It's been an eventful summer for the Flyers faithful. Celebrating a Stanley Cup victory just a few months ago to seeing a revamp in several areas of the team. The off-season saw Philly make ten trades in an effort to be comfortably cap compliant and improve in every facet they could. In total, eight players, seven picks and several million dollars left the club while they brought in 18 players and five picks. The talk of the town is two major changes; out went stud defender Cody Franson and in came potential next face of the franchise Lucas Raymond (no pressure kid!).
The forward core remains relatively familiar with the likes of Larkin, Zadina, Rubtsov, Kane and Thompson all returning to the top six. Newcomer Lucas Raymond will join the first line with Larkin and Zadina. Big things are expected from the 22 year old Raymond. The Flyers haven't had a top scoring winger in quite some time, they are hoping he can be that guy or propel Zadina to new heights.
The D-core has been shuffled with the departure of Franson. Julius Honka and Urho Vaakanainen are likely to be top pair, with last years first round pick Brandon Montour pairing up with Moritz Seider on the second pair. The 3rd pair is two new faces in Esa Lindell (acquired in the Franson deal) and Gustav Forsling (signed from open UFA).
Goaltenting remains identical to 2030 with Martin Jones and Justus Annunen. We expect to see Annunen with closer to 35-40 starts this season as he prepares to take the starter role as early as next season.
The farm team has been overhauled following the leagues latest rule changes. Expect a high firing offence with additions of Logan Stankoven, Brayden Tracey, Jesper Bratt, Drake Caggiula, Artur Kayumov, Anthony Beauvillier, Carter Mazur, Dmitri Buchelnikov, Nick Bonino, Ondrej Kase, Sami Niku, Jake Walman and the return of Rasmus Asplund.
The draft saw the Flyers make 2 selections, pick #33 goalie Trey Augustine and pick #47 offensive defender Carson Rehkopf. Time will tell if these two will blossom into professional level talent but early speculation points to big things for Augustine should he perform well on the farm these next few seasons.
The Flyers are excited to get the new season underway against the Jets this afternoon.
7/25/2024 - 378 words
