2020-21 Flyers Season Outlook

First lets start with what the opening night lineup without any unforseen injuries heres what I think the Flyers will look like Jan 13th.

The Forward Group

LW	C	RW
Giroux	Couturier	Voracek
Farabee	Hayes	Konecny
Lindblom	Patrick/Frost*	Aube-Kubel
Van Riemsdyk	Laughton	Raffl

As you can see the 5 on 5 lines have not changed much if at all since last year. Which means in order for any of the young bucks to really get a shot at the NHL, it’s going to take some injuries or even some trades for the possiblity to even exist for players on the cusp of making it to makie it. I have the 3C currently between Nolan Patrick and Morgan Frost but as long as Patrick is healthy i feel as though it is his position to lose. I honestly don’t think JVR really should be in the line up of this team as i would prefer Wade Allison or Tanner Laczynski as they would fill that 4th line winger spot a little bit better, but you can’t pay JVR 7 million and not have him in the line up. so that also brings the Idea of shuffling lines around to make the most of your opportunities but we will see how it all pans out.

The Defensive Pairings

Provorov	Myers/ Gustafsson
Sanhiem	Myers/ Gustafsson
Hagg	Braun
7th D	Gostisbehere

I currently have Myers and Gustafsson on the same pairings for time being as a feeling out proceess. I believe it will end up being Gustafsson to start but if it doesnt work out Myers will take over that role on the top pairing. There is a trade rumor involving JVR going to CBJ in exechange for David Savard. I am not sure what that would mean for our defensive groupings as that would give the team 8 defenseman. If the Flyers were to make this trade i would imagine that Ghost would need to be traded ASAP and that Hagg or Braun would become the 7th D-man. It should be noted that the rumors started in a tweet by the CBJ Coverage. With that being said rumors are rumors and we cant bank on anything just yet.

Where Do The Flyers Finish?

Lets start with the rest of the Division starting with the bottom first. I believe that the Eastern Division is the strongest Division in Hockey this season that also makes it the toughest. with that being said i believe the Devils will finish in last due to the young inexperienced and lack of defensive and forward depth. in 7th it will be the Buffalo as i believe they have gotten better but their Defense wasnt very good last year and the goaltending situation has not improved either. 6th will be the Rangers as they have improved but are still very young and their young goalie got hurt last season and you dont know how he will return. 5th is going to be slightly wierd to see but the penguins are going to fall just short of the postseason. they are old and thin at every position but as long as they have Crosby i believe they will continue to fight and stay alive. 4th should be the Capitals with old age and inexepirienced goalie with no back up due Luquivist heart condition it will be difficult to see them get much higher then this in the standings. 3rd will be the Bruins this year with the possible loss of Chara and no real depth scoring I don’t see an easy path for the Bruins this year. 1st and 2nd are hard due to the coaching match up i believe it is a true toss up between the Islanders and the Flyers. Both are solid defensivly and use their defense to create offense. I think that the true difference will be the Goaltending as Carter Hart will be the back bone of this Flyers team and many Flyers teams to come.