3 Takeaways from The Philadelphia Flyers with just 31 games left in the NHL Regular Season

The Philadelphia Flyers put a halt to their recent skid last night with a 2-1 comeback win against a blazing Florida Panthers team.

With only 31 games remaining in the season for the Flyers, it’s more than acceptable to begin forming conclusions about the players on the roster and what this team actually is as they continue to fight for a spot in the playoffs down the stretch.

Here are my 3 takeaways thus far in the season.

The Flyers recent form is probably more indicative of where they are at in their rebuild.

The Flyers recent form has been…well…atrocious to say the least.

The Flyers currently sit uncomfortably in the metropolitan division’s third playoff spot, with the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, and New Jersey Devils all within 5 points. If they don’t turn things around quickly, it feels unlikely that they’ll be hold off the teams listed above and Flyers fans will be left with another disappointing end to hockey season here in Philadelphia.

What we’ve seen from the Flyers has probably been more on par with what the expectations were coming into the season. Although they’re not “lose 6-2 to the Bruins” bad, their record has definitely exceeded the roster’s talent.

As Danny Briere once said, “the players on the roster will decide the speed of the rebuild…”

Tyson Foerster’s shot is still there

Flyers winger Tyson Foerster burst onto the scene last season totalling 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists) in 8 games.

It would’ve been irrational to expect Foerster to score 25+ goals in his rookie season, but 9 goals in 50 games is underwhelming for a guy who is known for his lethal shot.

https://twitter.com/TheLibertyYell/status/1731137866300833955?s=20

According to MoneyPuck, Foerster has a -1.9 goals above expected – implying that he should have around 11 goals on the season.

In 49 games, he has 11 high-danger unblocked shot attempts (ranking 113th for skaters with over 800 minutes played), and has an expected goals of 3.89 on those attempts.

Simply put, Foerster hasn’t put himself in the best positions to score goals, and when he has, the puck isn’t going into the back of the net.

Fortunately, things have begun to turn around…

After a rough start to the season, Foerster’s shot is coming to life. In the last 34 games, he has scored 9 goals, which would put him on a 21-goal pace over an 82-game season.

The 30-goal scorer that the Flyers drafted 23rd overall is still in there. Don’t you worry.

Samuel Ersson could be the future.

The 24-year-old Swedish netminder seemingly has a large workload ahead of him with his counterpart Carter Hart finding himself tangled in legal trouble.

As of February 7th, Ersson is 13-9-3 with a 2.53 GAA, .900 SV%, and 3 shutouts in 23 starts.

As of recently, Ersson hasn’t had his best stretch (3.20 GAA, .842 SV%, and some unlucky bounces over his last 5 games), but needless to say, the defense in front of him has not played well either.

With Carter Hart likely out of the picture long-term, Ersson is in prime position to be the Flyers number-one goaltender next season…and maybe even the future.

Alexei Kolosov will likely need a year in the AHL, and the likes of Yegor Zavragin and Carson Bjarnason are still some time away from their stints with the Phantoms.

We won’t know what prospects will develop into until they make it to the show, but what we do know is that Samuel Ersson has impressed this season, and he is beginning to establish himself as a solid goaltender in the NHL.

BetMGM Sportsbook: Bet $5, Get $158 Instantly

• Sign up for a new BetMGM Sportsbook Account
• Make Your First Deposit
• Bet $10+ On Any Sport
• Receive $158 In Bonus Bets Instantly
• Claim your free $158 now >>

Join The Chase

Mandatory Photo Credit: AP Photo/Matt Slocum