The Philadelphia Flyers are a top 5 team in the league

[Riddum]

Carter Hart is pretty good

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

Metro is hilariously stacked this year. 5 legitimately good teams and 1 budding young team.

 

[AvroArrow]

Konecny has been impressive to me. Coaching along with their young "prospects" not being prospects anymore

 

[Beyonder91]

The elevation of Konecny is a huge reason. The kid plays with fire and is surely rubbing off on the rest of team.
Thank goodness the Leafs aren't in the metro...

 

[Pelle31]

This is all correct but I would add if Hart continues to grow and be the goalie we think he is, that could be a real game changer for the Flyers....the other youngsters have come online and played for the most part very well...Phillip Myers, Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee along Hart have all been solid additions thus far.

I've been a fan since the early 70's and I'm enjoying watching this team play. I hate comparing players but if Hart can be remotely close as his boyhood idol, Carey Price, then the Flyers have a homegrown goalie for the 1st time since Pelle Lindbergh (I know Hextall had a couple of good seasons but he never seemed the same after his rookie season). The young guys like Myers, Frost and Farabee look great, it kind of reminds me of the '85 team with all of the young players. With Myers play, it might make Ghost a trading chip! Still lots of games left in the year, but so far it's looked good.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Ditching Hakstol and Gordon for a coach with basic competence is huge.

 

[The Red Line]

Always more fun when they're in the playoffs. I might just hop on the bandwagon.

 

[SPLBRUIN]

Good team but like the Islanders a step slow, will hurt them come playoff time.

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

Not surprised they’re turning things around, AV is a great coach.

 

[emptyNedder]

I hate comparing players but if Hart can be remotely close as his boyhood idol, Carey Price, then the Flyers have a homegrown goalie for the 1st time since Pelle Lindbergh (I know Hextall had a couple of good seasons but he never seemed the same after his rookie season).

One thing that is likely to be largely conincidental that I haven't seen mentioned is that for 13 of the past 15 Stanley Cup winners the goalie who played the majority of games was drafted or signed (Niemi) by the organization. One of the two who was with a different organization is Tim Thomas who had played with the Bruins for almost a decade.

Don't know if the board has any sociologists/organizational experts, but perhaps there is some in-group solidarity that makes this more than coincidental.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Low production from star players isn't equal to below average performance... it's all related to the system.

To an extent yeah, i agree. It's not to say they've been bad or anything. But at the same time i think we can agree that said players haven't been super hot either. If Konecny can score PPG so far, guys like Giroux and Voracek can do better than pace for 60 point seasons or Hayes/JvR, regardless of system, should have the ability to the better than 0.5PPG.

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

Wait until the Flyers fully play Vigneault's game plan to 100%. It worked well when NYR played a hybrid between Torts and Vigneault. When they fully played like Vigneault wanted, it was a total mess defensively.

Vigneault has always been a great regular season coach, he’s good in the playoffs the first couple of years but eventually starts making questionable decisions and becomes ineffective.

 

[Curufinwe]

Good team but like the Islanders a step slow, will hurt them come playoff time.

Not if we play the Islanders.

 

[Flyotes]

Many changes to a good roster finally bringing out talent we frustratingly knew was present but getting suppressed by bad coaching.

...and dumping talent that wasn't present, despite being waterboarded to believe they were good by the front office (Re: Andrew MacDonald.)

 

[tenken00]

Not if we play the Islanders.

Delete please; irrelevant

 

[Hockeyholic]

Switch those around. They miss in odd years and make in even years.

2011-2012: Odd year.
2013-2014: Odd year
2015-2016: Odd year
2017-2018: Odd Year

I am going by when the season started.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Not surprised in the slightest. They had a talented 2018-19 roster that was being bogged down by very poor coaching and suspect depth. Fletcher rectified that over the offseason. Some good vets, some very promising youth, and some really decent supporting players.

Honestly wouldn't be shocked at all to see them in the ECF this year.

 

[Snotbubbles]

Woah. Was not aware they have been doing that well. Thought they were in the middle somewhere.

Other factors are helping and Philly fans will chime in. But I think Youngblood of Frost and Farabee have injected some serious skill and talent onto their roster.

Main reasons:

1. Alain Vigneault is head and shoulders better as a coach than Dave Hakstol was. Better system, better lineups.

2. Defense and Goaltending is better. Last year through 28 games the Flyers gave up 101 goals. This season, 79. Hart and Elliott have been good. Hagg and McDonald are not in the lineup every game. Scoring is about the same, 91 goals this year vs. 86 last year.

 

[SlapshotTheMovie]

That's what an elite coach gives you.

When did they get one? I also missed AV being fired.

 

[wintersej]

They are also 4 points away from not being in a playoff spot. There is a big fat middle. A team on a 5 game win streak is BARELY out in front. They lose two game they are right back in the middle. Premature thread.

 

[Rich Nixon]

They are also 4 points away from not being in a playoff spot. There is a big fat middle. A team on a 5 game win streak is BARELY out in front. They lose two game they are right back in the middle. Premature thread.

Uh, 7 points, unless the second wild card team no longer makes the playoffs. They also have games in hand and two tiebreakers on the first two teams outside the picture. So, actually, 8 points. Four wins.

If they lose two and every single team behind them wins two, they're still in the first WC. There's literally only four teams in the NHL who are farther above the cutoff line than they are, hence being 5th in the league, so nothing really premature there.

 

[bauer]

View attachment 286671

I was surprised to see this, didn't realize how well they'd been playing lately. What's got them going?

that can't be right. this board told me a month ago something was wrong with them.

 

[AvsGuy]

Thought Konecny was a great pick in 2015, glad to see he's panning out

How did y'all get Niskanen for Gudas again? That one baffled me

 

[Rich Nixon]

Thought Konecny was a great pick in 2015, glad to see he's panning out

How did y'all get Niskanen for Gudas again? That one baffled me

Retained a million on Gudas. Capitals got over $4 million in much-needed cap space and got a decent third-pairing RHD on the side, the Flyers got a veteran top-4 RHD that they also badly needed. Solid trade for both teams.

 

[Got One Cup]

Good to see Yeo being part of something positive after what happened in STL. He seemed like a good guy, just wasn’t working out.