Dobber's offseason fantasy hockey grades – Philadelphia Flyers

For the last 18 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber has reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 19th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what I take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

Gone – Philippe Myers, Jakub Voracek, Brian Elliott, Robert Hagg, Carsen Twarynski, Shayne Gostisbehere, Nolan Patrick

Incoming – Ryan Ellis, Keith Yandle, Rasmus Ristolainen, Martin Jones, Cam Atkinson, Derick Brassard, Nate Thompson

Impact of changes – The pieces that were shipped out were largely replaced by similar ones coming in. Cam Atkinson comes in as a bit more of a shooter than the playmaker Jakub Voracek, which might play well on a line with Claude Giroux. Nolan Patrick is replaced in the bottom-six with Derek Brassard, but that's likely a little far off most fantasy radars.

On defence, powerplay specialist Shayne Gostisbehere is replaced by powerplay specialist Keith Yandle, and big-bodied defenceman Robert Hagg is replaced by big-bodied defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen. Maybe a bit of an upgrade overall, but likely not huge. The big change comes from swapping in Ryan Ellis for Philippe Myers, which should give the top pair and the second power play unit a huge boost.

In net, Martin Jones replaces Brian Elliott as Carter Hart's backup. In an ideal world, Hart is a top-five (or at least top-10) goalie in the league, and starts 65 games. However, after last season's showing we know that's no sure thing. Jones at least provides a little bit of upside behind Hart, although the reliability level is lower than with Elliott. The team in front of him is stronger than it was in San Jose though, so with that and some easier matchups, there is reason for some optimism.

Ready for Full Time –

Morgan Frost – After being sidelined for almost all of last season with a shoulder injury, the former first round pick is looking to get back on track and contend for the Calder Trophy. He possesses excellent vision and a great shot, which should really excite fantasy owners. As a centre the highest he would start on the depth chart is the third line, but it might be best to bring him along as a winger to start. Either way, there are some excellent complimentary pieces to play with in Philadelphia, and Frost is someone you should certainly have on your fantasy radar as an immediate asset.

Wade Allison – Allison already has the reputation as a bit of a Band-Aid boy, however the power winger does have second line upside, and looks to be NHL ready right now. He put up nine points in his last 10 game stint at the AHL level, and then seven in 14 games in the NHL last season. He's not a sure thing even if he is healthy, but the payoff should be more immediate than a lot of other options, so he's worth looking into at this point.

Fantasy Outlook:

The Flyers can run three scoring lines deep, and have six defencemen that are valuable in either points-only leagues, multi-cat leagues, or both (Ivan Provorov). Add that to one of the highest-upside young goalies in the game, and this is an excellent team to be hitching you fantasy wagon to despite not having a first-round fantasy draft talent. There is a nice mix of old and young players, and their powerplay has been solid for the last couple of years as well.

Captain Claude Giroux is still an excellent point producer from the wing, and with the defensively responsible Sean Couturier plus the shoot-first Atkinson as his likely linemates, the drop off may not be as sharp into his mid-30s. On the second line James van Riemsdyk may be in line for a bit of regression, but Joel Farabee, Kevin Hayes, Travis Konecny, and the aforementioned Frost are all high-end scorers to pick up the slack.

The top-powerplay gig is likely going to go to Yandle to start, but don't sleep on Ryan Ellis taking over at some point. He was excellent when given the opportunity in Nashville where he didn't have the same level of talent in front of him, and he has paced for 60 points every second season for a few years now, he's due for another big year.

Grade – B+ (last year was B)