If you polled 100 members of the Flyers fanbase about the team’s odds at winning the Stanley Cup during the 2023-24 season, 100 of them will tell you that they stand almost no chance. But not us! The 2023-24 NHL season will be the Flyers’ year for success! According to Fox Sports, the Flyers have +9000 betting odds to win the Cup this season. Bunch of naysayers.
2024 will be the 50th anniversary of the Flyers’ last Stanley Cup victory, and now is as good a time as ever to end the drought. Are they finally poised to bring Lord Stanley back to Broad Street? First, some things are going to have to go right in order to reach that goal.
Number 5: Fletcher and Scott are Gone
If we’re basing the season off vibes alone, this is easily the best things have felt in quite some time. The dark clouds known as Dave Scott and Chuck Fletcher have moved on and rays of sunshine are reaching the team for the first time in years. While new GM Danny Briere didn’t do much this summer to move the team in a better direction, there’s no doubt he’s beloved by the fans for his playoff heroics nearly 15 years ago. It’s the start of a new era in Philly, and that alone may be enough to will success out of a similar group.
Number 4: Mimmick the Kings
The Flyers roster lacks significant fire power up front and a couple talented bodies on defense, but that doesn’t automatically disqualify them from surprising with those that are here. Taking a look back through recent history, the 2012 and 2014 LA Kings dominated without scoring many goals. They scored the second lowest amount in the league in 2012, but also gave up the second least amount of goals, too. In 2014 they scored the fifth least amount and gave up only 168 on the season, the lowest in the league. Through solid goaltending and solid team defense, really the only two bright spots the Flyers have at the moment, anything is possible.
Number 3: The East is Easier
For a long time the Eastern Conference was a battle of epic proportions with both the Metropolitan and Atlantic divisions producing quality teams. Now, that tide seems to be turning quite a bit as some Cup windows cross across the east are coming to a close. Both Pittsburgh and Washington seem to be on a downward swing, the Lightning weren’t quite as unbeatable last season as they were in the past, and the Bruins’ near perfect run with just 17 total losses gets put under the spotlight after both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired. If some of those teams remain “mid” as the kids say, then maybe if the Flyers over-perform, a playoff spot may be within reach, and success is achievable if they make it in.
Number 2: John Tortorella
The veteran head coach is going to drag the most out of his team whether they, or anybody else, like it or not. He carried them to 31 wins and 13 OT losses last season, and they concluded the 2022-23 campaign 17 points away from a playoff spot. The overall Flyers’ roster has improved slightly and if some teams in the East dip and the Flyers can turn half of those OTLs into wins under Tortorella’s leadership, they’ll be significantly closer to a playoff spot than most “rebuilding” teams could dream of.
Number 1: Prospects Save the Day
The Flyers have quite a few talented prospects chomping at the bit for their chance to play in the NHL at all three positions of forward, defense and goaltending. Whether or not they make the roster out of camp is still up for debate, but if they do, their talents and positive presence may be just what this team needs to get back on track. The prospects are the future, and they’re ready to prove their worth at the NHL level, and it could very well lead to a new era of orange.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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