After a miserable 2022-2023 season, not much was expected of the Philadelphia Flyers when the new season rolled around in October. In the wake of the shocking trade of top prospect Cutter Gauthier, the Philadelphia Flyers are on a roll as they solidify their surprising start to the season.
But thanks to new leadership in the front office, the return of a bonafide superstar in center Sean Couturier from long-term injury, and the snowball of positive energy that can carry a hockey team for long stretches, the Flyers find themselves in the thick of the race for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
NHL Philadelphia Flyers: The Trade That Flew
On January 8, the Flyers were in the middle of a loss to their rival Pittsburgh Penguins that would drop them to 20-14-6, a surprisingly strong record given the difficult competition in the East.
In the middle of that game, the Flyers traded top prospect and 2022 number five overall pick Cutter Gauthier for a 2024 second round pick and right-handed defenseman Jamie Drysdale.
The move sent shockwaves through the league, as Gauthier, currently playing at Boston College, had previously informed the Flyers that he did not intend on signing with them.
The team and Gauthier both kept this request private, allowing the Flyers to recoup some value in a trade, although other teams would surely find it odd that a recently-drafted top college prospect would become available without something like this occurring.
In his postgame availability that night, firebrand head coach John Tortorella took the opportunity to use the news to galvanize his team.
"I don't know Cutter from a hole in the wall," Tortorella told reporters. Adding that if a player didn't want to be there, they didn't want that player.
After the loss that night, the Flyers were well-positioned to challenge for a wild card spot and make the playoffs as a team projected to finish toward the cellar of the Metropolitan Division.
Since that night, they've gone 5-0-0, keeping pace with the Carolina Hurricanes and moving just two points behind the sliding New York Rangers for the top spot in the division.
On Thursday, the Flyers ragdolled a quality Dallas Stars team, at one point holding a 21-1 advantage in shots on goal in what ended as a dominant 5-1 win.
It's striking what such a galvanizing moment can do for a team's morale and performance in this league. To go from dropping three of four and fading in the standings to five straight victories that included a shutout win over the league-leading Winnipeg Jets is a quick turnaround that can bolster a team's postseason hopes.
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NHL Philadelphia Flyers: Mortgaging the Future
While the loss of Gauthier is a big blow to Philadelphia's prospect pool, the acquisition of Drysdale offers the roster immediate help in the form of a young dynamic defenseman with loads of untapped potential.
The Flyers now have the roster flexibility to keep their newly-loaded blue-line intact, or they could opt to flip another defenseman to regain a prospect or draft capital.
The trade will likely be looked back on as a net negative for the Flyers years down the line if Gauthier blossoms into a star, but the cascading effect of confidence that this upstart season could build the team's young core and organization as a whole can not be overlooked.
The team's underlying metrics suggest that while this group can not be expected to perform at an elite level over the course of the whole season, they certainly are a legitimately above average group, evident by their 51.73% share of expected goals at 5-on-5.
As it stands, the Flyers have to be viewed as a heavy favorite to make the playoffs. How far this boost of momentum can carry them is an open question, but every year we see teams a bit short on talent roll into April with a good work ethic, a strong mindset, and the right amount of good mojo and catch a higher-seeded team by surprise.
Could that be the Flyers this season? Time will tell, but the current outlook is good.
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