Flyers 32 in 32: [Season preview | Top prospects | Fantasy breakdown]
1. How do the special teams get fixed?
The power play was the worst in the NHL last season (12.6 percent), and the penalty kill was 26th (75.7 percent).
The addition of defenseman Tony DeAngelo in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 8 should energize the power play. He led Hurricanes defensemen with 20 power-play points last season. And having top centers Sean Couturier (back) and Kevin Hayes (abdominal) healthy will provide the skill and strength in front of the net they lacked most of last season.
Couturier and Hayes also were key components on the penalty kill. Without Couturier, who played his final game on Dec. 18, the Flyers' penalty kill was 72.0 percent in 53 games.
Coach John Tortorella said he has confidence the players working with assistant coaches Rocky Thompson (power play) and Brad Shaw (penalty kill) can get things pointed the right way.
"I feel very confident in them," Tortorella said. "The thing that I really like about both of those guys [Thompson and Shaw] is I think they're very good communicators. ... They're willing to listen and I think they're very good at empowering people [but] we have work to do in both areas."
2. How will Tortorella and the roster mix?
Tortorella's fiery temperament stands in contrast to Alain Vigneault and Mike Yeo, who coached the Flyers last season.
Forward Cam Atkinson, who played six seasons for Tortorella with the Columbus Blue Jackets, said that approach is what the Flyers need.
"You talk to a lot of the players that have played for him that are currently still playing and guys that have played for him in the past, 99 percent of the guys love 'Torts,'" Atkinson said on the "Flyers Talk" podcast. "Loved the way he went about his business, loved the way he just told it how it is, kept everyone accountable. Practices were hard, but there was always a rhyme to the reason. I think he's going to do great for our team."
3. Who plays on the top defense pair?
Ryan Ellis was acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators in 2021 to play on the right side of the top pair with Ivan Provorov, but played four games because of a lower-body injury and could miss the start of the season.
DeAngelo, Rasmus Ristolainen and Justin Braun are right-handed shots; Provorov shoots left. Braun, who signed a one-year contract July 13, played with Provorov for most of last season before being traded to the New York Rangers on March 21.
DeAngelo feels he could be a good complement for Provorov after playing most of last season with Jaccob Slavin on Carolina's top pair.
"They're different players, Slavin (6-foot-3, 207 pounds) is a little bigger, takes up a little more ice, but Provorov (6-1, 201) is really strong, breaks the puck out really well," DeAngelo said. "I think that if we were together, the way I move the puck across to my partner at the blue line could give him a lot more opportunities than maybe he's in the last year or so."
