Puck Daddy’s NHL 2014-15 Emoji Preview: Philadelphia Flyers

(The 2014-15 NHL season is nearly upon us, and attempting to handicap the winners and losers can sometimes leave us speechless. So we decided to break down all 30 teams with the next best thing to words: Emojis!) 

Last Season In Emojis

Last Season, In Summary 

Three games was enough for general manager Paul Holmgren. After owner Ed Snider criticized the team’s training camp, the Philadelphia Flyers got off to an 0-3-0 start, which led to Holmgren dismissing head coach Peter Laviolette. In stepped his assistant, Craig Berube, who had more than enough time to keep the ship from sinking and help them finish third in the Metropolitan Division.

A first round meeting with the New York Rangers saw the teams exchange wins until Philadelphia’s long-time division rivals won the seventh and deciding game 2-1 en route to a run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Change would happen not only at the beginning of the Flyers’ season but also the end. Two days after being eliminated by New York, Holmgren stepped aside as GM to move into the role of team president, with Ron Hextall replacing him.

There were bright spots in the second half of the season, but a blow to the blue line and not many changes to the personnel in the summer leaves one to wonder what kind of Flyers team we'll see this year.

Last Season’s Definitive Highlight 

Claude Giroux’s falling backhand top-shelf goal is so pretty you can’t watch it only once.

Off-Season Transactions

Hextall’s first big move was dealing fan favorite Scott Hartnell to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for R.J. Umberger, who played the first three years of his NHL career with the Flyers. Also saying goodbye was Steve Downie after the forward signed a one year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins and penalty killer extraordinaire Adam Hall, who signed to play in Switzerland.

The Flyers were able to talk Kimmo Timonen into returning for another season, but when the veteran defenseman suffered a blood clot and clouded his hockey future, it forced Hextall to go to market and bring in Rangers and Predators cast-off Michael Del Zotto on a one-year, $1.3 million deal.

Goals weren’t hard to come by in Philly last season. The Flyers finished the year with 233 goals scored. Seven players reached the 20-goal mark, including Hart Trophy finalist Claude Giroux (28 goals, 86 points). Linemate Jakub Voracek had his best offensive season with the team (23 goals, 62 points), and now comes the competition to fill the void left by Hartnell’s absence on the top line.

Wayne Simmonds led the team in goals with a career high of 29. He also posted a career-best 60 as he continues to be a productive, physical presence.

Umberger should slot in on the second line next to newly-re-signed Brayden Schenn and either Simmonds or Matt “All I Do Is Score 20 Goals” Read.

One of Berube’s biggest questions that needs answering is what to do with Vincent Lecavalier. There were rumors all summer that the Flyers were trying to off-load him, potentially reuniting him with Laviolette in Nashville, but today he remains in Philadelphia. Despite posting 20 goals, Lecavalier struggled at 5-on-5, and looking at his WOWY (With or Without You) numbers, his linemates put up a higher percentage of shot attempts when not playing with him.

A little bit of bad luck and a little bit of a bump in development hindered Sean Couturier last season; but Berube sees the potential in his young pivot and while Couturier's offense is still coming around, there’s no questioning how valuable he is on the defensive side of the ice.

Losing Timonen, who led the blueline in Corsi-for at 55-percent, is a big blow to a defense that finished in the bottom half of the league last season (2.77 goals allowed per game). Mark Streit is left to carry the offensive load (10 goals, 44 points) from the back, while Andrew MacDonald and his new six-year extension looks to help out.

Braydon Coburn (team best 22:26 TOI) and Nicklas Grossmann are steady presences at 5v5 and on the penalty kill. Luke Schenn still has yet to show what type of player he is on a steady basis. Nick Schultz signed in July to help with depth.

Steve Mason had a good start to last season and that saw Holmgren hand him a three-year $12.3 million extension. Now with some security, can Mason stand up the pressure of being a no. 1 goaltender in Philly? If not, Ray Emery was brought back for another year after filling in when injuries arose.

Probable Text Conversation Within Organization

Special Teams

The Flyers’ special teams were both solid, finishing in the top 10 of each category — 19.7-percent on the power play, 84.8-percent on the kill. Simmonds’ 15 power play goals were third highest in the NHL, and with a unit that features Giroux, Voracek and Streit, that success should return. They will have to find a replacement for Hartnell, however.

On the kill, Couturier, Read and Coburn will feature on a group that not only is tough to score on, but also one that can be dangerous offensively (8 shorthanded goals last year).

GM and Coach

The Flyers took to the message Berube was sending early on and that helped their slow start come to a halt rather than continue off a cliff. He led them to a playoff spot and both sides know what to expect from one another. Hextall is trying to put his imprint on the team, as seen from the Hartnell deal. The team is mostly the same from 2013-14, so the new GM will have to get creative (Lecavalier) if he’s to be able to continue reshaping the roster to his liking.

And Now, A Blooper 

After straight-up basketball’ing didn’t work, Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux incorporated a hockey stick into their game of hoops with the Harlem Globetrotters.

The Potential Best Thing About This Team

Giroux and Simmonds continued to lead offensively while Couturier develops into a top-end shutdown pivot. Along the way, some of their kids — Jason Akeson, Scott Laughton, Shayne Gostibehere, Robert Hagg — get experience at the big club and provide a bright spot for the future.

The Potential Worst Thing About This Team

Lecavalier remains an albatross and Mason regresses terribly, putting the Flyers in a dogfight for a playoff spot that they may not win in an improved Metropolitan Division.

Single Emoji Prediction

Prediction: You don’t know what you’re going to get from this Flyers team. Other than the offense, there are questions marks on defense in light of Timonen’s absence, and Mason may never shake doubts about his abilities to be a no. 1 in the NHL. It’s easy to see them claw their way into a Metro spot, but then again, it’s also easy to see the blue line and crease let them down and start their off-season earlier than expected.