Have The Philadelphia Flyers Hit Rock Bottom?

It’s no exaggeration to say that things are as bad as they’ve ever been for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Tuesday on Long Island, as Keith Yandle set the NHL’s Ironman record, the Flyers watched a 2-0 first-period lead evaporate in a 4-3 regulation loss to the New York Islanders. Their current 13-game winless streak (0-10-3) is the longest in franchise history, and they’ve yet to win a game in 2022.

Never before, in 55 seasons, have the Flyers had two winless streaks of 10 games or more in the same year. The first one, from Nov. 18 – Dec. 8, got Alain Vigneault fired after eight games. The current one shows no sign of abating.

In between, interim head coach Mike Yeo strung together a seven-game point streak (5-0-2). That’s now a very distant memory.

As of Jan. 28, the Flyers have fallen to last place in the Metropolitan Division, 13th out of 16 in the Eastern Conference, and 27th in the league. And there are still 38 games left to go. How much worse can it get?

At a mid-season media conference on Wednesday, Flyers’ chairman and CEO of Comcast Spectacor, Dave Scott, said he didn’t want to use injuries as an excuse for the club’s plight. They certainly are central to the club’s plight — and other teams with similar numbers of man-games lost are keeping Philadelphia company in the lower ranks of the league standings.

NHL top 5 teams, man-games lost to injury and health protocols

MTL 373
BUF 301
PHI 294
VAN 277
VEG 271https://t.co/LS8wZDqW0I

— Man-Games Lost NHL (@ManGamesLostNHL) January 28, 2022

The Big Three

The list, of course, starts with Ryan Ellis, Sean Couturier and Kevin Hayes — collectively worth more than $17 million against the salary cap, over 20 percent of the team’s cap space.

Between the three of them, they’ve played 53 games — 29 for Couturier, 20 for Hayes and four for Ellis. And they’ve chipped in 31 total points — 17 for Couturier, nine for Hayes and five for Ellis.

Leading scorer Claude Giroux has 34 points on his own.

Hayes is now out again, as he continues to try to get right after his offseason core muscle surgery. Couturier and Ellis may or may not be back this season.

“I think it could go either way with both players,” said general manager Chuck Fletcher on Wednesday. “There’s a chance that they could come back this year and there’s a chance that they will need procedures that will take them out for the rest of the season. We’re trying to do everything we can to avoid surgery in both cases.”

Scott is taking a more long-term view.

“The most important thing for me, in my direction to the players and the medical staff is —at this point, we have a long road ahead of us this year,” Scott said. “Let’s get these guys right for next year. If that allows them to play, get healthy this year and play? Great. But the focus has got to be on their long-term health.

“Speaking with the doctors and our medical people, we do not feel these injuries are career-threatening at all. But they certainly could be season-threatening, as as we all have seen.”

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The Injured Vets

In the next tier, we’ve got the veterans who were signed to add depth to the roster, but have now spent significant time on the sidelines.

Derick Brassard, 34, started the season like a house on fire, with six points in his first five games. But he is now stuck at 11 points in 19 games for the season, has played two games in the last two months, and has no timetable for a return from what’s now being called a hip injury.

Nate Thompson, 37, chipped in just one goal in his 19 games. But he contributed useful minutes as a bottom-six center and was a solid 50.4% in the faceoff circle. Thompson has now been on the shelf for the last two months, after a shoulder injury that required surgery.

And while Sam Morin is just 26, his already-long injury history has made him a grizzled veteran well before his time. After multiple major knee surgeries, the Flyers’ first-round pick from 2013 was able to get into 20 games last season, adding a much-needed element of grit and toughness whether he was playing on the blue line or as a fourth-line winger.

The Flyers re-signed Morin for a bargain $750,000 this season, hoping for more of the same. But his knee issues have kept him on the shelf all year. In all likelihood, he’s set to miss another entire season — and that could very well spell the end of his hockey career.

The Injured Kids

Another promising prospect who can’t seem to stay healthy is forward Wade Allison. The 24-year-old made his pro debut last season, and impressed in his 14-game audition with the Flyers. Allison’s high-intensity playing style and nose for the net made him a player to watch this year. But a high-ankle sprain suffered in a preseason scrimmage kept him sidelined until the end of November.

Last week, Allison was called up from the AHL. But in his Flyers’ season debut against the. Buffalo Sabres, he suffered a sprained MCL that has put him right back on the shelf.

Then, there’s Joel Farabee. A bright light during the grim 2020-21 season as he broke out with 20 goals and 38 points, Farabee has seen his production take a bit of a dip this season. But he is still third on the Flyers with 11 goals.

The 21-year-old missed seven games with a shoulder injury in December. And he went back onto injured reserve last week, now expected to miss four weeks with what’s being called an upper-body injury.

Three other depth players have also missed significant time. Forward Ryan Fitzgerald, 27, suffered a lower-body injury in training camp. Tanner Laczynski, 24, suffered a season-ending hip injury in training camp. And Patrick Brown, a 29-year-old early-season waiver pickup, has been limited to 20 games between a bout with Covid, an injured thumb and, most recently, a sprained MCL.

Defying The Odds

In this environment, the fact that Yandle was able to stay in the lineup and set the Ironman record seems even more remarkable. He’s one of just four Flyers to suit up for all 43 games this season.

The other three:

• Justin Braun, the 34-year-old who has seen his ice time spike by nearly a minute-and-a-half per game this season as he tries to help fill the holes on the blue line.
• James van Riemsdyk, the 32-year-old who also appeared in all 56 games last season. But with just 10 goals and 17 points this season, van Riemsdyk’s production has never been lower. And his minus-20 rating is worst among Flyers forwards by a significant margin, suggesting that he has also become a defensive liability.
• Cam Atkinson, the 32-year-old offseason trade acquisition who is tied for the team lead in goals (15). Brought in to provide some finish, Atkinson has met expectations, scoring regularly and staying healthy.

Before next week’s All-Star Break, the Flyers will get two more opportunities to snap their grim streak. They’ll host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday and the Winnipeg Jets next Tuesday.

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