Four Reasons Flyers Could Surprise Experts And Critics

Cam Atkinson and Sean Couturier are coming back from long-term, significant injuries that saw them miss a season or more, but with the exception of one mishap for Atkinson in the early part of training camp, both players have survived Tortorella's rigorous training camp and played in multiple pre-season games and looked decent while doing so.

That said, neither player is "fully" back. It'll likely take some time before both will be 100% back to their usual selves on the ice, but it was obvious during the games they played in pre-season that shift over shift, game over game, they were knocking the rust off and slowly returning to their pre-injury-selves. If both can stay healthy they are going to provide a huge boost for this young group not only on both sides of the puck but also within the leadership group in the locker room.

But of course, the keywords are "if they can stay healthy". They've survived the early going, but an 82-game season is long, and anything can happen. Should they be able to play in a large majority of the Flyers games, though, they will most definitely play a key factor and be a key reason this team surprises most experts.

Another reason this team could surprise experts and critics alike is their goaltending. Hart is coming off of a Team MVP season, and while he only played in 2 pre-season games, and didn't face a whole ton of work in the second of those two games, he looked fairly sharp in both games.

The final reason is his backup this season could also play a huge part in why the experts and critics are left eating their own words. John Tortorella got his way and the newest goaltending acquisition, Cal Petersen, and last year's backup goalie, Felix Sandström will be left to round out the goaltending depth playing in the AHL, while Sam Ersson helps Hart backstop the Flyers. If Ersson is as good as the team and fans believe he can be, or even half as good as believed, in addition to Hart replicating last year, this team will end up winning some games they have absolutely no business winning, and as a result, their record will be better than experts and critics believe it should be.

Of course, these aren't the only factors that play into why the Flyers could be better than expected, but they may be the four biggest reasons. If the two forwards stay healthy, and the goalies play the way they're expected the Flyers will surprise a lot of people.

This doesn't mean it'll result in a playoff appearance, I - personally - believe they're still a couple of years - AT BEST - and five or more - AT WORST - away from that being a reality, but it very well could result in a bottom 10 or 15 finish rather than a bottom 5 or bottom 3 finish.

GM Danny Briere has already made it clear they will not tank during this rebuild. Depending on who is asked that may be a good thing or bad thing.