Preseason Preview: The 2016/17 Flyers: Part I
Before I jump into the article, I first wanted to give a big shout out to Guy Pridy, who is a friend of mine who teaches at Gateway Regional High School (Where I graduated for those who may now know) and who also has a son that plays in the West Deptford Street Hockey League. Guy has had nothing but kind things to say of my announcing and my writing, and has inspired me to get back into writing articles and posting them with his compliments and insights and for that, Mr. Pridy, I say THANK YOU!
THE 2016/17 FLYERS PREVIEW:
There is a lot to jump into with this years team. A 5-part series to go over what this team has to offer going into the 2016/17 season, a historical season that will see they Flyers celebrating 50 years in the NHL, an Outdoor game in Pittsburgh against the always hated Penguins, and an Alumni game at the Wells Fargo Center early in 2017 against the Penguins Alumni. To say this is a season to look forward to is a vast understatement. I'm touching on five separate topics, all of which I think are extremely important for a successful season this year and years to come: Forwards, Defensemen, Goaltenders, Special teams, and the farm system. Before we touch on the forwards, I just want to go on record and state that I think the 50th anniversary jerseys the Flyers unveiled are absolutely hideous, and shouldn't be worn ever again after this season. So with that being said....
Philadelphia Flyers forwards Wayne Simmonds (Left), Sean Couturier (Center), and Matt Read (Right)
FORWARDS: The Flyers will have a group of offensive players that looks very similar to what the team carried last year, and that could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at things. With the familiar faces of Jake Voracek, Brayden Schenn, Claude Giroux, Michael Raffl, and the three gentlemen pictured above the Flyers veteran core will be the exact same as last season. It's the 3rd and 4th lines that will have an old but new look going into the season. Off-season acquisitions up from for the Flyers included center man Boyd Gordon, and winger Dale Weise to give the team more experience and leadership all the way up and down the lineup compared to last year. The biggest question, in my opinion at least, is who is going to round out the 4th line for the team?
The biggest surprise to these line combinations is the exclusion of 22 year old Scott Laughton, who has been struggling to find a permanent role with the club since his initial debut during the lockout shortened season in 2013. The other player that may struggle to find time with the NHL club this year is winger Jordan Weal, who was essentially an add-in to a genius trade that managed to ship both Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn out to LA for a draft pick and this minor league gem. One of the only questionable moves made by GM Ron Hextall was residing Weal after he played what seemed like maybe 10 total minutes with the team last season. Weal has proven success down in the AHL, but hasn't found a way to transfer that into NHL success over the last few years of his career. You can never count out the long shots to making the team like Travis Konecny, but it's highly unlikely the 12 forwards listed above are going to lose playing time to borderline AHL players at the start of the season. If I could take any sort of guess, I would say that Jordan Weal starts the year in the AHL, and Scott Laughton starts the year in the press box as a healthy scratch. With Brayden Schenn coming off a career year and a freshly signed contract, the potential is there for him to become a top-20 forward in the league this season if he's firing on all cylinders. Claude Giroux needs some more consistency towards his game this year, not in terms of point production but in terms of game-changing play. Too many times last year did the Flyers have to rely on the 3rd and 4th lines to score goals and challenge the opponents top players because Giroux and co. couldn't handle them on a game-by-game basis. You can't take away Giroux's ability to be clutch in the face-off circle, but his defensive play needs work after he was a -8 last year during the regular season. The only other forward that needs to break out of his shell is Jake Voracek. He was almost handcuffed last year in terms of goal scoring after almost wining the Richard award during the 2014-15 season, and if his lack of production continues this year, it could be the difference between the Flyers playing in the post season or watching from home. Role players like PEB, VandeVelde and Boyd Gordon can be the line that either grinds down the opposition, or the line that gives the team a late spark during a game with offensive pressure during a crucial point in the game or a clutch penalty kill when its needed most. Include the young center in Nick Cousins that gives the Flyers speed at center throughout all 4 lines and this offense may be one of the better producing teams in the Eastern Conference.
