- Team Outlook from McKeen’s Hockey Guide:
The 2013 campaign was an embarrassment for the Philadelphia Flyers. Their worst fears in terms of their defense and goaltending played out to such an extent that even their above-average offense wasn’t enough to propel them into the playoffs.
After that and faced with cap issues due to the falling ceiling, GM Paul Holmgren used a compliance buyout on goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov just two seasons into his disastrous nine-year, $51 million deal. The Flyers have replaced him with the far cheaper duo of Ray Emery and Steve Mason. Both are considerable X-factor’s going into this season, yet each brings promise and there’s reasons to be optimistic about Emery in particular after a strong season as Chicago’s backup netminder.
Philadelphia also bought out Daniel Briere and used the money they saved to go out and get Vincent Lecavalier. He’ll join a strong offense that is likely to be led by Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, and Wayne Simmonds.
All that being said, their defense remains an area of some concern, even though they did upgrade it over the summer with the addition of Mark Streit. He gives them a second top-notch puck-moving defenseman along with Kimmo Timonen, although at the age of 35, he can’t be a long-term solution to their problems.
Between their stacked core of forwards and talented offensive defensemen, scoring goals should not be a problem for the 2013-14 Flyers. Instead, their fate will largely rest with Emery and Mason.
- Team Fantasy Outlook from Dobber Hockey’s 2013-14 Fantasy Guide – Over a 150 pages of fantasy goodness:
Dobber’s lowdown on: Sean Couturier – Blessed with very strong offensive skills, creativity and vision, but he’s cursed by being too good defensively. So the Flyers continue to lean on him to cover the other team’s stars, which frees up the other players for offense. Given the length of the Lecavalier (five years) and Giroux (eight years) contracts, and given that Brayden Schenn is also young and a key piece of this team, this situation won’t change anytime soon. So Couturier is looking like another Jordan Staal. Or better yet – remember when Michal Handzus was with the Flyers? He was the best third-line center in the league with the ability to get 70 points if they would just get him out of the defensive role. They never did, and he peaked at 58 points.
Lecavalier should be moved to the wing and play on the Giroux line, which would bump Hartnell to a line with Brayden Schenn, who would be moved back to center.
Voracek had 43 points in his last 40 games, clicking with Giroux. In fact, of his 46 points, 34 of them were with Giroux on the ice.
Read picked the worst possible time to suffer an injury to the ribcage. He had 13 points in 14 games before the injury and was clicking with Giroux and Voracek. Then he suffered the injury. As expected when it comes to players in ‘elite’ physical condition (Read has no peer), he came back from the injury too soon and struggled with just one point in eight games. He also missed the boat on the Giroux line. Great careers really are on the edge of a dime.
Meszaros should be close to a 30-point player with a good plus/minus this season, which makes him a great sleeper pick. But that’s assuming that last year’s shoulder woes are behind him. But those woes are precisely why he’s under the radar right now.
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Additions: F Brandon Alderson, G Yann Danis, G Ray Emery, F Kyle Flanagan, D Maxim Lamarche, F Vincent Lecavalier, F Kris Newbury, F Michael Raffl, F Petr Straka, D Mark Streit.
Subtractions: G Brian Boucher, F Daniel Briere, G Ilja Bryzgalov, F Ruslan Fedotenko, D Kurtis Foster, D Simon Gagne, D Kent Huskins, D Blake Kessel, F Mike Knuble, D Andreas Lilja, F Jody Shelley, D Danny Syvret, F Mitch Wahl, D Matt Walker.
Promotion candidates: D Oliver Lauridsen, LW Tye McGinn, D Brandon Manning, RW Jason Akeson
Forwards
Scott Hartnell – Claude Giroux – Jakub Voracek
Brayden Schenn – Vincent Lecavalier – Wayne Simmonds
Maxime Talbot – Sean Couturier – Matt Read
Jay Rosehill – Scott Laughton – Zac Rinaldo
Adam Hall
Defensemen
Kimmo Timonen – Luke Schenn
Mark Streit – Braydon Coburn
Nicklas Grossmann – Andrej Meszaros
Erik Gustafsson – Marc-Andre Bourdon
Goalies
Ray Emery
Steve Mason
2013 Philadelphia Flyers Draft Results
| Rd. | Draft # | Player | Team | Pos. |
| 1 | 11 | Samuel Morin | Rimouski (QMJHL) | D |
| 2 | 41 | Robert Hagg | MODO (SWE) | D |
| 3 | 72 | Tyrell Goulbourne | Kelowna (WHL) | LW |
| 5 | 132 | Terrance Amorosa | Holderness HS (NH) | D |
| 6 | 162 | Merrick Madsen | Proctor Academy (HS NH ) | G |
| 7 | 192 | David Drake | Des Moines (USHL) | D |
Philadelphia Flyers Top Prospects
| NHL.com | Hockey Prospectus | Dobber Prospects | The Hockey News | |
| 1 | Scott Laughton | Scott Laughton | Scott Laughton | Scott Laughton |
| 2 | Anthony Stolarz | Robert Hagg | Nick Cousins | Samuel Morin |
| 3 | Tye McGinn | Nick Cousins | Robert Hagg | Robert Hagg |
| 4 | Oliver Lauridsen | Brandon Manning | Mark Alt | Brandon Manning |
| 5 | Nick Cousins | Samuel Morin | Shayne Gostisbehere | Shayne Gostisbehere |
