A Look at the Flyers' Futures Ahead of the Regular Season Opener
It’s time to get it back to the ice and get FLYERED UP!
Okay, it’s not exactly the most exciting thing to jump from playoff baseball to regular-season hockey, especially when the Philadelphia Flyers begin their season with a four-game Western Conference road trip.
Outside of Matvei Michkov, whose props I looked at last week, it’s hard to really get Flyered Up at the start of the season.
Michkov will be the star of the team, if he isn’t already, because not much was done to re-construct the roster that missed out on the postseason last year.
If you want to be Mr. Posidelphia, which I think you have to be at the start of an 82-game regular season, the Flyers have increased their point total in each of the last three seasons. They’ve gone from 58 to 61, to 75, to 87.
Progress is being made, and with the arrival of a star rookie, there’s reason to believe the progress can continue.
The Flyers’ season-long point prop is set at 85.5, a number they just barely got over last season.
However, that’s the second-lowest point prop set for any team in the Metropolitan Division and the third-lowest for any Eastern Conference team.
There are five legit playoff teams in the Metro and a Washington Capitals team focused on getting Ovi the all-time scoring record, a very bad Blue Jackets team, and the Flyers.
The competition is even tougher in the Atlantic, with the reigning champion Panthers, Lightning, Maple Leafs, Bruins, and Red Wings as legit playoff contenders. Buffalo, Montreal, and Ottawa are in the bottom third.
The Sabres, Blue Jackets, Canadiens, and Flyers are the only four teams in the East with odds to make the postseason at +200 or higher. The Flyers sit at +210.
In the best-case scenario, a handful of potential contenders regress, which is always possible, and the Flyers at least match last season’s point total with a more exciting offense, led by Michkov.
If hockey is part of your PA sports betting yearly regimen, note that ninety points has been the minimum goal for qualification in the Eastern Conference playoffs these last two seasons. It was even higher in 2021-22 when all eight playoff teams in the East hit the century mark in points.
Forget winning the Metro outright (the Flyers are +2100 to do that), the goal is to make the playoffs, or at least challenge for a postseason spot.
If you’re in the Posidelphia section of the fan base, you should bet the over on points and for the Flyers to make the playoffs, because, well, recent history suggests the Flyers have to do that to get in. You can’t parlay those options, but taking them as singles at least fits that mindset.
And if expectations aren’t met, well, at least we have the Sixers to latch on to again in March, April, and beyond.