These Flyers will be roughing up the opposition this year. As seen Doan will be the Captain with Selanne and Kessel as alternates.
The Philadelphia Flyers enter the new season with some expectations from within the organization and outside. The Flyers GM, Joe Schum, re-built the machine last year in hope of long-term success. Flyers are one of the youngest teams in the league but have quality veterans as well. As high as the expectations are within the outsiders also see Flyers as an elite team. Of the twenty general mangers that took part in the standing predictions, eight of them picked the Flyers to finish first in the Gretzky Conference. Here’s a closer look at the roster of the Broad Street Bullies.
The Big Names
Roberto Luongo – The best-rated goaltender in the league will be playing in front of a young yet talented defense. Luongo’s 84 DU and 75 OV will be counted on to provide some stellar tending.
Shane Doan – The Captain of the team will play even strength, powerplay, and on the penalty kill due this solid all-round ratings (98 DU, 78 SC, 72 DF, 78 EX, 84 LD).
Daniel Alfredsson – The veteran was recently acquired to provide leadership, but comes with outstanding rating across the board and should be one of the best Flyers on the year.
Teemu Selanne – Very likely his last year in the CPHL, Teemu is another veteran brought in to help the youth. With Selanne’s 89 SC, the Flyers are hoping for a healthy goal total from him.
Derek Roy – The diminutive forward also possess a combination of skills with healthy ratings in passing, faceoffs, defensive, scoring, durability. Roy will start the season as the number one center.
The Emerging Talent
Phil Kessel – The young scoring machine will wear an A this year. The Flyers see Kessel as the face of the franchise and the team will be built around him thus the decision to have a letter on his jersey makes sense.
David Perron – This could be the breakout year for Perron in the NHL thus next year he could be a top six forward on the Flyers. Although Perron does need to improve his individual ratings he will be looked to provide some scoring from the third line.
Tomas Fleischmann – Tomas could already be a top six forward on most CPHL teams but due to the depth on the right side he will play on the third line for the Flyers. His rating can get another increase in the off-season.
Patrice Bergeron – After injury riddled couple of seasons, Patrice finally looks healthy in the NHL. His defensive game is already at a high level, if he re-gains his scoring touch, he can be a real good player in this league.
The Young Defense
Niklas Kronwall – The leader of this defense core, he will play in all situations. His game is growing in the NHL, and next year he could get a healthy overall increase.
Joni Pitkanen – For some he’s very under-rated and for others he is over-rated. But for the Flyers he will be one of our workmen who will log huge minutes. He has solid individual ratings.
Ryan Whitney – After an off-year in the NHL, Whitney will try to re-gain his point producing touch in the NHL and his rating in the CPHL. Still though he is capable of playing top four minutes.
Alexander Edler – Lesser known of the big four, Edler’s game has rapidly improved. He will also see time in various different situations. Expect him to get a nice re-rate next year as well.
Erik Johnson – A player we paid a heavy price to get but we feel he is a special talent. Coming a knee injury, some doubt his ability to bounce back but still very young, he will overcome the injury and grow in a number one defenseman.
The Unknown Warriors
John Madden – Madden will be playing the defensive specialist role upfront. His defensive and faceoff ratings allow him to be a key part of this team, especially on the penalty kill.
Cory Sarich – He won’t win any awards but will provide leadership and play those grueling penalty-killing minutes. Sarich will likely play on the third pair in order to keep him fresh throughout the year.
Jamal Mayers – Similar to Madden, Mayers will also be a key penalty killer.
Alex Auld – He will eat a lot of rubber in the practice to keep the shooters sharp but will warm the bench most of the year during games.
The Camp Battles
Derrick Brassard, Micheal Frolik, Alexander Radulov, Mark Parrish, Wayne Simmonds, Ryan Shannon will be battling for two forward spots while Brian Boyle will likely be the seventh defenseman. Brassard, Frolik, Simmonds are guys who'll be on next years team.
The Futures
Nikita Filatov, Cody Hodgson, Tim Erixon, John Moore, Magnus Svensson-Pajvarri, Jonas Gustavsson, Al Montoya, Andrei Loktionov are future Flyers. None will likely see action with the team this year.
Philadelphia Flyers Season Preview
