The Philadelphia Flyers have had a brutal stretch recently, having lost 6 games in a row and not registering a win in 10 games. This has caused the Flyers' record to drop to 8-12-4 and has led to the firing of head coach Alain Vigneault. What are the issues with the Philadelphia Flyers, and what can be done to fix them?
Issues w/ Philadelphia Flyers:
1. Lack of Goal Scoring
2. Too many wash up veterans
3. Poor Defense
4. Inconsistent Goaltending
The Philadelphia Flyers are struggling to score goals this season; only the Arizona Coyotes and New York Islanders have scored fewer goals than the Flyers. Claude Giroux leads the team in scoring with 21 points, followed by Cam Atkinson and Sean Couturier, who both have 14 points apiece. Travis Konecny has 12 points, Derick Brassard has 11 points, Joel Farabee has 10 points. No other players have more than 10 points. Ivan Provorov, Justin Braun both have 8 points, and Keith Yandle has chipped in 7 points. Kevin Hayes and JVR are two important pieces of the offense, but they haven't done much this season, both have scored less than 6 points this year.
Another major issue that the Flyers have is that they have too many wash up veterans. Claude Giroux is 33, JVR is 32, Cam Atkinson is 32, Derrick Brassard is 34, Keith Yandle is 35, and Justin Braun is 34. Ryan Ellis is 30, Kevin Hayes is 29, and Sean Couturier is 29 as well. With this group of players, the Flyers aren't going anywhere because their core is declining and their young players aren't at the point where they can be impact players yet.
Philadelphia has allowed 82 goals against this year, which is the 7th most in the league. After Ryan Ellis went down with an injury, the Flyers' defense completely fell apart. Ivan Provorov, Justin Braun has played well, but defenseman such as Keith Yandle, Rasmus Ristolainen, Travis Sanheim has not lived up to expectations.
Carter Hart and Martin Jones played well at the start of the season, but recently they have played poorly. Carter Hart has a 2-6 record with a 3.31 GAA and a .899 SV%, while Martin Jones has a 0-4 record with a 4.36 GAA and .888 SV% in the last month of the season. It isn't entirely the goalies' fault that the Flyers aren't doing well but the inconsistent play in goal definitely does play a part in their struggles this year.
Trades:
Philadelphia Flyers trade Claude Giroux to the Anaheim Ducks for Isac Lundestrom, Maxime Comtois, 1st round pick '22.
The Addition of Giroux makes the Ducks a legitimate threat out West, while Lundestrom and Comtois are two young players that can help the Flyers right now.
The Flyers also trade Justin Braun, Derrick Brassard to the Minnesota Wild for Fredrick Gaudreau, Jordie Benn, 5th round pick '22. If the Wild make the 2nd round of the playoffs, the 5th round pick becomes a 3rd round pick.
The Wild add Justin Braun and Derrick Brassard, two veteran players with playoff experience, while the Flyers et Fredrick Gaudreau, Jordie Benn, and a conditional pick.
Philadelphia Flyers trade Keith Yandle to the Montreal Canadiens for Brett Kulak, 3rd round pick '22.
The Flyers get a younger and more mobile defenseman in Brett Kulak, while the Canadiens get a veteran puck-moving defenseman that helps the team.
This is how the lineup looks like after the trades:
J.Farabee-S.Couturier-T.Konecny
O.Lindblom-I.Lundestrom-M.Frost
JVR-K.Hayes-C.Atkinson
S.Laughton-F.Gaudreau-P.Brown
I.Provorov-Jo.Benn
T.Sanheim-R.Ristolainen
N.Seeler-B.Kulak
C.Hart
M.Jones
IR: R.Ellis, M.Comtois
After making these trades, the Philadelphia Flyers look like a younger team that would still be in a good position even if they miss the playoffs.
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