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The Philadelphia Flyers conducted their first of their season-ending media sessions on Tuesday, following their second round playoff elimination. As much as their four game sweep to the Carolina Hurricanes stung, the players reflected upon the positive vibes of their unlikely postseason run.
They also provided some measure of clarity on the injury front, as the club was riddled with them by the time of their elimination on Saturday evening.
There was little question losing Owen Tippett for the entirety of the Carolina series put the Flyers at a disadvantage from a speed and skill perspective. Prior to the morning media sessions, he stated that he suffered internal bleeding from an injury during the Pittsburgh series. This was in addition to a sports hernia, as reported by Hockey Hot Stove colleague Bill Meltzer.
In addition, center Noah Cates suffered a fractured ankle in Game Two, which put him out of the series. Defenseman Cam York played through a rib injury, while goalie Dan Vladar and center Christian Dvorak worked through undisclosed injuries. Vladar’s likely occurred in Game Three of the Penguins series when Bryan Rust collided with him.
Both players deferred to general manager Daniel Briere for clarification later this week.
With that, here are some thoughts on Flyers Exit Day.
Tippett
In many ways, Owen Tippett embodied the Flyers playoff run. Despite his injury, he played a high speed, physical game that helped to stake the Flyers to a 3-0 series lead against the Penguins, including an 11 hit performance in Game Three. All while managing a sports hernia suffered prior to the regular season. But as that series wore on, his effectiveness dipped and the Flyers lost two games before winning a nail-biting Game Six. During the final two games of the series, Tippett struggled to stay on his skates at times.
As the Flyers had to deal with a quick turnaround for the Carolina series, it wasn’t surprising that he was going to sit out the first two games. However, once it was announced that he wouldn’t be able to play in Game Three (with a week’s recovery time), it became clear that he had played his last game of the season.
“It was kind of scary while everything was unraveling,” Tippett said to reporters. “I had tests and worked with our trainers. Feel better now, you saw me skating, and it truly was a day to day thing.”
As the Flyers leading goal scorer this season, Tippett had found longer stretches of consistently strong performance. Philadelphia sorely missed his combination of speed and power against the Hurricanes. While surgery won’t be needed, it’ll be important to monitor where his status is once next season.
Michkov
It’s been written and re-written multiple times this season. Matvei Michkov’s sophomore NHL season was one built of frustration. A very slow start following recovery from an offseason injury, followed by improved performance as the Flyers pursued a playoff spot. However, his postseason performance was the stuff of nightmares, which saw him sit twice in the Flyers 10 playoff games.
Consequently he struggled mightily with the pace of playoff hockey, unable to find the time and space he needed to make plays.
The Russian winger was reticent in discussing his season, even though he jokingly said “No comment.”
“It was the first playoffs for me and I cannot say it was easy,” Michkov said through translator Slava Kuznetsov. “I’m a player that the team expects to score and make the plays. At the end of it, it’s eight games and one assist.”
That said, it’s important to note that there’s perhaps no one on the Flyers roster who has the expectations that he has. He’s a lightning rod for debate. But his talent is undeniable. There aren’t too many players in the NHL who can call a 20 goal, 51 point season as a disappointing one.
“You saw throughout the season ups and downs for him, personally,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “And I think it’s to be expected, he’s a young guy, we all went through what he has gone through. The pressure that’s put on him is a lot higher than anyone else has had.”
So the big question will be, how will Michkov use what happened this season as fuel to prepare for a stronger Season Three.
Other Thoughts
- Travis Konecny dreamed of returning to the postseason. And there were times through it where he was able to be a driving force. However, he had several moments where he could’ve change the course of the series. Most notably in the overtime period of Game Two. “I was just randomly driving and (all of the sudden) I was like ‘F**k!’ I was just thinking, ‘This could be 1-1 right now,” he said to reporters. If the Flyers return to the playoffs next season, he will need to maximize what he does in big moments.
- Despite that, Konecny demonstrated excitement for the playoff run and what’s ahead. “We got in. Now we need to raise the bar. With the guys coming in, they had a huge impact. I am really excited for what’s to come.”
- Captain Sean Couturier echoed his team-mate: “I think it’s just something where we keep building, the continuation of this rebuild, if you want to say. But I think we’ve pushed ourselves to another level, and there’s still a couple more levels to get to the ultimate goal.”
- Vladar had an excellent performance throughout the playoffs, both on-ice and as a team leader. Konecny pointed out that the team feels like they win twice when he’s out there, when he’s making saves or picking his team-mates up. While he’s still angry and said he watched the overtime goal “150 times,” there’s little question it will be a motivator for next season. Could a contract extension happen before that? He would gladly welcome that.
- Trevor Zegras, a restricted free agent this summer, reiterated how much he enjoyed his first season in Philadelphia. “I’d love to be here for a long time. Love the fans, love the group. The passion for success and winning. We had a great, successful season.” The big question will be his new contract and how much it will reflect him being a center, a wing, or both.
- Defenseman Jamie Drysdale on the series: “Take two of the Carolina games, we could have come out out the other side and it’s anyone’s series. We don’t think there’s that big a gap.” Perhaps with time and more roster development, he’ll be proven right. But the view here is that there’s a ways to go.
- Rasmus Ristolainen said looking forward to a summer where he isn’t in injury recovery. However, as the Finnish defenseman enters the final year of his contract, it’s fair to wonder if his strong first postseason performance garners trade offers that Briere will not be able to refuse.
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