2014-15 Philadelphia Flyers Preview

Sep 30, 2014 - 8:14 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Another season, another year of uncertainty and nagging questions in Philadelphia for a team always teetering on the precipice of greatness or failure.

Can Claude Giroux grab a piece of glory as the nominal team leader and put together a complete campaign after a disastrous start eventually led to a Hart Trophy nomination last season?

Can Craig Berube lay the foundation for a success by getting his players to buy in right from training camp, and shake off the stigma of placing a former enforcer in a position of power as an NHL head coach?

Will the defense collapse without the influence and presence of Kimmo Timonen? Can the special teams remain in the top-10 while the offense increases and defense tightens up?

Does Ron Hextall's ascension to the GM spot as Paul Holmgren moves up to team president herald a new era of thought and knowledge regarding player development and salary-cap management?

Is it possible for the city's mainstream media to find a middle ground between trashing and deifying the club's top players depending on the week and time of day?

FORWARDS - Tying overall performance to the travails of a single player is dangerous business. Things couldn't have gotten much worse for the Orange and Black as they chased franchise records for offensive futility over Giroux's 15-game goal drought to begin the season, but the captain responded at a pace of better than a point-per-game (86 pts. in 82 GP) to lead the chase for a playoff berth.

The only significant subtraction from the top six is Scott Hartnell (20G), who struggled at times with his play and conditioning, then was shipped to Columbus in a salary-cap move for R.J. Umberger. Umberger, a hero during the Philadelphia's 2008 playoff run, appears to be a player who can be slotted into any role in the first three lines as needed.

Likely suspects to join Giroux and Jakub Voracek (career highs of 23G, 39A) up on the first line are Matt Read (22G, 40 pts.) and Austrian Olympian Michael Raffl (22 pts. in 68 games).

Wayne Simmonds, the club's most consistent player from Game 1, will now draw more attention after going for career highs of 29 goals and 60 points. It's incumbent upon Vinny Lecavalier to make the most of his placement on either center or wing, because 20 goals in an injury-interrupted season is well below his capabilities even at age 34.

A bigger issue remains on the bottom six, where defensive center and faceoff specialist Adam Hall (314-of-527, 59.6 percent) was not re-signed. Sean Couturier, for all of the hopes directed towards him for increased offense, may be the most likely candidate (47.7 percent efficiency overall; 55.1 percent on power plays) to hold it down for possession, but defensive-zone starts hinder that pursuit.

Truculence will always have a place in the organization, as Zac Rinaldo and Jay Rosehill are back to provide those nebulous qualities of "heart" and "grit." The toxic twins combined for four goals, six points and 243 penalty minutes with limited ice time.

DEFENSE - Timonen, who was persuaded to return for another year at age 39, sees his career in jeopardy due to multiple blood clots discovered in his native Finland, and now the maligned blueline corps essentially lacks a leader.

Mark Streit, at age 36, is the oldest member of the defense, while Braydon Coburn is the longest-serving member having arrived in February of 2007. Michael Del Zotto, at 24, is the youngest. The announcement of his acquisition came hours after the Timonen revelation and weeks after the Predators failed to make him a qualifying offer.

A team which finished 10th in the Eastern Conference by allowing 235 goals will have to compensate with brute force and shot blocking. Andrew MacDonald, recipient of a lengthy contract extension, was personally responsible for a league-best 242 blocks (2.95 per game), and Nicklas Grossmann clocked in at eighth-most at 174.

Teams like the Rangers and Maple Leafs have exposed the backline in the preseason as one which is collectively plodding, so protection for their goaltending will have to depend on how closely they stick to Gord Murphy's new system and the ability to shut off passing and shooting lanes.

The clock is ticking on the blossoming of Oliver Lauridsen, Brandon Manning, Shayne Gostisbehere, Mark Alt and Samuel Morin in juniors or the minors. The future needs to be a bit more "now" than in previous years.

GOALTENDING - Most of the criticism of the situation in the Flyers' crease for the club's seven-game opening-round loss to the Rangers centered around Ray Emery's perceived inadequacy in having to sub for a concussed Steve Mason in the first three games.

Their logic, that the Flyers would have advanced easily if Mason had been healthy from the drop, will be tested this season. Now entrenched as the starter of the present and future, Mason's workload will likely increase and his durability and stamina will be tested. His statistics will also be judged against the following which led to a revitalization of his confidence.

Mason's 61 appearances matched a career-high set in his Calder Trophy-winning campaign of 2008-09 for Columbus, as did his 33 victories, a 2.50 GAA was his lowest since that promising first year and his .917 save percentage marked a personal single-season best.

Emery, an unrestricted free agent, was brought back on a one-year deal at a steep discount from his original contract that lured him from Chicago two summers ago. All the 31-year-old needs to do is provide adequate support (9-12-2, 2.96, 2 ShO) when needed and stoke the competitive fires when necessary.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE - Even as Giroux elevated the rest of the club on his personal late-season tear, the Flyers were a team teetering on the brink between home-ice advantage in the opening round and being left out of the playoff picture altogether.

With the only significant change on the roster the loss of a respected veteran and anchor of the defense, the margin of error for the Orange and Black's defense is that much thinner. Offense alone won't be able to make up for perceived or actual deficiencies, and Mason's status as a legitimate NHL starter may fluctuate from time to time based on how often he either bails out or is left out to dry by his defense.

However, as it has been perceived for most of the last 20 years, the division and conference in which the Flyers play is considered "open" -- without iron- clad Cup hopefuls leaving scraps for the rest -- so a hot start and/or hot finish can do much to influence what occurs in the meat of the schedule.

Playoffs are a must; winning a round a near certainty if Berube is to be taken seriously as a long-term leader for an organization soon to look back at 40 years without a championship.