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Originally Posted by Textcritic
I am starting to think that I need to pay closer attention to Philadelphia this season. Could they be a sleeper?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaskal
It depends on which version of Brian Elliott decides to show up.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
Wait... didn’t they fix that this summer?
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Nope, Elliott is still the starter, and Neuvirth the backup. It all depends on Anthony Stolarz. He's been tabbed as the next starter for a while, and he has good potential to be a top half of the league starter this year. He lost all of last year due to knee injuries, but had 2 seasons before that where he posted good AHL numbers, and some very good NHL numbers in limited action.
If Stolarz can't recover from his injuries, Elliott will still be his old self, and the Flyers will be sunk again. Carter Hart is the other goalie in the system, but is probably at least another year away from the NHL. He dominated junior, and is playing his first season in the AHL this year.
But I like the rest of their team, especially considering how good some of their youth is. Defense could be better, but Andy McDonald is out for 6 weeks with an injury. The lineup is relatively strong and has some elite talent. This is what they are projected to look like:
Giroux-Courturier-Konecny
Van Riemsdyk-Patrick-Voracek
Lindblom-Weal-Simmonds
Raffl-Laughton-Weise
Gostisbehere-Provorov
Sanheim-Gudas
Hagg-Folin
*IR-Andy McDonald
Elliott/Neuvirth