Resurgent Philadelphia Flyers can be the Kings of the East in 2020-21

It is time for the Philadelphia Flyers to truly shine in 2020-21.

After years of frustration in The City of Brotherly Love, those poor and deprived Philly fans now have a legitimate juggernaut to get behind in the Philadelphia Flyers.

Between the Eagles, the 76ers and the Phillies, it has been tough to be a Philly sports fan of late, although the Eagles did win a Super Bowl in 2018 so they can’t complain too much.

However, while the Eagles and Carson Wentz continue to sputter in a dire NFC East Division, the 76ers continue to try and solve the Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons enigma and the Phillies continue to be the Phillies, the Philadelphia Flyers are emerging as the real deal right now.

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Having established themselves as a formidable force in the Eastern Conference in 2019-20, finishing second in the Metro Division before reaching the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season,  you can consider the Flyers back, baby.

And this could just be the start of a golden era for hockey in Philadelphia.

We mapped out here how the Flyers have finally unearthed their franchise goalie in Carter Hart after years of horrific misses in that department, and we all know that you can’t succeed in the NHL without elite goaltending.

Philadelphia now has that in Hart who looks every inch an absolute stud who can take on the role of savior for this franchise, but the Flyers also have a hell of a lot more going for them than just their goaltending.

General Manager Chuck Fletcher has done a good job of surrounding an aging core with high-end prospects and young talent, in addition to using Free Agency and the trade market to fill out the roster with crucial role and depth players.

While Captain Claude Giroux and winger Jakub Voracek are still staples of this lineup, they now have a lot more support in the likes of young studs Travis Konecny, Oskar Lindblom and 2019-20 Selke Trophy winner, Sean Couturier.

Kevin Hayes, who has seen mixed reviews in Philly due to his seven-year, $50 million contract but, based on his first year with the Flyers where he put up 41 points (23 G, 18 A) in 69 games, the gritty center will be a key contributor to this team.

Then you have the likes of Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee who have seized their opportunity in the NHL and run with it so far, while there is just depth up and down this Flyers lineup.

I mean, you look at the backend and, despite the loss of Matt Niskanen to retirement which was a crushing body blow, you can make a claim that the Flyers have one of the most impactful blueline units in the NHL.

Justin Braun adds some much-needed experience, Ivan Provorov is an absolute juggernaut, Erik Gustafsson should help on the power play and, if the enigma that is Shayne Gostisbehere can rediscover the secret sauce that made him such a highly-rated prospect, then this defense will be formidable.

You can apply the same to Claude Giroux who had a down year in 2019-20 with 53 points (21 G, 32 A) in 69 regular season games and just one goal in 16 postseason games. If the Flyers’ franchise icon and leader can put together a bounceback year in 2020-21, then that will just add another string to what is already a loaded bow in regards to the offense.

With an experienced Head Coach behind the bench in Alain Vigneault, who knows what it takes to get his teams to be successful and tough to play against in the postseason, coupled with a loaded coaching staff, the Flyers are in good hands from that perspective.

Furthermore, with just under $5 million in projected cap space according to CapFriendly, the front office does have some room to go out and make another move or two in order to fill a couple of holes.

They could take a look at Free Agent winger Anthony Duclair who is coming off a career-year with 40 points (23 G, 17 A) in 66 games for the Ottawa Senators, and the winger could certainly add a scoring punch for the Flyers lower down the lineup.

Or, Philadelphia could look to sign an Andy Greene or a Zdeno Chara to a short-term, team-friendly deal in order to replace some of the experience, some of the grit and some of the penalty killing expertise left by Matt Niskanen’s departure, although they still need to thrash out a new deal with RFA defenseman Philippe Myers.

However, even if the Philadelphia Flyers don’t make any further moves to bolster their roster, they will be in very good shape heading into the 2020-21 NHL season.

And, with Division Realignment likely due to ongoing complications caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Flyers could find themselves in a new-look East Division.

In the model proposed by Greg Wyshynski and as we explored here, the Pittsburgh Penguins would be gone and would be replaced by the Buffalo Sabres, while the Boston Bruins would also be in the Division.

While the Bruins are still heavyweight contenders, along with the Washington Capitals, the Flyers are right up there with those two teams and are a more talented and a more loaded roster than the New York Islanders and the Sabres and maybe even the Carolina Hurricanes, while the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers probably need another year or two to be really competitive.

Therefore, there is a path laid out for the Philadelphia Flyers to carry their momentum into the 2020-21 NHL season and, if they can get productive years from certain heavy-hitters, their young guns continue to develop and Carter Hart continues his coronation as the franchise’s new savior between the pipes, then this team has the firepower, the talent on the backend and the goaltending to be able to be crowned Kings of the new-look East Division.

And, who knows, if they can stay healthy and consistent then the Flyers may even be primed for a deep postseason run. They’ve certainly got the weapons needed to do as such.

Get ready, Philly, because the Flyers are ready to take that next big step in their overall maturation process and provide the sporting landscape in The City of Brotherly Love with some much-needed hope.