Source: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images North America

Welcome to the part one of my Philadelphia Flyers offseason preview. Over these four parts, I will take a look at trades that should be made, free agent signings that need to happen, prospects that could interest the Flyers, and I’ll also project their offensive and defensive lines come opening night. Without further ado, let’s get right to part one. 

The run of luck has finally come to an end, as the Flyers season has closed in what some may consider to be disappointment. On the other hand, I tend to look at the glass half-full. Yes, they lost in the playoffs. Although, it was at the hands of the league’s best team in the Washington Capitals. This is a team that wasn’t even thought of for a playoff spot back in September, yet they fought their way to the postseason. It goes to show the heart that this team has, and that the future is bright for the Flyers Organization.

With that said, there are some negatives to take away from this postseason. The main takeaway was their power-play. Any time a team goes 1-23 on the man advantage, they’ll have a hard time finding a way to win. While their struggles on the man-advantage was well-documented, they did find a way to almost force a game 7. Following their 6-1 defeat in game 3, Dave Hakstol decided it was time to give Michael Neuvirth a shot between the pipes. From there, Neuvirth stopped every shot he faced, except for two. Who would’ve figured that the one goal he allowed would be the series-clincher. That said, none of the blame can fall on anyone for their game 6 loss. Braden Holtby just stood on his head, and stopped the Flyers on every shot he faced. They gave it a great effort, but came up just short in crunch-time.

Another major takeaway from this series, was the fact that Philly was physically dominated by the Capitals. Sure, the hits may tell a different stat, but Washington was able to bully their way past anyone on the Flyers team. The Flyers severely lacked in the physicality department, and that’s simply because they are an undersized team. There’s not one offensive player aside from Sean Couturier that is taller than 6’2″. Making matters worse, there are only five players that are north of 200 lbs. While both of those facts weren’t in the Flyers favor, there was really only one reason why they fell to the Caps. This team lacks offensive talent. There’s a fair amount of talent back on the blue line, but up front we’re severely depleted. We were clearly out-played from a talent aspect.

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Tags: Flyers, Giroux, Offseason, ron hextall, trades