From where we are right now, the Philadelphia Flyers’ season is one that has given us a lot of hope but at the same time, the same old problems have bubbled up to the surface to give us the most sour taste in our mouths. Some promise, something to look forward to as some players progress, but then things about this team that fans have been complaining about for decades, are still extremely present.
As it stands it shouldn’t be considered a step back or even the status quo, but a slight step forward as they continue this very long path to becoming a consistent Stanley Cup contender. That all depends on how the Flyers finish the season, though.
With 36 games remaining in the season and the Flyers out of a playoff spot for the first time in months due to a recent slide, it’s probably time to really bring some questions to the table. Questions that we should all be asking and then find the answer to after Game 82 and the team is wherever they will be.
Can Dan Vladar keep this up?
A team lives and dies with their goalie and right now the Flyers are certainly living just enough to get by — maybe not yet considered to be on life support but hanging in there. And it’s all thanks to Dan Vladar. The free agent acquisition was not supposed to be this but he quickly became the Flyers’ top-of-the-pile starting goaltender as Sam Ersson quickly showed that he might not even be an NHL-caliber backup.
Vladar and his .905 save percentage is incredibly important for the Flyers if they even want to think about the playoffs. With the other option being “allow so many more goals that this offensively dry team will never score enough goals to overcome”, the Flyers are going to continue leaning on this career backup to be their starter.
But that’s where the issue and nucleus of this question lies — can Vladar, who is going to play more games than he ever has in a single season before this month ends (if he returns from injury soon), continue this level of play? Even if his save percentage just stays above the .900 mark, that’s good enough for the Flyers to at least continue hanging around the playoff bubble and not tumble down the standings like an endless flight of stairs.
Will Matvei Michkov ever show more of his old self?
At this point, we are on our knees and begging for Matvei Michkov to revert back to what we saw during his rookie year. There are so many factors as to why Michkov is having an almost disastrous sophomore slump — new coaching, inconsistent teammates, him not showing up to training camp in shape — but at this point we are just wanting to throw all the excuses away and drool at what we see on the ice.
There was several moments last season where we all collectively thought that Michkov could turn into this offensive dynamo that takes over the NHL scoring race and earns points with the wave of his glove. All that has gone away and even if he’s in much better shape, the poor start seems to have affected the 20-year-old’s entire campaign.
Michkov is currently on pace to finish with roughly 43 points this season. It’s not the end of the world, but it will certainly be a blemish on his career statistics page from here on out. He can fix that with just going off for a week or two. Maybe the Olympic break will serve him well and just like he did after the 4 Nations Face-Off forcing the NHL to pause and for him to rest for multiple weeks; Michkov will come back with a fire in his belly and tear defenses apart for the rest of the season.
Let’s just hope — but it really affects the entire thing the Flyers have going on heading into the offseason if we never see it for the rest of the year.
Can the special teams improve at all?
We all knew the Flyers’ power play sucked and while there was hope at the beginning of the season that it would not — that quickly fell apart. And now, one of the few strengths this team had, the penalty kill, is also being atrocious and losing them games.
The Flyers have been perfectly fine and staying above water at 5-on-5, but it is the complete inability to do anything meaningful on the power play, tied into the fact that they are not even close to being good at preventing opposing power plays from scoring goals, that is truly sinking them.
If the Flyers’ special teams stay where they are — the worst power play in the NHL and a bottom-10 penalty kill — there is no true way Philadelphia is able to climb into the playoffs and find any success. That is what an entire season can hinge on, just being able to have pucks go your way when the teams don’t have the same number of players, and it’s a desperate situation for the Flyers the rest of the way.
How much more can Trevor Zegras do?
Ever since he stepped foot onto the ice as a Philadelphia Flyer, Trevor Zegras has worked towards completely shedding whatever misnomer he had draped over him due to the past two years in Anaheim. By now, he should be completely clean. One of the team leaders in almost every single offensive category you can think of, Zegras has come to Philadelphia and completely revitalized his career and is looking to stay with the Flyers for a very long time.
But with him doing so as a new member of this team, there is always a creeping doubt that as he nears restricted free agency, that there is just a little bit of luck going into his performances and production. Some nights, Zegras just isn’t really there and it’s becoming more and more often as the Flyers continue down this slight descent out of the playoffs.
It is almost certainly just the entire team being bad affecting his play, but there is always the harsh question of whether or not Zegras is the player you commit long-term dollars to and that question needs to be answered very soon.
Additionally, there might be a whole new level we haven’t see of his. There have been some jaw-dropping plays, but maybe to get out of this slump, it will be Zegras singlehandedly pulling the entire team to some wins — really showcasing that he can be that top-of-the-lineup game-breaking forward that this team has needed for quite a while.
What will the Flyers’ trade deadline look like?
What’s better than when your favorite team makes some transactions? Almost certainly nothing. While the Flyers aren’t projected to be one of the main characters surrounding the March 6 trade deadline, there are some possible moves that can shake up this roster.
Rasmus Ristolainen could be dealt as the Flyers shed his remaining contract and provide room for a younger defenseman (and one that might actually still be here when the team is consistently good again) to take his place. Other peripheral players like Garnet Hathaway, Nick Seeler, and Nic Deslauriers could be sought-after veterans on the move, but it feels unlikely that this front office would want to get rid of their experience.
Going the other way — could we even see the Flyers bring some more long-term pieces in? General manager Danny Briere has already said that he’s not going to be trading for significant rentals this season, but if a player who they think fits well into their plans suddenly becomes available, could a move be made?
Heck, we might even see a minor trade for a better backup goalie, or a forward brought in to supplement the depth of this team and we’re not depending on Deslauriers to actually play hockey on the fourth line anymore.
Some trades should be made — it would be weird if there were absolutely zero — but what specific kinds of trades is still a mystery.
