NHL division previews: 2017-18 Metropolitan Division

5th in 2017-18 Metropolitan Division – Philadelphia Flyers

Much like the last spot in the Metro, this was a tough one to decide on. The Hurricanes and Flyers could easily swap places. The Flyers get the nudge to fifth based solely off one thing: experience. The numbers behind Carolina and Philadelphia are so close that they edge out the Hurricanes due to the experienced players and quality they have.

The Flyers are a good possession team, they have solid goaltending in Brian Elliott, have a good enough penalty kill, have good depth in their forward lines, a solid top four defensively, good coaching, a plethora of promising prospects and, despite losing Brayden Schenn, are still looking to have a very effective power play.

Consistency has been the issue with them, but there are a few players looking to have bounce-back seasons and this could be just enough to see them push themselves into a wild card spot.

Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds and young Travis Konecny look set to lead the way in point production for the Flyers in 2017-18. Giroux is looking to improve on last season, and Konecny should show that it wasn’t a flash in the pan. They have good depth on the forward lines, something that will help them come time for a playoff push.

On the back-end, they have Shayne Gostisbehere, another name looking to bounce back from his sophomore slump last season. He’s accompanied by Ivan Provorov, Radko Gudas as the safe bets for the top two pairings. Aside from them, there is Brandon Manning, Andrew MacDonald, and prospects like Travis Sanheim and Samuel Morin.

The defense is surely strong enough to keep their playoff hopes alive.

In net, they have a new face in Brian Elliott. Some may see this as a major improvement over Steve Mason, but that’s not exactly the case. Elliott had a less than significantly better save percentage from 2014-15 to 2016-17 than Mason, with a .9181 compared to a .9176. The Manpower-Adjusted Save Percentage of the two is rather close as well at the same time from, with Elliott having a .9188 compared to the .9162 that Mason had. (All data taken from Hockey Abstract 2017, pages 134-140.)

While it may be a slight increase in save percentages, it’s not significant enough to turn them from a bubble team into a Cup contender.

Player to watch in 2017-18: Travis Konecny. Konecny has a high ceiling, simple as that. Look for him to improve on the 28 points he had last season in what will likely be his first full season in the NHL.