Flyers Training Camp
Carchidi: 10 Fearless Flyers Predictions for 2022-23
The Philadelphia Flyers, who finalized their roster Tuesday, begin the 2022-23 season Thursday by hosting the New Jersey Devils. Here are 10 fearless predictions on the season:
- The Flyers will finish with 73 points, a 12-point increase over last season but far short of the playoffs. They again will be at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division. Will that put them in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes?
-  With the team emphasizing defense this season, goalie Carter Hart’s numbers will improve significantly. He will finish with a 2.55 GAA and a .914 save percentage. Last season he had 3.16 GAA and a .905 save percentage.
-  Left winger Joel Farabee will win the Bobby Clarke Trophy as the team’s MVP.
- Owen Tippett, the right winger the Flyers acquired in the deal that sent Claude Giroux to Florida last season, will score 20 goals for the first time in his career.
- Tony DeAngelo will help the power play make modest gains, from clicking at 12.6 percent last year — last in the NHL, and second-worst in franchise history — to 16 percent. Baby steps.
- The offense will be offensive, finishing in the bottom three in the NHL.
- Defenseman Cam York will be promoted from the AHL’s Phantoms to the Philadelphia Flyers in mid December and will remain with the NHL team the rest of the season. York, 21. was sent to Lehigh Valley earlier this week, and new coach John Tortorella wants him to be more of a take-charge player.
- Sean Couturier, who will miss the start of the season with a back injury, will play in 53 games. That means he will miss 29 games. Last season, he played in 29.
- Some predictions on goals scored: Joel Farabee 25, Kevin Hayes 22, Cam Atkinson 21, Owen Tippett 20, Travis Konecny 19, Scott Laughton 15, Noah Cates 13, Morgan Frost 12, Wade Allison 11 Tony DeAngelo 9, Ivan Provorov 9.
- James van Riemsdyk and Justin Braun will be dealt at the trade deadline. The Flyers sent Braun to the New York Rangers at last season’s trade deadline for a third-round pick in 2023. They later re-signed him as a free agent in July, giving him a one-year deal for $1.75 million.
What is your prediction for fan attendance? I am guessing it will be an all-time low.
1. The Flyers will be lucky if this is not their worst season ever. Fifty points is optimistic.
2. Carter Hart may have better numbers this year – but I wish this team would not continue putting him in a situation where he has to be nearly perfect for the team to have any chance.
3. Whoever wins MVP will still be the MVP of the last place team in the league – and we still won’t get the first overall draft pick.
4. Good for Owen.
5. This is one of the people that should not have been brought on to the team and I won’t watch a single game while he is on the roster.
6. See number 2. If the team can’t score, the goalie has to be near perfect all the time – unrealistic.
7. I would rather Cam stay on the Phantoms so I can watch him.
8. I don’t see Coots playing more than 30 games this year.
9. Reflects #6 for sure.
10. We need to move those players and more… and should have done so starting last January once we were out of the playoff picture. We need real ownership and real management… time for Chuck to go as well.
Chuck, the architect, of this disaster, should have been gone last year.