With the stale Flyers offseason hopefully on its last legs as December creeps on, the anticipation for the new season is in the air. The Flyers will look to build off a successful 2019-20 campaign where they made it to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Since “the Flyers are going to be good” is a bland take, let’s be overly optimistic and see what the high-end of the Flyers’ potential could look like this season.
Number 5- Morgan Frost is your 2C
We did say bold predictions. While Morgan Frost has yet to make the full-time jump to the NHL, maybe it’s finally his time in 2020-21. Not to just make his jump to the big leagues, but to succeed and overtake the second line center from Kevin Hayes. If he really is “Claude Giroux jr.” like some proclaim, it shouldn’t be much of a reach, but if you keep you feet in reality, it’d be a huge surprise. Frost will probably get his crack at the third line center spot with Nolan Patrick’s future still up in the air, but time will tell how high his ceiling really is.
Number 4- Joel Farabee is your Number 1 Left Wing
Joel Farabee’s rookie season wasn’t the greatest, but it certainly left a positive vibe about the future of the soon-to-be-21-year-old. Farabee more often than not found himself on the third or fourth line wing last season. With the right side a bit jammed up with Jake Voracek and Travis Konecny holding down the fort on the top two lines, the only way for Farabee to get more ice time is jumping to the left side, which is far more uncertain. If Giroux’s play continues to slide, or Lindblom isn’t fully ready to go, the top slot on the left side could be open. Farabee seems primed to work hard in all situations and if he can claim the top line left wing spot at some point during the 2020-21 season, the Flyers may have a superstar on their hands.
Number 3- Claude Giroux Revenge Tour
Remember what happened last time Claude Giroux had a bad season? After posting a 14-goal, 58-point season during the 2017-18 campaign, rumors of Claude Giroux’s demise began to swirl. “he’s old” “he’s washed up” “he can’t play at a high level anymore” the fans shouted from the rooftops, but the captain had other plans. He followed up that miserable season up with a career best 34-goal, 102-point campaign. So, after recording 53 points during the 2019-20 season, maybe the same school of thought can be applied again. The soon-to-be-33-year-old still has talent oozing from his crevices and if he’s used in favorable situations, the captain can pull another great season out of his hat.
Number 2- Ivan Provorov wins the Norris Trophy
It may be time for Ivan Provorov to officially gain league-wide recognition and claim his first Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman. Typically speaking, the Norris Trophy goes to one of the league’s top scoring defenseman, the main force working against Provy. He finished 26th among defenseman in scoring in 2019-20 with 36 points, 29 less than this year’s Norris winner Roman Josi. On the positive side, Provorov should still see the lion’s share of time on the Flyers’ top powerplay unit as well as being their unquestioned number one defenseman, giving him every opportunity to hopefully boost his scoring enough to be considered for the Norris in 2021.
Number 1- Phil Myers Breakout SZN
With Matt Niskanen no longer on the roster, the time is now for Phil Myers to claim the vacant throne as the team’s number two defenseman. Myers made his full-time jump to the NHL last November and quickly rose through the ranks of the Flyers D-core. With the learning curve hopefully in the rearview, Myers can take the next step in his development. There’s plenty of room for Myers to grow both offensively and defensively, so with the top spot next to Ivan Provorov secured, the world is his oyster.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: inquirer.com/nbcphiladelphia.com
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