Phillypurge.com's 2007 Flyers Season Preview
October 2 , 2007
| By Mike Santa Barbara
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Discuss
The 2007-2008 Philadelphia Flyers come into the upcoming season with a lot of expectations. Having improved the team dramatically from last season the Fly guys are now expected to contend for the Stanley Cup. This team has a perfect mix of veterans and young superstars together with some solid goaltending who knows how far they could go. It won’t be easy however as nearly every team in the Atlantic Division has improved themselves in some way. Below we will go through the Flyers roster and break down exactly what each player brings to the table this season. We’ll also look at some young future Flyers who could be called up during the year. And finally, We will look at what the rest of the Atlantic Division has done to improve as well as predictions for the season.
First the Captains:
Captain Jason Smith |
Smith in his first season with the Flyers will wear the “C.” Smith before being traded to the Flyers during the off season was the longest tenured Captain in Edmonton Oilers history. With players like Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier wearing the “C” in Edmonton in the past that speaks volumes about Smith. Smith also led the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Finals in the 2005-2006 Season. |
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Many thought Gagne would be a candidate to wear the “C.” A responsibility once offered to him in the past which he declined stating he wasn’t yet prepared enough to wear it. This time preparedness may not be the reason but yet the experience Smith has as a Captain. Gagne will benefit though from watching a leader like Smith. |
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Richards whose still a youngster in the NHL has proven that he has leadership qualities at every level he’s played. Many feel Richards is a future Captain of this Flyers team and learning behind the likes of Jason Smith and Simon Gagne will help him out immensely. |
There was much speculation about which player would be the Flyers Captain heading into the season since they had so many players with experience. Jason Smith looks to be the right pick as he had been a Captain for the longest and was the most used to that position. Asking Smith to come to a new team and take a back seat in regards to leadership would not only be unfair but it may hurt Smith’s game as well. Smith proved during training camp and the preseason that he deserved it. As for the other potential candidates like Kimmo Timonen, Daniel Briere, and Derian Hatcher there are reason to pick Smith over them. Timonen and Hatcher have the experience over Briere when it comes to wearing the “C.” However, much of last season Timonen was only an alternate and Hatcher besides a brief stint as Flyers Captain Hatcher hasn’t worn the “C” since his days with the Dallas Stars. Briere was a part of basically a Captain by committee in Buffalo.
The rest of the Depth Chart:
Forwards |
Daniel Briere |
Defensemen |
Braydon Coburn |
*-Injured
**-On the roster bubble may be sent to AHL
As far as forwards go the injury to Scottie Upshall hurts the most. Upshall will be out about six weeks with a fractured wrist. The injury to Umberger isn’t as serious; he doesn’t expect to miss more then a week or so. As far as replacing Upshall the Flyers have few options, one of which was Steve Downie. Downie a #1 draft pick a few years back was suspended this week for 20 games by the NHL for his hit on the Senators Dean McAmmond which left McAmmond with a concussion and a lengthy hospital stay. Downie has since been optioned to the AHL where the AHL commissioner will have to decide how or if he will uphold the NHL’s punishment on Downie while in the AHL. Claude Giroux is another #1 pick who showed some flashes during preseason but may be a little to raw to throw into the fire but the Flyers may not have a choice. If anybody is happy about maybe getting the opportunity to play in place of injured players it’s Ryan Potulny. Potulny has been one of the Flyers top prospects the past few seasons but only really stepped up his game at the end of last season. Without injuries Potulny may not have gotten the shot he may receive in Upshall’s absence.
The Flyers offense this season should be solid last season with new additions Daniel Briere, Scott Hartnell and Joffrey Lupul. Part of the problem for the Flyers last season besides injuries was the lack of depth. They had to many “like” players. No real scoring threats besides Gagne and the often-injured Peter Forsberg. This year the team is a little better rounded and should cause headaches for opposing defenses all season long. Briere not only brings a nice scoring touch but also playmaking ability. Hartnell is a bruiser who can also score and Joffrey Lupul is what we call a “sniper.”
Looking at the defensive depth chart you may realize that Denis Gauthier’s name is missing from the list. Well on Monday the Flyers put Gauthier on waivers. Gauthier may clear waivers, if so he’ll be optioned to the AHL where the flyers will have to eat his salary however it won’t count against their NHL salary cap. Gauthier came to camp in great shape with something to prove saying last year he just wasn’t himself. More then likely the attempted come back by Mike Rathje is what may have warranted this move. Rathje is owed a lot of money and takes up a lot of space on the salary cap to be playing down in the AHL. So looks like Gauthier is the odd man out.
The additions of Kimmo Timonen and Jason Smith transform this defense from a young inexperienced group to a solid unit. Timonen brings good defense along with great puck handling and skating ability. Jason Smith brings a smart physicality not always displayed by the likes of Hatcher or Gauthier in seasons past. Lasse Kukkonen, Randy Jones, Braydon Coburn, and Alexandre Picard may round out the defense core. All are young and all of the potential to be good players especially Kukkonen and Coburn who really looked impressive at the end of last season.
