Fantasy: 5 players to target on the Philadelphia Flyers
With your fantasy draft just around the corner, theScore's Ian McLaren and Darren Kritzer take a look at 5 players you should consider drafting this season.
Top Targets
Claude Giroux
Giroux finished 2013-14 with 28 goals and 58 assists, good for third in the NHL in total points and third place in Hart Trophy voting.
These totals were amassed after Giroux failed to score a goal and registered only 7 assists in his first 15 games, meaning he produced at a rate of 35 goals and 63 assists per 82 games over a 67-game stretch beginning in early November.
At any rate, Giroux is without question the Flyers' best player and will be involved in a high rate of the team's offense. One question is how he'll fare without regular linemate Scott Hartnell; Giroux may be encouraged to shoot more and/or dish off to a more talented winger (see below), which could help sustain his production moving forward.
Wayne Simmonds
Simmonds led the Flyers with 29 goals last season, and ranked third in shots behind Giroux and Jakub Voracek. On top of that, he recorded 106 penalty minutes, 24 power play points and four game-winning goals, making him a well-rounded and valuable fantasy asset.
He's also a durable player, missing only nine regular season games since entering the NHL in 2008.
Again, with Hartnell gone, other players will need to step up and fill the void; Simmonds is a likely candidate to do just that, tipping him over 30 goals.
Mark Streit
With Kimmo Timonen out indefinitely with blood clots in his lungs and legs, the offensive burden from the blue line will fall largely on Streit, who led Flyers' defensemen in scoring last season with 10 goals and 34 assists.
Since making the move to the NHL from Europe in 2005, Streit is averaging 47.5 points per season, making him a sure-fire top 20 producer at his position. Almost one third of his points (15) came on the power play, and he ranked 20th in even strength points per 60 minutes with 0.99.
Unless Michael Del Zotto breaks out on his one-year deal with the club, Streit should at least maintain his career average as a solid option as a second defenseman on any fantasy roster.
Proceed With Caution
Steve Mason
In his first full season with the Flyers, Mason finally returned to a form that won him the Calder Trophy back in 2009, matching his career high of 33 wins and posting a save percentage of .917. In seven games in Philadelphia at the end of the 2013 season, he won four with a save percentage of .944.
The trouble is, for upwards of four seasons between those good runs, Mason was abjectly bad, with a sub-.900 save percentage in 171 games with the Blue Jackets.
In light of the aforementioned injury to Timonen and questions marks all over the blue line (Streit aside), chances are Mason slide back towards his career mark of .907, with fewer wins to boot.
Take A Flier On
Brayden Schenn
With Hartnell's spot on the top line now vacant, Schenn has already been tabbed as a prime candidate to fill that spot.
Schenn set career highs in goals (20), assists (21) and shots on goal (178) in 2013-14, and ranked fourth on the club with 243 even strength shot attempts, behind only Vorcaek, Giroux and Hartnell himself.
There's plenty of upside in the fifth-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, and he may be given a plum assignment this season as a means to show that off.