemsdyk have all performed below expectations offensively over the first portion of the season. Oskar Lindblom is still far from the player he was, despite showing the occasional flash, Kevin Hayes is trying to play his way into shape, and the defense isn’t producing as much as hoped, mostly thanks to Ryan Ellis being out long term and throwing off the pairings.
They are also without Wade Allison, who was expected to contribute. With the injuries, the whole lineup has been shuffled and reshuffled and consistency has been hard to come by. Hopefully, they can come out and start the new year on a better, more consistent footing.
Could A Trade Set Them Right?
The Flyers have a decent amount draft picks coming up, and a lot of “prospect” type players. If Chuck Fletcher wanted to continue his aggressive streak, he might decide to swing a trade for someone who could step in and help the Flyers immediately.
Morgan Frost is a name that could in theory move. He’s the biggest prospect name the Flyers have, and the one with the murkiest future in terms of an ideal fitting with the team. They could also use players like German Rubstov or Connor Bunnaman to fill out a trade that would help increase the value and the return if the Flyers decide to be desperate buyers.
Old Fashioned Luck
Of what needs, or what could help the Flyers, this is the one that is a requirement. The Flyers will need some help from teams above them in the standings for them to get back into the race. They are four points out of a Wild Card spot, but currently thirteen out of the division race.
They need the Rangers to come back to earth, the Penguins to struggle, and they need to catch the surprise Red Wings, while simultaneously holding off other challengers like Boston, Columbus, and New Jersey.
So Can They Do It?
The odds are that the Flyers won’t be able to make a significant playoff run this season. Now the team could look seriously different over the course of the next month or so, and it’s possible that a solid wild card spot is attainable, but in terms of this being the “year” for the Flyers, don’t expect an all-in push.