7 things we learned from the Flyers getting swept by the Hurricanes

The Philadelphia Flyers just got kicked out of the playoffs thanks to being swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round. But, there are still some things to take away from that series.

They may have lost four straight games, but they were not all stinkers and complete blowouts to a team who feels destined to finally break through and finish the season on a high note. There are things to learn from this series and let’s go over them — the good and the bad.

Flyers’ power play needs a major overhaul

While we knew that the power play needed to be addressed in the offseason, since a team with any hopes to make it into the playoffs again, cannot have the NHL’s worst man advantage. It is just so improbable that they got in the postseason with the 32nd-ranked power play and there is absolutely no way it’s going to happen again.

There needs to be a massive improvement. In 28 minutes and 27 seconds of time on the power play in this series, the Flyers were outshot 7-9. That right there is enough to go yeesh and point at in disgust. It just did not look good. They had the advantage in total attempts 23-13, but the shorthanded team should still not even be that close!

They managed to score one goal, but so did the Hurricanes. Coming out even on your own power play is not going to take you very far.

There were improvements through the season. The shot rates and expected goal rate was up from last season and graded out around league-average (Flyers had the 13th-highest unblocked shot attempts per 60 in the NHL, for example) but the actual conversion is still a major problem, obviously.

Who knows what they can do about it — a new coach in Yogi Svejkovsky was already brought in, and they do have some more talented players like Trevor Zegras to execute on the man advantage. It could come down to just one thing, also.

More offensive talent is needed, plain and simple

While the Hurricanes are one of the best defensive teams in the NHL, it became very obvious that the Flyers just need to lean more on the offensive side of the puck. It is true that the major reason why the Flyers were able to beat the Penguins in that first round is because of their stellar defense and they kept with it, but there needs to be a balance.

If Rick Tocchet isn’t going to go much in the other direction and continue to play more of his style, then the Flyers need more offensive talent to take advantage of the rare opportunities they get to score. We saw it in Game 4 with all the 2-on-1 breakaways but the players on those odd-man rushes just could not execute well enough.

All series long, the Flyers scored just five goals total and three of those came at 5-on-5. Just some abysmal stuff when it comes down to being able to put the puck in the net.

The arrival of young forwards like Porter Martone and Alex Bump certainly helps, but they need forwards in every spot on the lineup who are capable of putting the puck into the back of the net. We saw goals from Mark Jankowski on the other side; Will Carrier has scored double-digit goals in the season — there’s just opportunity to get offense from other spots in the lineup instead of relying on a couple guys who can do it in Philadelphia.

It all just boils down to either the current players improving and developing their offense at the NHL level, or bringing in other players.

Rick Tocchet is willing to switch things up

The playoffs are a different beast than some games in the middle of January, of course, but we did see head coach Rick Tocchet be a whole lot more flexible than we presumed he would be. While he could have stuck to his guns and gone with the same lineup that got them to the playoffs and ride it out, he tried new things in the middle of this series and was open to changes like putting Denver Barkey at center.

And when it comes to young guys, while he still leans on veterans heavily, as Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny led all forwards in ice-time, he was open-minded enough to throw Jett Luchanko and Oliver Bonk in for Game 4. Could be seen as a desperation move, or could be seen as giving those two young prospects an opportunity in potentially the last game of the season.

Now, we got to see that Bonk could certainly make this team out of training camp next season, and Jett Luchanko has some things to work on but the Flyers are open to him playing on the wing. Still, it shows that Tocchet is willing to listen and change tactics and his lineup around game-to-game.

Dan Vladar can be the Flyers’ guy

Going into the playoffs, there were major questions surrounding Dan Vladar in the crease. We knew that he performed above expectations in the season, but how can that translate to the biggest time of the year? Well, the Flyers are completely fine in his hands.

After he posted a very solid .904 save percentage in the four games against the Hurricanes and was bombarded with 136 shots on goal against during that time, it does certainly feel like he’s no longer just a short-term, temporary solution but is someone that the team can trust to put in the same efforts of other starters around the league.

There were a couple gaffs in the postseason, but those will be fixed and they’re learning opportunities anyways. Vladar should be seen as a multi-year solution in the crease and is on the same level as some other more bona fide starters in the NHL.

No longer do we hesitate going into a season with him in the crease or feel uneasy about it. There is so much rock-solid evidence that he’s an above-average starter and that already means so much in Philadelphia.

Denver Barkey can play center, somewhat

It’s a small thing, but apparently Denver Barkey can play the middle of the ice. When Tocchet needed a center to replace Noah Cates after his injury, thanks to the advice from Keith Jones, he turned to Barkey to play pivot for the first time in the NHL and in pro hockey in general. Even during his time in the OHL with the London Knights, Barkey rarely ever played center in the two years after he was drafted by the Flyers.

And then he was just thrown in down the middle in the playoffs.

He played Games 3 and 4 at center and it was a mixed bag of results. During the two game’s worth of ice-time at center, Barkey’s lines were outshot 7-17. That wasn’t great. But to be fair, during Game 4 when he was with Carl Grundstrom and Jett Luchanko, they were outshot 1-7 and that is where a lot of the shot difference comes from. There weren’t any overwhelmingly positive notes from Barkey at center, but he at least is now an option. He might be the sixth or seventh option to be a top-nine center for the Flyers next season, but it’s good to know regardless.

Porter Martone can make a difference

As we slowly move into the more positive notes to end the list: Porter Martone.

There was some concern from this writer about how he would handle going quiet and when the goals didn’t come so easy. To finish the NHL regular season with four goals and 10 points in nine games and look like a worldbeater, and then score three points in the first three games of the Penguins series; Martone looked unstoppable. But then he went without a point for the remainder of the first round and the first two games of the Hurricanes series.

Thankfully, his production didn’t just halt and we would grow a little concerned if we were bamboozled a little bit. Martone got right back to it and looked like a force in the first period of Game 3, and then in Game 4 looked like one of the best forwards on the ice. In that final game of the season on Saturday night, Martone finished with five shots on goal and earned an assist on Tyson Foerster’s game-opening goal.

In total, with a little bit of a hills-and-valleys thing going on, Martone finished with two goals and five points in the 10 playoff games. He was just one of eight Flyers to earn a point at 5-on-5 and it was only him and Trevor Zegras who managed to have two total points in the series. Those were your scoring leaders for the Flyers in this series: Two guys who had two points.

Martone is going to be a difference-maker and with a full season ahead of us, we’re only more excited. We can skip the entirety of summer and would be totally cool with it since Porter Martone plays for our hockey team.

Flyers have some pieces in place to be here again

While Martone is certainly a massive part of it, he is a piece in this group of Under-23 talents the Flyers have suddenly formed and are arriving ahead of schedule. We didn’t think Denver Barkey was going to be here, let alone play an important role in the playoffs. Oliver Bonk could very well be an impact defensemen next season. Alex Bump is looking like a heck of a winger. And even Jett Luchanko was seen as an option.

These are players who can supplement the talent that is already here and players who can possibly make general manager Danny Briere more comfortable moving on from a couple players this summer to address positional needs, because he already has their replacement ready to go.

It’s an exciting time in Philadelphia even if there is a large Matvei Michkov-sized elephant in the room. Sure, we could have made one of the things that we learned the fact that Michkov did not make an impact whatsoever in this series and was ultimately scratched in Game 4, but we’re just going to continue hoping and praying that he has a killer summer and we can put this season behind us. Because then, he can join and potentially lead this incredibly exciting group of young players to the playoffs once again.