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Flyers Daily: Mystifying Summer; D-man Emil Andrae Shines Again

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Sean Couturier. Philadelphia Flyers (AP photo)
Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier will be trying to get back to form after undergoing back surgery.

Several months ago, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher acknowledged that his team needs more high-end players.

And then he was mostly quiet this summer.

No Johnny Gaudreau. No Alex DeBrincat. No deal to get a higher draft pick and nab Juraj Slafkovsky or Logan Cooley.

So Sean Couturier is the the only Flyer who could be classified as “high end,” but even he is now a question mark because he is coming off back surgery.

Call it a mystifying summer.

For what it’s worth, the Flyers have just three players among ESPN’s top-200 in its fantasy rankings: Couturier at 65, Ivan Provorov at 81, and Tony DeAngelo at 117.

By comparison, the Metro-favorite New York Rangers have six players in the top 68.

Yep, the Blueshirts — who were lousy a few years ago — know how to rebuild.

Granted, fantasy ratings don’t equate to players’ all-around value in “real” play, but they certainly show that the Philadelphia Flyers have a long way to go before they will become factors in the Metropolitan race.

Even New Jersey, which had just two more points than the last-place Flyers (61) last season, has six players ranked in the top 200.

Andrae shines

When Philadelphia Flyers prospect Emil Andrae collected three points in Sweden’s 6-0 win Friday over Austria, some downplayed his performance in the World Junior Championship. The competition in that game, some said, was weak.

And then Andrae, a 5-foot-9, 181-pound defenseman, was dominating Sunday in Sweden’s 3-2 loss to powerful Team USA, collecting a goal and an assist. Sweden is now 2-0-0-1. The Swedes need to win their final preliminary-round game Monday (10 p.m., NHL Network) against Germany to finish second in Group B, behind the United States.

The U.S. (4-0), which got two goals from Calgary Flames prospect Matt Coronato, clinched first place in B with the win over Sweden.

Canada will play Finland at 6 p.m. Monday on the NHL Network. Flyers prospects Tyson Foerster and Elliot Desnoyers are on Canada. Foerster had a goal in Canada’s 5-1 win Saturday over Czechia.

Breakaways

On Monday, I’ll be talking about all things Flyers on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio with Dave McCarthy at 2:30 p.m. Join us! … It appears former Flyers center Nolan Patrick, now with Vegas, will start the season on the LTIR. … The Flyers will report to training camp Sept. 21, but on-ice sessions won’t start until Sept. 22 in Voorhees. Camp is open to the public and free.

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