Philadelphia Flyers: Top 5 most clutch players of the 2019-20 season

Honorable Mentions

Before we get to the final spot on our list, let’s take a moment to tip our caps to a few Flyers who also had some clutch moments of their own this season, but didn’t quite make the cut.

Jakub Voracek

Voracek’s 2019-20 season has been a bit of a mixed-bag. His production has seen a slight drop, but he also posted his best Corsi for percentage (54.3) since 2014-15. With just 12 goals on the season, Voracek may not be one of the team’s consistent scorers, but he can still be relied upon in the clutch. Voracek has three game-winning goals including a beautiful toe-drag in overtime vs the defending champs. He also saw his play elevate down the stretch, with his most notable performance including six assists in a pivotal home-and-home series against the Rangers.

Brian Elliott

With the emergence of Carter Hart as the goaltender of the future in Philly, Brian Elliott can sometimes get lost in the fray. While his raw numbers don’t look pretty (2.87 GAA and .899 SV%), Elliott stepped in to the starter’s role while Carter Hart went down with a core injury shortly before the All-Star break. Elliott answered the bell and posted a tremendous seven-game stretch with a 5-1-1 record, 2.06 GAA and .916 SV%, including victories against the Blues, Capitals and a shutout versus the Penguins. Unfortunately for Elliott, he has also been prone to letting in soft goals this season and putting his teammates in a position of playing from behind.

The Bottom-Six

It’s hard to write a piece about the Flyers clutch players without at least giving a shoutout to the yeoman’s work done by the bottom of their lineup this season. Lead by Scott Laughton, Tyler Pitlick, Michael Raffl and James van Riemsdyk, the Flyers bottom-six went beyond “role-players” this season. Laughton, Pitlick and rookie Nicolas Aube-Kubel have been forechecking dynamos that frequently use their speed to overwhelm other players and provide a surprise scoring attack.

Even newly acquired Derek Grant contributed five points in his seven games with his new club, including a highlight real assist vs the Capitals and a two-point game vs the Rangers on the back half of a home-and-home. These players, while not clutch in the traditional sense, have proven to be able to pick up scoring when the top of the lineup is gassed.