With the Philadelphia Flyers finally eliminated from playoff contention with their loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night and about only one month remaining on the schedule, let’s try to look towards the (very few) positives of the 2021-22 campaign and try to predict the end-of-season awards and their winners. It’s a lot easier than you’d think, even with how bad they’ve been this year, but with the slew of injuries, the departed, and the many low-end performances, there are a few standouts on the roster that will very easily claim some hardware.
Bobby Clarke Trophy (Most Valuable Player) – Cam Atkinson
“Awarded to the team’s most valuable player —as voted on by panel of sports writers and broadcasters”
If you were to have guessed or predicted the winner of the Bobby Clarke Trophy before puck-drop on October 15th, the consensus picks would’ve been between Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, or Carter Hart. The Flyers were seemingly primed for a big season with all the moves they made in the off-season so if they were to win plenty of games and clinch a playoff spot in a very tight Metropolitan Division, it would have to go to either your top scorer, your best two-way player, or your number one goaltender.
With Claude Giroux no longer on the team, with Sean Couturier sidelined with a season-ending injury he suffered in December, and with Carter Hart’s win-loss record not looking so pretty, they’re automatically out of the race. Add in the fact that Kevin Hayes missed most of the season with a couple injuries, Ivan Provorov slumped, Travis Konecny had a bad first half, and Joel Farabee missing a slew of games; the choice becomes very obviously, Cam Atkinson.
The prize of the off-season after many of the other moves either backfired, got injured, or have departed, Atkinson leads the team in goals, points, shots, and has the highest plus/minus for a forward. On the season he has 23 goals and 50 points in 68 games, has 204 shots on goal, and is a +3 which is second best on the team behind Sanheim’s +5. He also averages 18:27 of ice time, which is the highest for any forward not named Couturier.
He’s been a positive amongst a myriad of negatives this season and he’s done everything that was expected of him and then some. Trading away Jakub Voracek was a big move for the Flyers but they believed a change of such magnitude was the right move for the franchise and they also needed a shoot-first player. As most goal-scorers, Atkinson has had an up and down year in terms of consistency with finding the back of the net, but all things considered, 23 goals for a team that’s near the bottom of the NHL in goals scored is quite the accomplishment.
Barry Ashbee Trophy (Outstanding Defenseman) – Travis Sanheim
“Awarded to the team’s most outstanding defenseman — as voted on by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters”
Ivan Provorov has won the Barry Ashbee Trophy in consecutive years and 3 in the last 5 but 2021-22 will have a different winner and it will most certainly be Travis Sanheim. The lanky, smooth skating defenseman will win his first Barry Ashbee Trophy as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers and it should be by a landslide. He had a very rough first-quarter to the season but after the firing of Alain Vigneault, Mike Yeo unlocked and unleashed the demon and he has been by far the most consistent and outstanding rearguard on the Orange and Black.
Now, by no means is this a gargantuan feat because this season has been absolutely horrible and we have to choose a winner. However, in saying that, his second half performance cannot go unnoticed. In his first 22 games with Vigneault at the helm, Sanheim recorded 0 goals and 3 assists in 22 games, going 14 straight without a point before the coaching change. Once Mike Yeo took over, Sanheim recorded 2 assists in the first game and has continued his excellent scoring run as he has accumulated 6 goals and 22 points in 43 games, while also not appearing on the power play until just recently.
In total he has played in 65 games and has scored 6 goals and 25 points, while averaging over 22 minutes a game. Before finally getting actual power play time in the loss to Minnesota, he was averaging 0:23 of power play time on the season. He has been the lone consistent and visible threat on the backend but it’s no surprise when you have a defense corps that is comprised of Keith Yandle, Nick Seeler, and Kevin Connauton. Ivan Provorov hasn’t had a good season, Rasmus Ristolainen hasn’t been all that great either, and Cam York hasn’t played in enough games to warrant consideration.
If Sanheim didn’t have a resurgent second half and every other defensemen remained at status quo for the year, I could have seen the Flyers giving the award to Ristolainen. It would’ve been a coin toss between Provorov and Ristolainen with the latter receiving it most likely off the fact that the Flyers know he’s received so much backlash since the trade and the contract extension and Provorov has obviously tailed off in recent years.
Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy (Most Improved) – Carter Hart
“Awarded by the players to the Flyers who is deemed to have improved the most from the previous season — as voted by their teammates
This is another award that would’ve been tough to judge if the season was going well just based on how many players who would’ve bested their down years from last season. However, this season the award becomes a little easier when you dig a little deeper in the stats and should be given to Carter Hart. The young goaltender had a very rough 2020-21 campaign, a lot of people doubted him for his lack of experience, his age, his potential, and thought his 2019-20 season was the outlier. This season, amidst all the chaos in front of him, he’s actually put up pretty good numbers.
In his rookie season in 2018-19 he went 16-13-1 with a .917 SV% and a 2.83 GAA. He followed that up by finishing 24-13-3 with a .914 SV% and a 2.42 GAA and a good run in the playoffs where he went 9-5 with a .926 SV% and a 2.23 GAA, while adding 2 shutouts. His 2020-21 campaign was just plain bad as he went 9-11-5 with a .877 SV% and a 3.67 GAA. He didn’t look like himself in the critical month of March, where the wheels fell off, and then his season ended with an injury.
This season his record isn’t great by any means as he’s 13-22-7 but he carries a .907 SV% and a 3.11 GAA. Nothing to write home about when you’re looking straight at the numbers but for a team that is near the bottom in the NHL in defense, penalty kill, and shots allowed; Carter Hart has had to battle on a nightly basis and to still be able to have a save percentage at 91% (was the case for most of the season) or even slightly below is a pretty good accomplishment. Yes, he has had his fair share of games where he gave up some pretty bad goals but when your defense allows odd-man rushes, breakaways, and collapses right in front of you on every penalty kill, it’s tough to envision any goaltender thriving in those conditions.
Yanick Dupre Class Guy Memorial Award – Cam Atkinson
“Awarded to the Flyer who demonstrates the most heart — as voted by the Flyers Fan Club”
James van Riemsdyk won this award last year and I think that was an easy choice, also considering he was the Flyers rep in the Players Association. This year, the choice is fairly obvious as well and considering all the injuries and all the players that have departed, the award should be given to Cam Atkinson. In his first year as a Flyer, the player “who was born to be a Flyer”, takes home two awards. Being the team’s leading goal scorer, point getter, plays in all situations, and always has a smile on his face, he has exemplified the award to a tee. The award is given to the Flyer who best illustrates class, dignity, and respect on and off the ice, and he has done exactly that through his leadership role.
Chuck Fletcher wanted to acquire players who were leaders, could fix the locker room’s negativity, and had adorned a letter on their jersey at some point in their career. Atkinson was the glue guy in Columbus for so many years and he was a fan favourite for a reason. He quickly embodied what it is like to be a Flyer, he won over our hears with his comments about always wanting to be a Flyer, and everyone remembers his grandma over social media in the summer.
In a season with little to cheer for, he showed up on a nightly basis and gave it his all on every shift. His shorthanded prowess was a nice touch for a Flyers team that severely lacked any skill in that department and he quickly became a favourite for media members to interview as well, which is not usually the case in a city like Philadelphia, especially when the sky is falling.
Gene Hart Memorial Award (Most Heart) – Kevin Hayes
“Awarded to the Flyer who demonstrates the most heart — as voted by the Flyers Fan Club”
This might’ve been the only difficult decision amongst the group because this could’ve gone to a slew of players. To play with heart, to play every shift like it’s your last, to play through adversity, and to give it your all on the ice could’ve gone to either Kevin Hayes, Zack MacEwan, Scott Laughton, or even Cam Atkinson again. It really boiled down to Hayes or MacEwen but I think the former takes home the hardware.
Kevin Hayes had a rough off-season that started with the passing of his late brother Jimmy and then having to undergo surgery right before training camp. He missed the first 12 games of the season, returned and played in 2 games while scoring a very emotional goal, before re-injuring himself, came back after missing 6 games, and then found himself back on the mend before making his return nearly 2 months later. A tumultuous season of emotions and health issues has culminated in a strong return with the season coming to a close. He has 12 points in 12 games since making his return to the lineup and has looked like his 2019-20 self.
Zack MacEwen could easily win the award as well based on his style of play. He’s a rough and tumble kind of player, drops the gloves when necessary, energizes his team when they’re in a lull, and sometimes has his hand on the offensive side of the puck. He has emerged as a fan favourite, it’s tough not to like him based on how he plays and how he puts his body on the line for his teammates. It’s a true flip of the coin for this piece of hardware but I think Hayes gets the slightest of edges.
