Flyers "stars" lead the way in opening night victory

COLUMBUS — The people at the top of the organization know it. Head coach John Tortorella has admitted it. Even the players probably realize it on some level.

This Philadelphia Flyers team, on paper, doesn’t have enough star-level talent.

They’re not lacking for depth. The forward corps is filled with quality options, they have four NHL-caliber goalies in the organization, and they have so many useful defensemen that they’re having trouble finding lineup spots for youngsters. What they don’t have are stars, the kind of Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon-level talents that can lead the way for 82 games and beyond.

It’s why they announced this summer that they were — at long last — truly rebuilding. It’s why they took a big swing on Matvei Michkov at the draft back in June. And it’s why they’re pegged by most prognosticators to finish in the NHL’s basement this season. Most observers don’t think the Flyers’ best players, the ones who will be at the top of their lineup on a nightly basis, are good enough.

Sean Couturier. Travis Konecny. Travis Sanheim. Carter Hart. Good players, sure, but great ones?

At least in Game 1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, they very much were.

Let’s start with Couturier, who very much did qualify as a capital “G” great player prior to his two back surgeries that have kept him out since December 18, 2021. He might be “back,” yes, but would the old Selke Trophy contender Couturier truly return, or would it be a diminished version who hit the ice for the Flyers in 2023-24? After all, Couturier turns 31 in December, and it had been 663 days since his last regular season game. He wouldn’t be his old self, right?

On Thursday, he looked pretty close to it.

Couturier still was rusty with the puck at times, and Tortorella after the 4-2 victory wasn’t yet willing to bestow the “he’s back” tag on him just yet. But Couturier picked up a primary assist on the Flyers’ first goal, won 11 of 20 faceoffs, took on 20:39 minutes (most among Philadelphia forwards) and helped the team to collect 75.9 percent of the expected goals at five-on-five (per Natural Stat Trick) when he skated. Once again, the Flyers’ first line seemed to constantly have the puck, just like the old days when Couturier was the clear-cut 1C.

“It’s just so funny, because it’s not like he’s buzzing around,” Konecny noted. “He’s just in the right spots at the right time, and you can’t get the puck from him. He just plays the right way, and when you do that, you get rewarded.”

Couturier may not buzz around, but Konecny sure can — and very much did in Game 1. He was everywhere from the start, doing Travis Konecny things. He mixed it up along the boards with the 6’5 Erik Gudbranson, harassed Johnny Gaudreau all the way up ice, drawing boos from the home crowd in the process — oh, and he scored two goals.

It was on his first tally when Konecny showcased just how impactful he can be at his best. His far-side wrist shot that beat Elvis Merzlikins was impressive enough. But it was Konecny who initiated the rush in the first place, with an expertly placed stretch pass to Scott Laughton, who gained entry into the Blue Jackets’ zone and waited for options to emerge. The best one? Konecny, who raced all the way down the ice to execute a makeshift give-and-go. It’s a play that only a truly dynamic forward would even think to make.

“TK doesn’t… I’m not sure he listens sometimes, but that’s a big part of his game, is just his reactions,” Tortorella said. “He just makes important plays, just like that.”

Couturier has been a borderline elite player in the past, and Konecny did score 61 points in 60 games last season, so it’s not like their strong play in the opener should have come as a major shock. Konecny’s buddy Travis Sanheim, on the other hand? That was a bit more unexpected.

It’s not that Sanheim lacks the talent to be an impact player. He’s proved that many times over, most recently in 2021-22, when he performed so well that he earned himself an eight-year, $50 million contract from former GM Chuck Fletcher. But in the wake of signing that deal, Sanheim’s play cratered, and he was very nearly shipped off to St. Louis in the offseason as a result.

Sanheim could have showed up to training camp in September embittered, angry that the Flyers had almost traded him just days before his no-trade clause kicked in. Instead, Sanheim re-committed himself over the summer, boosting his weight up to about 220 pounds and working to strengthen the sometimes-strained relationship between he and Tortorella. With Ivan Provorov no longer on the Flyers’ roster, Sanheim entered camp fully aware that there was a newly-available spot at the top of the depth chart, and regardless of his struggles the previous season, he was intent on claiming it.

That’s exactly what he did on Thursday. Sanheim skated a game-high 26:17 minutes, over a minute more than former teammate Provorov did for his new club. But Sanheim didn’t merely take the minutes — he excelled in them, lugging the puck up ice, breaking up plays with his stick, tying up opposing forwards in front of the net, and just generally looking like the player that Fletcher deemed worthy of a $6.25 million cap hit last October.

“Yeah, he was a monster,” Couturier noted. “For years, he’s been a good player. He’s kinda always been a little bit in Provy’s shadow, and now he’s getting that opportunity to step up into a No. 1 d-man almost.”

“He just wants to take control of the game,” Tortorella added. “And he’s had that attitude since Day 1 coming into camp.”

Entering the season, the Philadelphia blueline corps was expected to be the club’s biggest weakness, in large part because they lacked a defenseman capable of controlling games — a true No. 1 at the top to let everyone settle into more comfortable roles. In Game 1 at least, Sanheim very much looked like that guy.

And speaking of true No. 1s, we finally come to Carter Hart.

At this point, it’s obvious Hart is a quality NHL starting goalie. But he’s yet to take the leap into true stardom, despite showing flashes of that kind of upside. Hart has been tasked with backstopping underwhelming clubs, yes, but his save percentages over the past three years have still been 0.877, 0.905 and 0.907. He’s not exactly dragging the Flyers into playoff contention like Ilya Sorokin and Connor Hellebuyck have done for their clubs in recent years.

