Philadelphia Flyers key statistics

NHL.com is providing in-depth analysis for each of its 31 teams throughout August. Today, three key statistics for the Philadelphia Flyers.

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1. Four who can score

The Philadelphia Flyers' top four scorers last season -- Claude Giroux (102 points), Jakub Voracek (85), Sean Couturier (76), and Shayne Gostisbehere (65) -- combined for 328 points (98 goals, 230 assists), which ranked second in the NHL to the Pittsburgh Penguins' top four (330).
The 328 points were an increase of 70.8 percent from the 192 points (55 goals, 137 assists) the four Philadelphia players had in 2016-17. The contribution from the rest of the Flyers was down 3.44 percent, from 378 points in 2016-17 to 365 last season.

2. Pumping up power play

Over the past three seasons, Giroux led the NHL with 94 power-play points (20 goals, 74 assists); Voracek had 81 (11 goals, 70 assists), tied for ninth with Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin; Gostisbehere ranked second among defensemen with 78 (17 goals, 61 assists), behind Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks (82); and Wayne Simmonds ranked second in power-play goals with 40, behind Ovechkin's 53.
The Flyers bolstered the power play during the offseason with the signing of free agent forward James van Riemsdyk. As with Simmonds, van Riemsdyk's role will be to create traffic in front of the net and tip shots, an important part of the power play.
In all manpower situations over the past three seasons, van Riemsdyk had 92 tipped shots, which ranked second in the NHL to New York Islanders forward Anders Lee (101). Simmonds was ninth with 71 tipped shots and scored 19 goals with tipped shots, tied for second with Lee and Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist behind Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers (20).

3. Young defensemen contributing

Philadelphia ranked second in the NHL with 125 points (35 goals, 90 assists) from defensemen 24 or younger last season, behind the Columbus Blue Jackets (139). Gostisbehere, who turned 25 on April 20, after the regular season, had 65 points (13 goals, 52 assists); Ivan Provorov, 21, had 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists); Travis Sanheim, 22, had 10 points (two goals, eight assists); and Robert Hagg, 23, had nine points (three goals, six assists).
Among NHL defensemen, Gostisbehere ranked fourth in points, Hagg was fourth with 238 hits, Provorov was tied for 10th with 169 blocked shots, and Sanheim ranked seventh with a relative SAT of plus-5.95 percent (minimum 20 games).