The New Look Philadelphia Flyers: Early Effects from the 2011 Offseason

The Philadelphia Flyers offered their fans more excitement during the 2011 offseason than many teams do during the actual NHL season.

Of course, with all the additions and subtractions (nine of 20 players in the Flyers starting lineup this year were new to the team), there were a lot of questions about how the team would play.

Would they be able to find the kind of chemistry that all good teams inevitably discover? Would the players live up to their new contracts? Could any of the new young acquisitions replace the lost scoring? And how would those who stuck around react to the massive overhaul?

Well, winning tends to alleviate a lot of concerns. And the Flyers have been doing a lot of winning early in the season.

But, as Bill Clement said, they aren't gonna go 82-0. Even three games into the season, some of the beneficial and not-so-beneficial effects of the changes have become apparent.

New Pieces Fit, but Are They Better?

Everyone remembers the Extreme Hockey Makeover: Forwards Edition the Flyers ran this offseason, bringing in Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier, Matt Read and Jaromir Jagr to replace Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Ville Leino, Kris Versteeg and Nikolai Zherdev (or Andreas Nodl, now on the fourth line).

As of the morning of 10/13, the new Flyers had combined for a 4/5/9 slash line in 15 total games, while the departed players posted a slightly better slash line of 2/6/8 in 10 total games. Small advantage to the old crew.

However, while the four other teams were a combined 4-5-1, the Flyers sit at 3-0. Why? Because this year, the team has put a much bigger focus on defining who their top line players are and what positions they play.

Of the five players who departed, only Leino had a defined role, with Carter flipping between center and wing all year, Richards playing third line minutes despite being possibly the team’s best player, Versteeg never really meshing with anyone, and Zherdev floating as an offensive mercenary.

This year, the team has defined first, second and third lines. Wingers are playing on the wings and centers are playing down the middle (although when Brayden Schenn comes up, it remains to be seen whether he or Couturier will stay in the middle).

Almost everyone seems to know their role and is playing the type of hockey required by it. Of course, there are always exceptions…

The (Almost) Forgotten Man

Through three games last year, Danny Briere had two goals, and was averaging about 16:40 of ice time per game. This year, Briere has one assist in 17:31 ice time per game.

In a year’s time, Briere has gone from the unquestioned offensive catalyst of the Flyers to playing second fiddle to Claude Giroux. Lost in the reveling that has accompanied the team’s strong start, has been the fact that this major contributors from last year’s team has looked more lost than found.

The Briere-led second PP unit (with JVR, Voracek, Carle and Timonen/Meszaros) has yet to contribute a goal and struggled to even control the puck for extended periods of time. Further, of the four goals Briere, Simmonds or Voracek have contributed to, only one was scored with the full line on the ice.

As good as the Giroux line has been, the Flyers are going to need Briere to produce close to his 68 points last year if they want to be a playoff team. The clutch assist to Meszaros as the end of the Vancouver game was a very good sign, but once again, it was a play that didn’t involve his battery mates.

Briere’s game is based highly on anticipation and if he can’t generate some chemistry with his wingers, the Flyers will be in trouble.

Birdman Flying Away?

So, all that concern about Briere finding his place on his team that I just talked about? Halve the fans’ concern and double the players' concern...and you have Scott Hartnell.

It’s hard to believe that since his acquisition, no one has played more games in a Flyers uniform than Scott Hartnell (including Mike Richards and Jeff Carter). His 92 goals for the team over that period are also second to Danny Briere (102) among current Flyers.  That’s more a comment on the turnover this team has had in that time, but they are still notable factoids.

Despite all that, Hartnell’s ice time has dropped from 16:36 per game last year to a paltry 11:13 per game over the first three games this year. He has one assist on a (very) fortunate Matt Read goal and has only one shot on net so far.

JVR and Simmonds have eclipsed him as net-front presences. Sean Couturier, Andreas Nodl, and Read all play the PK better than Hartnell, who hasn’t regularly killed penalties since John Stevens left, and even then he was more of a fill-in on the PK.

The only reason to believe that Laviolette still has some faith in Hartnell, is that he has Hartnell on a line with two rookies. Of course, anyone who thought of him as a strong mentor was reminded of Hartnell’s vices when he took two dumb penalties against a Vancouver team with a superior power play.

If Hartnell really wants to stay on this team, he’ll need to finally display discipline. Right now though, it seems like he doesn’t want to be on this team.

Calming Bryz

Ilya Bryzgalov’s career stats: 57.8 winning percentage, 2.52 GAA, .916 Save percentage.

Sergei Bobrovsky’s career stats: 68.3 winning percentage, 2.59 GAA, .915 Save percentage.

Funny how stats work out sometimes. Of course, there are two qualifiers that need to be added.

First, Bryzgalov’s numbers are from an eight-year career, while Bob’s are from a single season. Second, Bryzgalov has posted a .921 save percentage since the beginning of the 2009-10 season.

In reality, those numbers mean nothing if the team doesn’t feel comfortable with the goalie behind it. That was always the sense last year whether Bob or Brian Boucher was in the net.

Almost any player who has made it to NHL is skilled enough to score when given time and space. Whereas last year, they seemed to turtle around the net in an effort to protect a weak goalie, so far, with Bryzgalov, the Flyers have been more aggressive taking away that time and space, especially with a lead in the third (something they’ve had in all three games so far).

The Flyers are 3/3 when leading in the third this year after winning 38/44 games last year.

Now, it is only three games into the season, so it remains to be seen if the Flyers can keep playing that well in the third, but there are reasons to believe they will.

Specifically encouraging is that the team has only given up two even strength goals in three games played. As teams are more likely to be playing at even-strength in the final minutes of a game, that the Flyers' defense has been effective at clearing pucks and blocking shots five on five shows increased confidence to commit to plays, backed up by strong goaltending.

The End of the Bench

Last year, the fourth line centered by Blair Betts with two of Darroll Powe, Jody Shelley and Andreas Nodl was a line that could be penciled in every night and consistently performed at the same level night after night.

Granted, that level was not a particularly high one, but everyone knew who would be out there every night and what they brought to the table.

This year, only Max Talbot seems to have a fourth line spot secured. Zac Rinaldo has been less “as advertised” and more “as predicted,” averaging just over three minutes of ice time per penalty minute and showing little of the discipline the coaches supposedly saw in him this summer.

Andreas Nodl, meanwhile, has played at much the same level he did from December to March, when he only managed two goals. He sits behind Talbot, Couturier, and Read in ice time among penalty killers, and when Giroux rotates in, Nodl subs out. He also lets way too many scoring opportunities go by without getting solid shots on net.

With Betts returned to the team, and Shelley on his way back, the Flyers face real uncertainty with their 11^th and 12^th forward spots.

Can they risk Shelley getting suspended a fourth time in less than two years? How effective would Betts be if reinserted into the lineup? Could anyone from the third line be knocked down when Brayden Schenn’s inevitable call-up arrives? Or is there someone on the Phantoms who can do the job best?

As far as questions go, these are probably the most minor the Flyers will have to address. However, they are also ones the team will most certainly face.