Photographer: Kate Frese
And then there was one. The Flyers take the ice for one final time in the 2016-17 season on Sunday night. They will face the Carolina Hurricanes, a team they have managed to beat three times already this season.
The upcoming offseason and subsequent 2017-18 season are a crucial one for both GM Ron Hextall and head coach Dave Hakstol, who have to move the Flyers ahead in their progression to contention.
The Flyers scored two goals in the first and two more in the second to take a 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets in their penultimate game of the 2016-17 season on Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center.
As is tradition on the final weekend of the regular season, the Flyers presented their annual team awards prior to Saturday’s game against Columbus.
Two games remain on the Flyers season as the final weekend begins. It will start for the Orange and Black on Saturday afternoon against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have locked up their playoff spot in third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Flyers GM Ron Hextall emphasized developing players and not relying on free agency or trading young assets to contend for the Stanley Cup. Now, that plan appears to be on the cusp of culminating over the next season or two. As The Who famously sang, “The kids are alright.”
Road woes heavily defined the season, and the Flyers face off one last time this season as the visiting team against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, after a spirited meeting on Saturday night in Philadelphia. Tuesday’s game also brings some new faces to the lineup. Mike Vecchione makes his NHL debut after sitting out the weekend, and so does defenseman Sam Morin, who was called up on Tuesday.
The Flyers have called up defenseman Sam Morin from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils, GM Ron Hextall announced.
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms now have a magic number of six to clinch a playoff spot. However, they played some of their worst hockey of the season in one of their biggest weekends of the season.
The 2016-17 Flyers saw some new blood injected onto the roster with highly-touted rookies Travis Konecny and Ivan Provorov. Watching them, along with Jordan Weal, join the team breathed life into what otherwise has been seen by some as a disappointing season overall.