The Goaltenders:
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Biron was acquired at the end of last season with the idea that he would be the team’s goaltender in 2007-2008. The Flyers ended up signing Biron to an extension before season’s end and he is now the team starting goaltender. Biron is a great goaltender when his teams ahead and can also keep you in a close game. Whether or not Biron can hold up all year long and be good enough to help the Flyers get deep in the playoffs remains to be seen. |
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Last season Nittymaki won the starting job over Robert Esche after performing so well in the Olympics for Finland. Besides injuries Nittymaki seemed to be overwhelmed last season as the number one guy. It didn’t help that he didn’t have a great team in front of him either. He’s still young enough still to be a back up and learn from Biron. Most scouts say goaltenders don’t hit their prime until around 30-31 years old Nitty is 26, Biron is 30. |
For the first time in a while the Flyers have no Goalie controversy going into the season. Biron has already proven that he can be a solid starting goaltender maybe starting 65 games out of an 82 game schedule. Nittymaki has looked spectacular at times and can only learn from the veteran Biron. Nittymaki looks like he can be a solid backup since he’s had plenty of experience playing and now there is hardly any pressure on him. Before he always had Robert Esche looking over his shoulder while Ken Hitchcock was head coach. There really isn’t any threat to his job as the Flyers are not that deep talent wise at the position. So unless there is an injury your number one and number two goaltenders are set.
This is what the Philadelphia Phantoms Roster could look like this season:
Chad Anderson, D Oskars Bartulis, D Martin Grenier, D Jussi Timonen, D Nate Guenin, D Kyle Greentree, LW Mike Vannelli, D Pete Zingoni, C David Laliberte, RW Frederik Cabana, LW Triston Grant, LW Steve Downie, RW Claude Giroux, C Ryan Potulny, C Jared Ross, C |
Riley Cote, LW |
The Young Talent:
Besides Goaltender the Flyers have tremendous depth. The Flyers have a lot of young talent and some very promising prospects. Below are in my mind the top five Flyers prospects:
# 1 Steve Downie, F
The Flyers 2005 first round pick in the NHL Entry Draft Downie already is a pretty well known name within Flyer fan circles. Downie is a speedy and talented scorer who also has tougher side and he isn’t afraid to drop the gloves. In Juniors Downie was a league leader in Goals, Assists, Points, and Penalty Minutes. Downie has a reputation for losing his temper but has also proven to be a tremendous leader at the Junior level. Bottom line Downie can be a very dominant player on the ice taking it over whether it is offensively or physically he can do it all. He’s a player Flyers fans will love as he’s the type of player the city of Philadelphia loves.
# 2 James vanRiemsdyk, F
The Flyers 2007 first round pick in the NHL Entry Draft. VanRiemsdyk is still very raw but shows a lot of promise and could eventually be the Flyers #1 prospect. He does good work along the boards and can score out in front of the net. The only skills he lacks are due basically to inexperience and youth so everything will come together in time.
# 3 Claude Giroux, F
Claude Giroux was drafted by the Flyers in 2006 and has been compared to Daniel Briere. He has tremendous playmaking ability and will bang with the best of him even though he’s not that big. He has a smooth style of skating and great speed he makes it look easy and that description fits perfectly with his scoring style as well. Giroux could be up with the Flyers sometime this year if not on opening day.
# 4 Ryan Parent, D
Parent was acquired by the Flyers in the Peter Forsberg deal last season. Parent is already a solid Defensemen through and through. He’s been a Captain on more then one level in his career displaying leadership qualities at a young age. Parent could eventually be one of the top Defensemen on the Flyers in the future. Parent may have the biggest upside of any prospect the Flyers have.
# 5 Braydon Coburn, D
Coburn was a first round pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers before being traded to the Flyers at the trade deadline last season for Alexei Zhitnik. Simply Coburn is just a solid Defensemen who uses his skating ability to always be in the right spots. He’s comparable to a Jason Smith with less physicality in his game.
What the Rest of the Atlantic Division Did Plus Predictions:
New Jersey Devils
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Key Additions: Dainius Zubrus, Karel Rachunek, Arron Asham, Kevin Weekes, Vitaly Vishnevski |
Key Losses: Scott Gomez, Brian Rafalski, Brad Lukowich, Erick Rasmussen |
New York Islanders
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Key Additions: Mike Comrie, Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bryan Berard, Andy Sutton, Josef Vasicek |
Key Losses: Arron Asham, Ryan Smyth, Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov, Randy Robitaille, Sean Hill, Eric Boguniecki, Richard Zednik |
Pittsburgh Penguins
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Key Additions: Darryl Sydor, Petr Sykora |
Key Losses: Eric Cairns, Jocelyn Thibault, Michel Ouellet, Nils Ekman, Josef Melichar, Ronald Petrovicky |
New York Rangers
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Key Additions: Chris Drury, Scott Gomez |
Key Losses: Karl Rachunek, Jed Ortmeyer, Michael Nylander, Matt Cullen |
In the End the Atlantic Division Will Finish:
- New York Rangers*
- Philadelphia Flyers*
- Pittsburgh Penguins*
- New York Islanders
- New Jersey Devils
*- Playoff Teams
Stanley Cup Finals:
Philadelphia Flyers vs. San Jose Sharks
Flyers in 6 Games
Enjoy the Season!
Contact Mike Santa Barbara at MikeSBPhillyPurge@yahoo.com
