After the Philadelphia Flyers’ 2023-24 campaign came to an end, everyone is asking the same question- was the season a success? The answer is… well… it’s complicated. But there were plenty of not great occurrences that leave a bit of worry on the palate when it comes to the future of the Flyers. So let’s analyze the less than stellar takeaways from the Flyers’ season.
You can view the positive takeaways here.
Number 5: The Goaltending
When the season started, it seemed like the Flyers had an embarrassment of riches in net with a Carter Hart, Sam Ersson tandem. Fast forward to the end of the season and Hart is gone, Ersson’s ceiling is in question and, even though they got some reinforcements in the form of Ivan Fedotov and Alexei Kolosov, both of their potential on NHL ice is unknown. Maybe things settle down next season and there’s nothing to worry about. Or maybe they’re turning in wildly inconsistent performances on a night-to-night basis. It’ll be on of the major storylines to follow heading into 2024-25.
Number 4: Prospect Integration
The Flyers theoretically entered the season with the goal of a rebuild in mind, but their attitude towards giving prospect the reins to grow was limited at best. Tyson Foerster was the only new player that was given copious opportunities while Egor Zamula, Olle Lycksell, Bobby Brink, Ronnie Attard, Adam Ginning, Emil Andrae were given crumbs and were punished repeatedly at the slightest flaw. It’s completely counterintuitive to the message the organization delivered and doesn’t do much to build a base for the future either.
Number 3: The Power Play
It’s officially official- the Flyers have finished dead last in the NHL on the power play for a third consecutive season. Their measly 12.2% success rate is the lowest by percentage of the three seasons, and one of the lowest conversions in NHL history. The power player was so bad that even Rocky Thompson, the PP coach, openly mocked how bad his own domain was. The only way to fix it is adding skill to the roster, which the organization has failed to do for over a decade, so will this be the summer things change, or will they look for a fourth consecutive last place finish in 2024-25?
Number 2: Losing Cutter Gauthier
As much as having a new villain to root against is fun, it absolutely sucks that the Flyers lost one of their only noteworthy building blocks they had in the system. He just signed his entry-level deal with the Ducks after a stellar collegiate career posting 102 points in 79 games. The lack of organizational center depth, and the anemic state of the offense in general, mixed with the early inadequate results from Jamie Drysdale could be a not great scenario to look back on in a couple year’s time.
Number 1: The Collapse
The Flyers had an eight game losing streak during the dying days of the season and it ultimately cost them a playoff spot they held onto for a majority of the campaign. It was some serious PTSD flashbacks to the last few seasons of Flyers hockey and a grim reminder that the previous era may not be completely dead and gone just yet. They did rehab nicely and gave it their all in the last three games, but it was too little too late to undo the damage the collapse did to their place in the standings. Did it shake their bulletproof “culture?” That’s yet to be determined, but it certainly destroyed the aura of the utopia they tried to sell it as.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: Getty Images
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