10.15%. That is the efficiency of the Philadelphia Flyers power play in 2023-24.
When they finished in last place in 2020-21 at 12.55%, we thought that was bad. Then they finished in last place again in 2022-23 but with a slightly more palatable 15.56%. Somehow, it’s gotten worse this year with their man advantage barely clicking at 10%.
Last year, the Flyers did better in large part because of Tony DeAngelo, especially in the first half of the season. The idea was that the insertions of Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson would have pushed the power play to new heights, because let’s be real, did we think it could have gotten worse?
Somehow it did.
After whiffing on 4 power play opportunities against the Edmonton Oilers on January 2nd, the Flyers’ man advantage stood at 3 for 56 on the road – or 5.3%. Against the Oilers, they looked completely lost on the ice with the extra skater, they had difficulties traversing the neutral zone into the offensive zone with speed and purpose, and once they did find themselves set up, they ended up with very minimal chances outside of their second power play. Their passes were not crisp, there was far too much movement, and it seems like the players themselves don’t know the plot of Rocky Thompson’s schemes.
Move onto Thursday’s game and things really didn’t get any better. On a 2-man advantage for 2 minutes, the Flyers did indeed register 5 shots on goal and had another 3-4 shots blocked. However they were unable to get to the prime scoring areas, they were going as deep as you could, hugging the blue-line, and taking shots from the outside except for a Couturier redirect attempt at the side of the net – which Daniil Tarasov read without a hitch.
Tarasov had to make some important saves but they weren’t overtly difficult ones to deal with. In fact Samuel Ersson had to deal with a lot worse on Columbus’ power plays.
Move onto Saturday’s afternoon clash against the Calgary Flames and things finally ameliorated. For starters they scored their first goal in 21 attempts when Couturier banked in a puck past Jacob Markström to tie things up late in the second. However, they were utilizing the point shots and traffic in front of the net with a lot more regularity, rather than trying to use skill plays, passes, and finesse to get on the board.
The Flyers have taken a look at all the other power plays around the league and have come to the conclusion that they don’t need one-timers. How many times have the Flyers been victims to Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, and even Mika Zibanejad one-time blasts from their respective offices. Yet the Flyers continue to ignore the obvious and have their players gathering hard passes, which allows the defense to adjust and the goaltender to read the play better.
The predictability factor is sky high with opposing penalty killers being able to read the passes and the intended receivers. The Flyers love rimming pucks and passes around the boards and sometimes it works but for the most part they’re being kept to the outside and are constantly looking to make the perfect play instead of the simple one.
Point shots seem to be their bread and butter, yet it’s being under utilized. It worked for Shayne Gostisbehere, it worked for Tony DeAngelo, and it’s working well for Cam York and Egor Zamula – the odd time they do take the shot.
On home ice, things aren’t that much better, however they are 10 for 72, which comes at around 13.9%.
The once majestic power play has never recovered since the departure of Joe Mullen. In his 10 years working the Flyers man advantage, they only finished in the bottom-half of the league once, which was ironically one of their better regular seasons, while finishing in the top-1o on 7 different occasions which included 3 top-3 finishes. Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Simon Gagné, and Daniel Brière passed the torch to Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, and Gostisbehere, but it ended in 2016-17.
2007-08: 2nd in the NHL at 21.82%
2008-09: 6th in the NHL at 22.47%
2009-10: 3rd in the NHL at 21.38%
2010-11: 19th in the NHL at 16.61%
2011-12: 6th in the NHL at 19.70%
2012-13: 3rd in the NHL at 21.64%
2013-14: 8th in the NHL at 19.73%
2014-15: 3rd in the NHL at 23.44%
2015-16: 11th in the NHL at 18.90%
2016-17: 14th in the NHL at 19.49%
The Flyers turned to Kris Knoblauch between 2017-18 and 2018-19 where they finished 15th and 23rd, respectively, before going for the more experienced Michel Therrien between 2019-20 and 2021-22. The Flyers went from 14th to 18th to 32nd in a flash and things haven’t changed since Rocky Thompson’s arrival in 2022-23. Knoblauch came straight from the Erie Otters of the OHL, Therrien’s old school ways no longer worked in the modern NHL, and Thompson was a notorious tough-guy whose coaching career was primarily spent in junior hockey.
2017-18: 15th in the NHL at 20.69%
2018-19: 23rd in the NHL at 17.09%
2019-20: 14th in the NHL at 20.80%
2020-21: 18th in the NHL at 19.16%
2021-22: 32nd in the NHL at 12.55%
2022-23: 32nd in the NHL at 15.56%
2023-24: 32nd in the NHL at 10.15%
You have teams like the Seattle Kraken, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, and the Montreal Canadiens all doing miles better than the Flyers even though they are averaging less than 2.8 goals per game on the season. There are 18 teams who have essentially doubled the Flyers percentage-wise which doesn’t even include a team like the last place Sharks – who are scoring 2 goals per game – clicking at 18.63%.
