There’s so much to be excited about as the Flyers enter the 2021-22 season! A new roster, improved moral, an important season and a competitive division. But there is also some individual highlights that could be attained during the new year as well. The Flyers’ record book will have a chance to have some new names etched in history.
Games Played
Sean Couturier moves into top 10
Couturier currently has 692 games in orange and black under his belt, which currently puts him in 12th place all time in team history. He’s 35 games away from tying Jake Voracek for 10th, and if Couturier plays a full 82 game campaign, he’ll jump all the way to fifth all time with 774.
Giroux hits 1,000
Provided Giroux plays a full 82-game season, he will end the year with 1,025 games to his name. He’ll become only the second Flyer in history to hit the 1,000 game plateau and put him just 119 games behind Bobby Clarke for first place in franchise history.
Goals
Claude Giroux ascends the list
Giroux snuck into the top 10 goal scorers during 2019-20, passed Simon Gagne for ninth place last season, and now he will focus in reaching Eric Lindros in eighth place. Big E currently has 290 goals, 17 more than Giroux, so provided Giroux has even an average season, he’ll likely catch and pass Lindros before the year is over. Reggie Leach is 7th with 306, a number that may be out of reach this year, but should be attainable some time next season.
Couturier makes some noise
Elsewhere in the scoring race, Sean Couturier currently sits with 174 goals in 19th place. He’ll likely pass Voracek and Jeff Carter, who have 177 and 181 respectively. 16th all time is currently held by Ikka Sinisalo with 199, 25 ahead of Couturier, a reasonable but not guaranteed number to hit this season.
Assists
Giroux climbing the mountain
Giroux has a firm hold on second place already with 585 assits, but is still 267 away from first place Bobby Clarke. It’s still within the realm of possibility Giroux can catch him before his career is over, but right now all he can do is slowly chip away at the deficit.
Couts on the rise
Couturier grabbed hold of the 19th spot in 2019-20 and will look to make quick work of the leaderboard this season. He sits with 269 assists, which is two away from 18th, three away from 17th, seven away from 16th, and 34 away from 15th. Couturier cracked 40 assists during the last two full NHL seasons, so it shouldn’t be a surprise if he works his way into the top 15 this year.
Points
Giroux chasing greatness
Giroux has quite the hill to climb to reach Clarke at 1,210, but he is currently breathing down the neck of Bill Barber for second place. Giroux has 858 points, just 25 away from tying Barber, a feat that should be easily achievable this season.
Couturier has hurdles
Now that Couturier is in the top 20, he’ll have quite a bit of distance to make up. Currently sitting 18th all time with 443, he is only 9 away from tying Pelle Eklund, but beyond that, is 37 away from Mark Howe in 16th, and 65 away from tying Rick Tocchet in 15th. It’s a slow go for Couturier, but isn’t impossible to do either.
Best of the rest
two players slowly making their way up the points leaderboards are James Van Riemsdyk, who currently sits 40th with 230, and Travis Konecny at 43rd with 219. If both record 50 point seasons, JVR will jump to 34th and TK will jump to 35th.
Powerplay Points
Giroux grabs first
Powerplay points will be the first major category Giroux claims first place as his 327 points are just 7 away from passing Bobbly Clarke.
Games Played Goalie
Hart’s path
The Flyers’ games played number isn’t exactly a hard ladder to scale and Hart will make significant strides this year. He currently sits 18th with 101 GP, but will jump as high as 12 if he plays 34 games. He’ll probably still be just outside the top ten this season, as it’s held by Pelle Lindbergh with 157, but next season he should work his way into the top five, which is currently held by Pete Peeters with 179 games.
Wins by a Goalie
Hart wins
Again, a lackluster category, Hart sits in 18th place with 49 wins, but will jump to 16th with 10 wins, 11th with 20, 10th with 25, and 9th with 30. Even today with just 49 wins, he is only 191 wins away from tying Ron Hextall for first place.
Losses by a Goalie
Hart sits with 37 losses, which is 15th in Flyers history. 10 losses pushes him to 10th place, and 20 losses moves him into number 7.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
brotherlypuck.com 