said on April 3, 2024<\/a>. \u201cAnd I guess now the narrative out there is \u2014 because I\u2019ve heard from other people \u2014 is that, \u2018They\u2019re young, they\u2019re not supposed to be here.\u2019 Bullshit! We\u2019re here! We\u2019re here! Face it! And let\u2019s be better. And I don\u2019t think we\u2019re ready to be better, and that\u2019s my problem with us right now. And it is my job, I\u2019ve not done a good enough job to get them over the hump right now\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\nAside from the goaltender Tortorella is now going to be coaching in Vegas, Philadelphia have a somewhat different roster from that 2023-24 lineup. Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, Scott Laughton, Cam Atkinson, Ryan Poehling, Bobby Brink, Sean Walker, Egor Zamula, Olle Lycksell, Marc Staal, Louis Belpedio, Nic Deslauriers, Erik Johnson, and Ronnie Attard are some (not all) of the players no longer on the roster. But, like Tortorella stated two years ago, today the Flyers find themselves \u201chere\u201d yet again. Tied with Ottawa and Detroit with 86 points, and just two behind Columbus (with a game in hand) and three behind the Islanders (with two games in hand), Philadelphia has a chance Thursday and this weekend to prove they\u2019re capable of winning when it counts. <\/p>\n
And not just winning, but winning with a lot more youth on their roster than two years ago. Although Philadelphia still have veterans, they have a lot more established players in the 24-to-26 age demographic. Trevor Zegras, Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, Cam York, and Sam Ersson all fit into that group. The big bonus might be just how youthful this team is up front (and on the blueline). Jamie Drysdale, Matvei Michkov, Denver Barkey, Nikita Grebenkin (although injured), Tyson Foerster, Emil Andrae, and Alex Bump have all been crucial to the Flyers righting this ship down the stretch. That doesn\u2019t include this Porter Martone fellow who also recently hitched himself to the wagon.<\/p>\n
So while some of these players haven\u2019t been this close to punching their ticket to the proverbial dance, they\u2019re gaining valuable experience in what it takes to play (and succeed) against clubs who are in the same boat. You can\u2019t knock a club out of the playoff chase in October and November, but you can in March and April. The stakes are higher. The intensity is higher. And watching some of these youngsters rise to the occasion, or at least not looking like deer in the headlights, is a huge step forward for the organization.<\/p>\n
Flyers holding their own in crucial games<\/p>\n
The Flyers have only been blown out (lose by three or more goals) once since the trade deadline. That was a 6-2 dud to the Rangers that might come back to bite them. For the most part, Philadelphia have been in every game, almost enjoying the low-scoring, tight-checking chess tilts. They\u2019re adhering to a system that has been almost airtight defensively while trying to make the most of their chances on the other end. It\u2019s tense, it\u2019s nail-biting at times, but in the last few weeks it\u2019s resulted in two points on most nights. It\u2019s arguable they haven\u2019t looked this comfy in close games since the stretch in 2019-20 prior to the pandemic shutting things down.<\/p>\n
If the Flyers aren\u2019t blown out three or four times down the stretch, and instead end up having a laugher or two for victories, it\u2019s a sign they might have taken a small step towards playoff contention not necessarily this year but also next year. More importantly, if any of those aforementioned youngsters have a role in any victories moving forward (whether or not on the scoresheet), they can take that experience with them. Ideally, the Flyers can earn victories and develop these younger players at the same time. A playoff spot, or a chance to either stay alive or clinch in the last few games, is something the likes of Martone, Michkov, Barkey and several others should relish.<\/p>\n
Seeing this version of the Flyers getting in would be great. But having them play important games now, and not simply playing out the string and thinking about vacation destinations, is a win.<\/p>\n
The agony of defeat<\/p>\n
Finally, unless the Flyers pull off the surprise of the year and register 16 post-season victories (or even more than four), the season will end in disappointment. Whether it\u2019s in these next eight games, or possibly in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Philadelphia will feel the sting of their season ending. Some might deem it a wasted season. Others would recognize how far some of these players have come this year. Tippett looks like a piece moving forward. Drysdale has turned a corner on the backend. Barkey and Bump have been young contributors. And Martone and Michkov are hoping to be difference makers. <\/p>\n
Seeing their playoff dreams crushed in the next two weeks, or seeing them clinch a spot, is something that these young players will use as fuel for next season. Winning would be nice. Losing would be irksome. But seeing this relatively very young team making strides in the right direction should make this stretch drive tense. And enjoyable!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With another crucial game Thursday against Detroit, the Philadelphia Flyers find themselves on the outside looking in, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5112],"tags":[1468,5,4,1467,56,5205],"class_list":{"0":"post-536623","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-flyers","8":"tag-flyers","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-flyers","13":"tag-philadelphiaflyers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116335455483422384","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}