Philadelphia Flyers: 5 burning questions for 2018-19 season

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PITTSBURGH, PA – APRIL 11: Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) scores past Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott (37) during the first period in Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round in the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 11, 2018, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

4. Will the goaltending be any better?

It’s the annual question with the Flyers each season. The Flyers have had good enough goaltending to get into the playoffs in two of the last three seasons but then it’s just gone away whenever they’re in a series.

This past season, Brian Elliott was the starting goaltender when healthy and he didn’t produce good results. He appeared in just 43 games and had a .909 save percentage. That’s below league average goaltending and in his absence, they acquired Petr Mrazek. He wasn’t much better as he was .891 during his time in Philadelphia as he filled in for Michal Neuvirth too who was hurt for most of the season.

Once the playoffs came, Elliott was at .856 and his goals-against average was 4.74. Those numbers aren’t going to beat any team in a playoff series, let alone the Penguins. Neuvirth and Elliott are both going to have to have bounce-back seasons if the Flyers are to make more noise in the Metropolitan Division.

Carter Hart is still a few years away from giving Philadelphia a true number one goaltender so both Elliott and Neuvirth are going to have to do for now as Philadelphia tries to take the next step.

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