| 6 | Samuel Morin | Shayne Gostisbehere | Brandon Manning | Anthony Stolarz |
| 7 | Robert Hagg | Petr Straka | Petr Straka | Tye McGinn |
| 8 | Shayne Gostisbehere | Tye McGinn | Tye McGinn | Marcel Noebels |
| 9 | Brandon Manning | Jason Akeson | Jason Akeson | Nick Cousins |
| 10 | Jason Akeson | Anthony Stolarz | Sam Morin | Nick Luukko |
2012-13 Philadelphia Flyers Player Stats
| Player |
Pos
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
P
|
+/-
|
PIM
|
PP
|
SH
|
GW
|
OT
|
S
|
S%
|
| Claude Giroux |
R
|
48
|
13
|
35
|
48
|
-7
|
22
|
6
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
137
|
9.5
|
| Jakub Voracek |
R
|
48
|
22
|
24
|
46
|
-7
|
35
|
8
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
129
|
17.1
|
| Wayne Simmonds |
R
|
45
|
15
|
17
|
32
|
-7
|
82
|
6
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
110
|
13.6
|
| Kimmo Timonen |
D
|
45
|
5
|
24
|
29
|
3
|
36
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
78
|
6.4
|
| Brayden Schenn |
C
|
47
|
8
|
18
|
26
|
-8
|
24
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
79
|
10.1
|
| Matt Read |
R
|
42
|
11
|
13
|
24
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
72
|
15.3
|
| Daniel Briere |
C
|
34
|
6
|
10
|
16
|
-13
|
10
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
87
|
6.9
|
| Sean Couturier |
C
|
46
|
4
|
11
|
15
|
-8
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
75
|
5.3
|
| Ruslan Fedotenko |
L
|
47
|
4
|
9
|
13
|
8
|
12
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
43
|
9.3
|
| Scott Hartnell |
L
|
32
|
8
|
3
|
11
|
-5
|
70
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
74
|
10.8
|
| Simon Gagne |
L
|
27
|
5
|
6
|
11
|
-3
|
6
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
56
|
8.9
|
| Luke Schenn |
D
|
47
|
3
|
8
|
11
|
3
|
34
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
81
|
3.7
|
| Maxime Talbot |
C
|
35
|
5
|
5
|
10
|
2
|
23
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
41
|
12.2
|
| Mike Knuble |
R
|
28
|
4
|
4
|
8
|
-4
|
20
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
31
|
12.9
|
| Erik Gustafsson |
D
|
27
|
3
|
5
|
8
|
-1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
36
|
8.3
|
| Bruno Gervais |
D
|
37
|
1
|
5
|
6
|
-17
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
49
|
2
|
| Zac Rinaldo |
C
|
32
|
3
|
2
|
5
|
-7
|
85
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
15
|
20
|
| Tye McGinn |
L
|
18
|
3
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
19
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
33
|
9.1
|
| Braydon Coburn |
D
|
33
|
1
|
4
|
5
|
-10
|
41
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
38
|
2.6
|
| Kurtis Foster |
D
|
23
|
1
|
4
|
5
|
0
|
25
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
21
|
4.8
|
| Nicklas Grossmann |
D
|
30
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
-1
|
21
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
21
|
4.8
|
| Oliver Lauridsen |
D
|
15
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
34
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
14
|
14.3
|
| Tom Sestito |
L
|
7
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
12
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
66.7
|
| Andrej Meszaros |
D
|
11
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
-9
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
18
|
0
|
| Brandon Manning |
D
|
6
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
| Jay Rosehill |
L
|
11
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
-4
|
64
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
7
|
14.3
|
| Jason Akeson |
R
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
50
|
| Kent Huskins |
D
|
8
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
| Harry Zolnierczyk |
L
|
7
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
36
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
| Adam Hall |
R
|
11
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
15
|
0
|
| Andreas Lilja |
D
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
-1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
| Scott Laughton |
L
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
0
|
| Eric Wellwood |
L
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
| Matthew Konan |
D
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
| Jody Shelley |
L
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Player |
GP
|
GS
|
W
|
L
|
OT
|
SA
|
GA
|
GAA
|
Sv
|
Sv%
|
SO
|
G
|
A
|
| Ilya Bryzgalov |
40
|
40
|
19
|
17
|
3
|
1066
|
107
|
2.79
|
959
|
0.9
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
| Steve Mason |
7
|
6
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
215
|
12
|
1.9
|
203
|
0.944
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
| Brian Boucher |
4
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
55
|
6
|
2.5
|
49
|
0.891
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| Michael Leighton |
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
26
|
5
|
5.08
|
21
|
0.808
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Some info, stats and video taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30 series.