5 takeaways from the Philadelphia Flyers season as it stands

1.  The Flyers are back

2019-20 was a statement season for the Philadelphia Flyers. After years of middling around as a “will they, won’t they” bubble team, the Flyers forced themselves into contender status.

After a 2018-19 campaign that saw them in the bottom half of the league in nearly every team statistic, the Flyers currently sit at seventh in both goals and goals allowed per game, 11th on the penalty kill and have allowed the fewest shots per game this season. Their two worst rankings — power play (14th) and shots per game (16th) — are still average and showed signs of improving as the season went along.

The Flyers also grade out quite nice among advanced analytics. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Flyers are ninth in Corsi For percentage (51.02), allowed the ninth least high danger scoring chances (556) and sport the eight best PDO (100.7).

It’s no fluke that MoneyPuck listed the Flyers as their odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup before the season was put on hold. The Flyers have been one of the league’s hottest team’s since the new year, trailing just the Lightning, Bruins and Avalanche in points during that span.

Given that the franchise has done an excellent job in crushing the hopes of its fanbase over the last 10 years, it’s fair to question whether or not this current iteration of the Flyers is here to stay.

However, there’s a different aura surrounding this team than in years past.

This group is loaded with veteran star power, skillful youth, speed in the bottom of the lineup, a tight defensive core, a goalie with all the potential in the world, a head coach with a finger on the pulse of his club and a general manager who isn’t afraid to address the team’s needs.

Regardless of whether or not we see hockey again this season, the Flyers are legit.