We are barely at the halfway point of the season and there are already a few players who are on the precipice of outscoring the Flyers as a whole this season – or are already there with Sam Reinhart at 13 power play tallies while Valeri Nichushkin has 11, and Nikita Kucherov and Ryan O’Reilly each have 10.
On top of all of that, the Flyers penalty kill has scored 10 goals and have a better chance of scoring with a man down then they do with the extra attacker. The aggressiveness that they possess right off the hop when they’re down a man is astonishing but also a little bewildering. How can you be that aggressive down a skater then you are with the extra attacker? Their even strength play under John Tortorella has been really good so it makes you wonder how they’re better at even strength or while killing a penalty than they are with the extra skater.
It comes down to basic coaching and strategies. Brad Shaw has done such a terrific job with the penalty kill that whenever they’re on the ice, they’re out there with a purpose and an identity. Everyone knows about the strong forechecking, the offensive prowess, and their aggression on top of the fact that they’re looking to score every single shift.
However, Thompson has the power play slowing things down to a snail’s pace, whipping slingshot passes that have zero maneuverability in the neutral zone, and performing dump-and-chases with very little success.
Every power play has an alpha, whether that’s Ovechkin, Stamkos, Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, or whoever it may be; there’s always one player that commands. The Flyers don’t have that player anymore. It used to be Giroux, at one point it was Richards, and over time they’ve utilized different quarterbacks in Kimmo Timonen, Mark Streit, and Gostisbehere.
The 2023-24 Flyers don’t have that. Before yesterday’s game, they barely used their defensemen, they don’t have a specific player camped out in his respective office – akin to the aforementioned power play specialists – their net-front presence is almost nonexistent, and their decision making is extremely poor. They either hold onto the puck for too long or pass it around with too much predictability. The goalies see everything and the defensemen easily anticipate passing plays with their active sticks.
If the games against the Flames was an indication for the future, then it was good to see Rocky Thompson going back to the basics because at this rate what do you have to lose if you started firing shots from the point with traffic in front? York has a hard shot, Zamula has found a way through the blockade, and Travis Sanheim has a good shot as well.
Their passes aren’t reaching their intended target and if they do it’s too hard for them to handle, there’s zero net-front presence currently with the exception of the one player at the side of the net looking to play the puck through his legs or whip it into the blue paint. The Flames had a ton of problems dealing with the point shots first and foremost and Markström was the only reason the score wasn’t more lopsided and that the Flyers only capitalized once.
Going back to the basics would do this team wonders and when you’re clicking at less at just around 10% and on pace to finish with a bottom-5 debilitating power play in NHL history, something has to change.
The worst single-season power plays in NHL history:
Anaheim Ducks (2020-21): 8.9% in 56 games
Tampa Bay Lightning (1997-98): 9.3%
Minnesota Wild (2000-01): 9.6%
Florida Panthers (2013-14): 10%
Philadelphia Flyers (2023-24): 10.15% in 39 games
Someone has to take control, take action, and be the leader of their respective units. They have too much talent to be toiling at the bottom of the category for a third consecutive season. Joel Farabee, Sean Couturier, Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, Cam Atkinson, Morgan Frost, and Cam York should be at the very least in the middle of the pack league-wide. You give this club 5-10 more power play goals and they’d be battling with the New York Rangers for top spot in the division.
Carolina leads the league with 39 power play goals, which is 3 times more than the Flyers have scored in just 8 more opportunities. 10 different teams have scored 30 or more power play goals and another 7 teams have doubled the Flyers, including Montreal, Arizona, and Nashville.
The New York Rangers are clicking at 29.66% on the season, which is almost three times better than the Flyers percentage-wise in 10 less opportunities. The Rangers were the only other team above 30% coming into play on Saturday before going 0/3 in their shootout loss to Montréal. There are an additional 6 teams who are clicking at an elite pace of 25% or above in Tampa Bay (29.01%), Carolina (28.68%), New Jersey (28.57%), Boston (26.96%), Edmonton (25%), and Toronto (25%).
As for the players themselves, they have 7 players with power play goals this season with Tyson Foerster and Sean Couturier each claiming 3, Travis Konecny and Bobby Brink each tallying 2, and Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, and Egor Zamula each with 1.
7 players with power play goals isn’t that bad of a number when you look around the league, with the Rangers and Oilers having 8 and Boston having 7, but it’s the amount of goals that the players have that is alarming.
At some point you’d think the power play will figure itself out but we’ve been saying that for the last 2.5 seasons. After going 3-for-10 in two games against the New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins on the 30th of November and 2nd of December, respectively, the Flyers have gone 3 for their last 47 but have somehow posted an 8-3-4 record. They have also scored 4 shorthanded goals in that span.
I don’t think the personnel is the issue, I think it’s the coach, and the Flyers should look elsewhere with their free-falling power play being the only thing keeping them down this season. Factor in a few more power play goals, and the 20-13-6 Flyers could very easily be 23-11-5 or 24-11-4.
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