With approximately a month until the start of the season, sources close to the Flyers organization have confirmed that a local printing company is under investigation and a now former employee is facing charges after a draft copy of the Flyers pre-season magazine was stolen.
Before the images go viral on social media sites across Pennsylvania, GM JonDuke wanted to share his thoughts:
2018-19 Projected Lineup
Schwartz - Backstrom - Laine
Schenn -
Matthews -
Oshie
Perlini - Duchene -
Hayes
Domi -
Richardson -
Virtanen
Vrana
Dumba - Ekholm
Sergachev - Morrissey
Savard - Niskanen
Vasilevskiy
Bernier
The team took a hit in the off season, losing the dominant presence of Jamie Benn. Luckily for fans though, Jayden Schwart had a nice boost in ratings and should be able to add some electricity into the top line. He jumps up to join Backstrom (22G 43A 65P) and Laine (28G 29A 57P), who were a formidable force last season. Laine had a tremendous rookie season. We don't expect a sophomore slump of any kind and instead fully expect him to lead the team in scoring and possible contend for the Rocket Richard trophy.
The second line, and the debut of Auston Matthews, is clearly what fans around the water coolers are most excited about. Wanting to have solid leadership at his side, GMJD went out and acquire his #1 trade target of the off season: TJ Oshie. The consistent CPHL stud had 38 goals and 39 assists last year on a mediocre Islanders team. We feel he'll be the perfect fit alongside Matthews. Brayden Schenn (22G 29A 51P) rounds out the 2nd line and brings a physical presence that should keep roaming sticks away from the golden hands of his centreman.
Third and fourth lines will be interchangeable.
For now though: the GMs favorite, Matt Duchene (24G 41A 65P) will centre the 3rd line with Perlini flanking his left side and we're hoping the off season acquisition of Kevin Hayes, who had 24 goals and 34 assists with Nashville, will prove to make this one an invigorating line.
Brad Richardson was sought to mentor the 4th line of rated-lower-than-we-hoped Max Domi and rookie Jake Virtanen
66ov Jakub Vrana gets to play 13th forward.
The back end of the ice is what the coaching staff is most excoted about. Last season, we relied too heavily on our goalies and didn't put enough talent on the back end with them. This season, we have 4 players placing within the top 63 ranked D and are confident this group will impress.
Leading the way will be the pairing of Dumba and Ekholm. We think the offensive skills of Dumba will pair perfectly with a stay-at-home and fan favorite dman like Mattias Ekholm.
Sergachev - Morrissey: Matching the offensively gifted Russian rookie with a solid defensively minded and sharp passing D like Morrissey seemed like a no brainer as the 2nd pairing.
Savard - Niskanen: Savard is an extremely underrated defensive gem. He's led our team in PK time last year and we fully expect him to do so again this year. Bringing back Matt Niskanen was an easy choice. He led the team in minutes per game and points/shots/hits by a Dman last season and we are excited to see if our bottom pairing can be the most surprising to the opposition.
The x-factor for us is some Russian name Vasilevskiy. The future looks tremendously bright with this 22 year old between the pipes. Jonathan Bernier was brought in to play mentor in his back up role and because of his fantastic first name.
There's some really strong and deep rosters out there, but the Flyers don't anticipate making any other moves before the season starts. We know the battle, as always, will be grueling but GMJD has assembled a mixture of quality players that has inspired confidence in his team, the coaching staff and, most importantly, the fans.
Season Preview - Philadelphia