On Thursday, Hart’s play stood as a reminder that he does have that talent, stopping 31 of 33 shots (0.939), allowing two goals on 2.66 expected tallies. It’s not that he made lots of highlight reel stops — his positioning and rebound control helped him keep those kinds of chances to a minimum, with the help of strong team defense on the part of the skaters.

“Carter was fantastic when he needed to be,” Tortorella said.

It’s not that there aren’t scenarios where Couturier, Konecny, Sanheim and Hart deliver standout seasons in 2023-24. It isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Couturier remains the play-driving beast he was before the back injury. Konecny could add improved two-way play to his arsenal while retaining his point-per-game scoring ability. Sanheim always had the talent to be a clear-cut top-pair blueliner, just as Hart remains young enough to take a further leap into Vezina contender status. It just seemed highly unlikely that all four would happen at the same time; that each of the team’s projected players at the top of their positional depth charts would take the proverbial leap.

And to be clear, it’s still unlikely. Thursday was just one game, and against a club in Columbus projected to finish down near the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings.

But Game 1 showed what the Flyers might look like if the team’s current “stars” do all take that leap. In that best-case-scenario, they’d be a lot better than anyone is predicting.

Additional observations

2. The Flyers comfortably won the advanced stat battle in this one at five-on-five. Per Natural Stat Trick, they collected 59.88 percent of the expected goals; Evolving-Hockey had them at an even-better 62.70 percent. They more than deserved this win.

3. Out of the two prospects to dress for this game, Egor Zamula was the standout, not Bobby Brink. It was Zamula’s pokecheck that sparked the 2-on-0 rush between Couturier and Joel Farabee that ended in the Flyers’ first goal, and that wasn’t Zamula’s only strong play. He also saved a goal with a timely deflection, and delivered accurate passes all night long, with only one ugly turnover on the evening. Tortorella even singled him out for praise after the game.

“I thought Z started off (well), played really well,” Tortorella said. “Thought fell off a little bit towards the end, but made some good plays, had some good sticks, sets up a couple plays for us with a good stick.”

4. That’s not to say Brink was bad — the top line was impressive throughout the game, and dominated in terms of puck possession. But out of the three forwards (Couturier, Farabee and Brink), the rookie was the least impactful. His best moment came in the third period, when he nearly scored on the rush and drew a slashing penalty in the process.

5. Morgan Frost was one of the few Flyers who appeared to have a rough night, struggling with turnovers and failing to make his mark on the power play. He ultimately received just 12:43 minutes of ice time, ninth among Philadelphia forwards. Marc Staal also struggled; he was a primary contributor to the defensive breakdown that led to Columbus’ first goal, and then took a late third period penalty that easily could have proven costly when the Flyers were nursing a one-goal edge.

6. Former Flyer Ivan Provorov didn’t exactly have kind things to say about his old club after the Columbus morning skate on Thursday, criticizing the team’s style of play under Alain Vigneault, Mike Yeo and Tortorella, arguing they coached too conservative of a style, which he felt didn’t fit his game. I suspect there were those in Flyers World who very much enjoyed the fact that it was Provorov failing to chase down Konecny in the final seconds as the latter scored Philadelphia’s second empty-net goal of the evening.

7. While Brink and Zamula did start, Tyson Foerster and Emil Andrae were healthy scratches (in addition to third goalie Felix Sandström). General manager Daniel Briere hinted on Tuesday that at least for Game 1, Tortorella would go a bit veteran-heavy with his lineup, rather than start all of the young prospects that made the team.

Tortorella confirmed as much on Thursday morning.

“I think it’s a respect factor,” he noted. “As far as the situation with our team, I don’t think that’s really come into play with the starting of this group here. But I do feel that. It depends on the vets. You look at a Marc Staal, you look at a Hathaway and guys like that… they’re really good pros. You know? Yeah, I’ll leave it at that. I do think when you’re starting and we’re talking about a locker room, I think you need to show certain vets — especially if they’re the right type of people — respect in that factor. That aspect of it.”

8. Zamula played in part because Rasmus Ristolainen — who is on the trip — was not available for Game 1. However, after Zamula’s strong showing, perhaps he’ll stay in the mix even if Ristolainen can return on Saturday. After all, it was Nick Seeler and not Zamula who played his off side on the right — Ristolainen’s potential spot when he returns. We’ll see if it’s Seeler who gives way and not the youngster his teammates call “Z.”

9. Zach Werenski — who missed the bulk of the 2022-23 season due to a shoulder injury suffered in a game against the Flyers — went down with another scary-looking ailment on Thursday. Garnet Hathaway attempted a check and while he appeared to make some body contact, the main impact was knee-on-knee. Werenski stayed down on the ice for an extended period of time, and as he was helped off, could put no pressure on his right leg. The Blue Jackets later announced it as a “quad contusion,” but it remains to be seen if it’s ultimately more serious than that.

10. Say what you will about the Flyers’ affinity for the new PhD line of Nicolas Deslauriers, Ryan Poehling and Hathway, but they showed on Thursday why the brain trust likes them so much. The trio generated 13 shot attempts on the night and allowed just five, controlling 84.72 percent of the expected goals at five-on-five as well. They lived up to their advance billing.