The Flyers lost tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes, making this the fifth loss in a row. Now, there are more than a couple reasons why this is happening in my opinion. So, buckle up and get ready because this isn’t going to be for the homer fans out there.

“Injuries”

We lost Kevin Hayes, Ryan Ellis and now Derick Brassard to injuries and it’s hard to tell who will be back first or who will even be healthy when they come back. Ellis comes back for a game then goes and re-aggravates his injury. Hayes comes back, tweaks his injury during his first game back, hits the locker room, then comes back out to finish the game, only to return to the injured list. To be honest, I don’t think either one of them should come back until they’re absolutely, 100% recovered because it’s clear that wasn’t the case when they returned. In my personal opinion, Hayes and Ellis need to be rested until after Christmas, which is probably going to be the case anyway. Nick Seeler is doing his job and staying under the radar for Ellis. Morgan Frost has been brought up from the Phantoms to fill in for Hayes, but I think it’s way too early to comment on his play so far because he’s only played in two games. They’ve been fine in those aspects, so I will be bold in saying, I don’t think that’s as big of a problem as everyone thinks.

“The Power Play”

The Power Play looks atrocious and has absolutely no reason to. The Power Play lines go as follows…

Line 1 - JVR, Coots, TK, G and Provy

Line 2- Farabee, Frost, Atkinson, Sanheim and Yandle.

First off, the 1st line needs to be switched up from Ivan Provorov to Keith Yandle. Yandle was brought in from Florida to lead the Power Play unit and needs to be slotted in to do so. His veteran ability to defensively quarterback the Power Play has been shown in recent years. I would also take the fourth forward off every line and replace it with a second defenseman. Yandle and Provy should be the top Power Play defensive unit. If that’s not the case, why is Yandle even here? Personally, in tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Provy looked lost and Travis Sanheim was totally disengaged on the ice. Line 2 needs to be shaken up as well, by putting Cam Atkinson on the first line with Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier and slapping James van Riemsdyk down to the second line. Also, Sanheim should be replaced with Justin Braun, who has been doing 100% better than his previous years with the Flyers. Crunch time, Sanheim is not your guy and it’s not hard to spot this. He’s out maneuvered by players that have no business out playing him.

There needs to be some movement on the Power Play and I personally think these could work.

“The Sniper”

So, we brought in Cam Atkinson and everyone thought the problems of shooting first instead of passing were going to end… which is totally not the case. In this city, the issue with the “shoot first mentality” began with Jake Voracek and was supposed to be solved when he was traded to Columbus for Atkinson. That, again in my opinion, was only half correct. The other half is Claude Giroux. Now, don’t get me wrong, he’s been playing great as of late and is playing his role as Captain of this team better than most thought. He also is the other half of an old problem. Giroux and Voracek have always been paired up and in the spotlight as basically Philadelphia’s “Dynamic Duo” but never solidified as successfully as everyone thought they would and that problem lasted for a very long time. To think that the problem was Voracek alone is actually unrealistic and astonishing to think could be a reality. I think you need to make some terrifyingly drastic moves right now and at the end of this year. You could send JVR, Frost and maybe a draft pick to St. Louis for Vladimir Tarasenko, then you have your sniper. If Frost doesn’t pan out after this year, the mindset of being sent back to Lehigh Valley will be devastating to his career and could take a toll on his play wherever he may end up. Sending him now would take the pressure off the Flyers in case he ends up not working out and will have other franchises sniffing around, thinking they could do something we couldn’t. JVR just isn’t keeping up with the newly formed core and direction the Flyers are clearly going in.

Giroux’s contract is up at the end of this year and he’s deciding whether or not he wants to re-sign with the Flyers when the season is over. I, personally, take offense to this. What are the terms of this year that make him want to stay or leave? I’ll make it easy for you Claude, I’m sending you and Oskar Lindblom and a draft pick to the Calgary Flames for Johnny Gaudreau. He’s stated in previous years that he just doesn’t want to play for Calgary anymore and, being a New Jersey native, would love to come play back home. That being said, there’s a slim chance he’ll take a “hometown discount” to come play on the east coast again, but it’s Johnny Hockey. You need to make this trade happen ASAP if there’s any validity in him wanting out of Calgary and coming to Philly.

If these trades were to happen, it solves an ongoing issue with this franchise- we don’t have a true sniper. It looks like the type of play Claude Giroux has, is the old style of a weathered Flyers team. Imagine having Atkinson, Tarasenko and Gaudreau on the same team! The possibilities would be endless! I know these may be tall orders but something very drastic needs to change and I don’t think it should be a coach being fired.

-Jesse Bell- Olde City Sports Network/ Flyers Alley