Amidst low expectations, the Flyers offer up some intriguing under-the-radar fantasy options.

Outlook

Last season:
31-38-13, 7th Metro, 26th overall.
2.68 GF/GP (29th), 3.37 GA/GP (23rd), 15.6 PP% (32nd), 74.7 PK% (26th)
47.40 5v5 CF% (25th), 46.63 5v5 GF% (24th), 47.76 5v5 xGF% (23rd)

I’m going to go out on a limb and say the Flyers aren’t going to be as bad as you think. There are numerous holes in their lineup, much like any team looking to find its way back to the top of the standings, and the Flyers admit as much. But I also see some underrated talent on their roster, and I thought they played much better as a group last season under John Tortorella than Alain Vigneault’s final months or under Mike Yeo.

One of the biggest factors for the Flyers’ success this season is the play of Sean Couturier. The Flyers stayed afloat thanks to strong play from Noah Cates and Morgan Frost, but Couturier’s their undisputed, No. 1 center. His inclusion changes the dynamic of this entire forward corps, and prior to his injury was a point-per-game player who had been excellent at driving play despite starting in the defensive zone a lot.

How Couturier responds after a full absence – Cam Atkinson, too – will be interesting to see. His presence alone should be able to insulate Frost, who was able to put together a full NHL season, and also provide additional options to a pretty decent group of wingers led by Travis Konecny and the blossoming Joel Farabee and Owen Tippett.

The Flyers boasted just two 20-goal scorers last season (Konecny and Tippett), and they could easily double that number with the addition of Frost, Farabee, Couturier and Atkinson. That’s not counting Tyson Foerster, who probably has the highest offensive upside among them. He has a chance to win a roster spot even though he’s not included in the projected lineup below, and Foerster can definitely provide a little more juice to the league’s worst power play.

Couturier is the top-ranked Flyer in the fantasy rankings due to his pedigree. He won’t be taken early because he’s too risky, but he’s also more worth the gamble the more he falls in drafts. Most of the Flyers fall in the mushy middle with no significant difference in fantasy value between them. A lot will depend on usage and ice time, and we all know how stingy Tortorella can be if they don’t play his way.

Frost, for example, has top-six offensive ability, but his playing time might be limited because Tortorella feels Cates or Scott Laughton are giving better efforts. There are seven Flyers ranked, excluding Carter Hart, but none inside the top 100 and only one outside the top 250.

The Flyers can do things by committee, boasting enough talent to stack one scoring line and create two others that could be as strong as any third line in the league. Depth might be an issue, especially on the back end, but Tortorella has also molded Rasmus Ristolainen into a more competent defender, and Sanheim has been relatively steady, all things considered.

Projected Lineup

Travis Konecny – Sean Couturier – Cam Atkinson
Joel Farabee – Morgan Frost – Owen Tippett
Scott Laughton – Noah Cates – Wade Allison
Nicolas Deslauriers – Ryan Poehling – Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler – Cam York
Marc Staal – Sean Walker

Carter Hart – Cal Petersen

PP1
Farabee – Frost – Tippett – Konecny – York
PP2
Laughton – Couturier – Atkinson – Cates – Ristolainen

Player Rankings

The Hockey News Fantasy Guide Top 3 Point Projections:
Travis Konecny, 68 points
Owen Tippett, 66 points
Sean Couturier, 62 points

(Purchase your copy of the NHL Fantasy Guide 2023-24 to see all player projections)

Top 300 Ranked Flyers (Full List, including individual player write-ups):
116. Sean Couturier, C
121. Travis Konecny, RW
138. Carter Hart, G
160. Owen Tippett, RW
169. Morgan Frost, C
175. Tyson Foerster, RW
204. Joel Farabee, LW
265. Scott Laughton, C

Top 300 Ranked Flyers (Banger League) (Full List):
115. Travis Konecny, RW
133. Owen Tippett, RW
139. Sean Couturier, C
170. Morgan Frost, C
177. Tyson Foerster, RW
190. Joel Farabee, LW
199. Scott Laughton, C
225. Carter Hart, G
276. Garnet Hathaway, RW

All positions courtesy Yahoo Fantasy.

Breakout Star

This is the season where we really see what Joel Farabee is made of. He was stuck in a rut in February with only one assist in 10 games, but otherwise finished with 13 points in his final 21 games. He hasn’t hit the 20-goal mark since his sophomore season, and this is the season to do it if he sticks on a line with Frost and Tippett. Of the Flyers ranked above, he’s the one I feel that ended up being a little too low.

Regression Candidate

This has to be Travis Konecny, who shot a career-high 16.2 percent and saw his ice time increase to 20:07 to 17:37. He’s the perfect player for Tortorella with a high work rate and equal parts snarl and skill. He’s not an overly physical player, but there’s no puck battle Konecny will shy away from.

He started off hot and scored at a point-per-game pace from October through January, but his play tailed off a little and injuries limited him to just 60 games. You can’t help but think that maybe the workload was a bit too much, but factoring in a slight regression, the notion that Konecny can be a 30-30 player over 82 games puts him firmly on the fantasy radar. He should be the first Flyer off the board.

Goalies

It was a much better season from Carter Hart, who improved both his save percentage (.907 from .905) and GAA (2.94 from 3.16) and won 22 of his 54 starts. He’s still a long way away from his rookie-season form, but a better team defense puts him on the right track. Hart’s fantasy value will be derived from his workload, and it’s certain to be 50-something games.

Backup Cal Petersen is a reclamation project after being demoted to the minors by the Kings, and it was either a blip on the radar or a serious case of the yips. The Flyers have Samuel Ersson and Felix Sandstrom under contract, and it’ll be a three-way battle for the backup job.

Hart is currently the 21st-ranked goalie in the fantasy rankings and he could move up. The question is what is Hart’s ceiling, and how much should you pay for it? In leagues where goaltenders are hoarded, Hart has a lot of value due to his workload and potential. But if your league discounts goalies, then Hart is the type you roster when he’s hot and dump when he’s not.

Last season, Hart rattled off five straight wins in October, only to lose nine of his next 10 before winning four of his final six games. The Metro being such a killer division also works against Hart, but you could do a lot worse in the late rounds of your draft. Can Hart get to 30 wins? It’s highly unlikely, but 25 is a very attainable number and only 14 goalies did that last season.