Philadelphia Flyers' Season Preview: Forwards

It is a known fact that the Flyers’ strength is at forward. They have so many forwards capable of starting on the first line, that they had to get rid of RJ Umberger to dump his salary.

In this article, I will be discussing the Flyers’ forwards, previewing who will have the best season, who will be the surprise, and I will predict the stats for each player that will most likely be on the roster.

Top 5 Forwards (In no particular order):

Daniel Briere, C, 30, $6.5 million- Briere is still the star on the team, no matter how good Mike Richards was last year. Danny is a brilliant passer and one of the most accurate shooters in the league. His small size and great speed allows him to slip through the majority of the checks. He will most likely lead the Flyers in points this year, as he will be on the first line with Gagne and possibly even Claude Giroux.

Mike Richards, C, 23, $5.75 million- The biggest surprise of last year, and most likely the captain for this coming year and the next 15 years, Richards is still not the best player on the team. He had a brilliant year in 2007-2008, and had more points that Danny Briere. However, he needs to have one more year leading the Flyers in points so that we know he was not just a one-year wonder.

Simon Gagne, LW, 28, $5.25 million- Gagne will most likely lead the team in goals if he can stay healthy for at least 75 games this season. I do not personally think it will happen, but if he is on a line with Giroux and Briere, look for him to near 50 goals this season. The Flyers will be such a better team with Gagne healthy and back in the lineup this year, and the team will be even more intimidating with a top three as powerful as the aforementioned first line.

Jeff Carter, C, 23, $5 million- Carter, unfortunately, is going to be a third line forward, simply because the Flyers have a surplus of centers. If there is a way to put him on the wing with Mike Richards, I would do that in a second. However, I do not think it is feasible for him to be a winger, and so he will struggle to put up a fair amount of points this year. He is one of the best players on the team, but the team does not have room for him.

Joffrey Lupul, RW, 24, $2.312 million- Lupul showed last year that he is an elite forward in the National Hockey League. He played amazingly well last season, and had so many more goals than any of us could have imagined. He will most likely hit the twenty or thirty goal mark this year, and will seem like a bargain, making just over $2 million.

One Player on the Fall

Mike Knuble, RW, 35, $2.8 million- I don’t even think that Knuble is going to make the first line this year. He showed last year that he was not as capable as we thought to be able to put up thirty goals. That could be because of a lack of Forsberg and Gagne, but he still needs to be able to produce without those two. He is going to be put on the second or third line, and will struggle greatly. Look for him and his salary to traded away this year at the deadline.

Surprise of the Year

Claude Giroux, RW, 19, $850,000- If Giroux is placed on the wing with Briere centering him and Gagne opposite him, look for him to challenge for the Calder Trophy this year. He could easily put up 60-70 points this year on that first line. However, if Stevens and the coaching staff do what they always do, which is not allow rookies a fair chance, he will struggle to get 20 points on the third or fourth line.

Statistic Predictions

Player GP G A P +/- PIM S%

Danny Briere 80 36 53 89 -2 54 18.0

Mike Richards 81 30 52 82 20 88 12.7

Simon Gagne 67 34 41 75 12 24 21.4

Jeff Carter 80 28 39 67 9 45 11.2

Claude Giroux 78 27 53 60 5 42 9.8

Joffrey Lupul 74 29 25 54 8 68 14.3

Mike Knuble 82 18 32 50 10 64 5.7

Scott Hartnell 81 31 18 49 4 136 15.4

Scottie Upshall 75 24 23 47 2 88 7.9

Steve Downie 72 18 18 36 -3 196 6.8