Philadelphia Flyers 2023-24 NHL Season Preview
Are the Philadelphia Flyers finally turning the corner? It appears that they’re starting the rebuild but it also doesn’t feel like they’ve torn the roster down enough. Will John Tortorella squeeze out more wins in Philly than the franchise wants? The only certainty is that it’s going to be another weird and likely irrelevant season for the Flyers. Heading into the 2023-24 NHL Season, let’s preview the team!
Line Combination (Combinations Obtained via DailyFaceoff.com)
Not pictured are the two goalies Carter Hart and Cal Petersen. Rasmus Ristolainen will also start the season on IR. That could be a good or bad thing depending on your viewpoint. I’ll let you figure that part out on your own. Or… support the site and click this link!
The Flyers will hope for progression on the young players and maybe bounceback seasons from aging veterans that they can sell for future assets.
New Faces
Not an overwhelming amount of turnover but there were definitely some changes. The Ivan Provorov trade that brought in Sean Walker and Cal Petersen are two new faces. Walker is a solid defender on a decent contract. Petersen really stunk with the Kings last year and will hope to rebuild some of his value.
In free agency, the Flyers brought in Marc Staal and Garnet Hathaway. Staal actually had a productive season in Florida but is older than the tree you just walked by in your neighborhood. Hathaway is a productive 4th liner that does his job. More skilled than you think offensively and not afraid to lay someone out.
Three Players To Watch
- Cam York
York is now the leader of this blue line. I guess you can say Travis Sanheim is but they just tried to trade him (but Torey Krug said no) and York is more offensive driven. The Tony DeAngelo experiment failed last year and now York is the guy to move the puck on the blue line.
York passes the eye test and posted 20 points in 54 games during his age 22 season a year ago. York has all the makings to be a pop guy this year for the Flyers.
- Owen Tippett
The Claude Giroux return doesn’t look so terrible anymore. Tippett was the prized return on that trade and he’s really started to figure things out in Philly. The former 10th overall pick in 2017 posted 49 points in 77 games last year. Tippett never produced more than 18 points in any season prior. He looks like a good one with decent speed on the wing. Tippett also has that red lettuce on his head. It’s like he was made to play for this team. I’m just realizing now that York is a ginger too. The signs are real!
- Travis Konecny
If there is one player that Torts got through to last year it was Konecny. He was basically a point per game player last year and if you watched the games, you noticed an angry streak that wasn’t there before. You can tell Konecny has bought into the hard forechecking mantra and it’s sparked his goal scorer streak too. I’d expect another positive season for Konecny. He’s a hell of a trade chip too on a reasonable contract.
Biggest Riser
Noah Cates is my answer here. Definitely not a household name but is starting to build his game to replicate what Jordan Staal does. Shutdown centers don’t grow on trees and the Flyers may have one.
Biggest Faller
I’m not sure there is a great candidate for this section of the post. Instead, let’s talk about two guys coming back from injury that have things to prove. Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson didn’t play a single game last year. Getting your number one center and a former 40 goal scorer should help matters. However, are we sure those guys will be the same? We’re about to find out.
The Biggest Question Is…
Can Carter Hart stand on his head? If the Flyers want to be somewhat competitive, that needs to happen. I’m a bit surprised they didn’t move him because there is a nightmare scenario. It’s hard to be a productive goalie on a bad team. What if the wheels fall off and Hart loses his value? Hart is a really quality goalie but he’s not in the best spot to succeed. It will be fascinating to follow his journey this year.
Verdict
The Philadelphia Flyers are almost too good for their own good. They should be clearing the deck to be as bad as possible until Matvei Michkov arrives. Load up on future assets to then turn the corner when he arrives. That should be the goal here. Time will tell how that goes but Philly should be in sell mode. The problem is, Torts may squeeze more out of them than intended and put them right back in the middle.
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