Flyers Fans Are Hoping Team Has Better Draft Luck At Seventh Overall

He started out decent, keeping fans hopes high that they'd found a #1 defenseman. He excelled in 2019/20 along side veteran defenseman Matt Niskanen, playing in all 69 games, accumulating 13 goals and 23 assists for a total of 36 points. It seems that was a "one time only" thing, though as Provorov hasn't been able to reach the heights at which he played at alongside Niskanen since.

Provorov is known for being durable and a "work horse" who doesn't miss many games since coming into the league in 2016. Before the 2021/22 season he hadn't missed a game at all, for any reason. Even in 2021/22 the only reason he missed any games was due to Covid restrictions the NHL still had in place. While Provorov's durability is intriguing, it's the only thing he seems to have to his credit anymore. His work ethic is still good, but has not helped him produced anything on the ice since 2019/20, and he's regressed in nearly ever season since that season. 2020/21 he played in all 56 games, but only managed 7 goals and 19 assists for 26 points. 2021/22 he played in 79/82 games after missing 2 due to Covid restrictions, but again only managed 9 goals, 22 assists for 31 points. 2022/23 with all Covid restrictions gone, he was back to playing in all 82 games, but only managed 6 goals, 21 assists for 27 points.

He's hovering just shy of the 30 point mark, and he's a defenseman, so some may say fans are being too picky, but when you factor in the grain of salt stat that the plus/minus is, he's been -20 and -17 in the last two seasons. Again grain of salt because it is a flawed stat, but those numbers couple with his point totals aren't pretty for a player that was drafted in the top-10, and was supposed to be a #1. By eye test and (if you're into them) underlying numbers(which I won't get into in detail because I'm terrible at explaining them) he's played much more like a #2 or #3 defender in the last 2 seasons.

We'll stick to his on-ice issues and not even get into the mess he started with his off-ice antics in regards to the Pride Jerseys that started a chain reaction around the league and turned a lot of fans against him this past season.

With the Flyers currently, reportedly, contemplating finding a way to trade Provorov, and another 7th overall pick on the horizon, Flyers fans are hoping this prospect somehow pans out much better than the previous one.