Former Flyers bench boss, Dave Hakstol returns to the Wells Fargo Center with his expansion team in the Seattle Kraken. Fans will surely be rocking the arena not just to experience the brand new Kraken for the first time, but to hopefully see the Flyers get some revenge against Hakstol. Although “Hak” made the playoffs twice during his tenure in Philadelphia, many remember those years as some of the worst times in Flyers history. Ron Hextall surely didn’t help matters but that’s a story for another day.

Let’s get to the tale of the tape for tonight’s matchup!

Off-Season Moves

Seattle Kraken

Seattle’s an expansion team sooo they made quite a bit of offseason moves, but with players like Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, Caron Soucy, Yanni Gourde, Jared McCann, and Branden Tanev, the one take away from their roster I had was that Seattle will be a tough team to play against. Add in offensive minded players like Captain Mark Giordano, Vince Dunn, Jayden Schwartz, solid depth players in Wennberg, Jarnkrok, Donskoi, and Eberle and you have yourself a sneaky dangerous club. The heart of this team should be the goaltending however, as Seattle were able to pluck 2 very good net minders away from Colorado and Florida in Philip Grubauer and Chris Dreidger. Is Dave Hakstol the coach who can mold this team into a winner? Only time will tell.

Philadelphia Flyers

By now we all know the Flyers have turned over quite a bit of their roster from last season, shipping out fan favorites in Jake Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere, Nolan Patrick, and Phil Myers. General Manager, Chuck Fletcher said there would be change early in the offseason and he kept his word by bringing in not only skilled NHL players, but strong locker room leaders in Cam Atkinson, Ryan Ellis, Rasmus Ristolainen, Keith Yandle, Nate Thompson, and Derek Brassard. Expectations are mild in Philadelphia as fans are caught between wanting to believe in the Flyers again while also still feeling the burn of last season.

Tale of the Tape

Average Height
Seattle 6’1 | Philadelphia 6’1

Average Weight
Seattle: 197lbs | Philadelphia 195lbs

Average Age
Seattle: 27.19 | Philadelphia 28.38

“Tale of the Tape” Stats from Elite Prospects

Rankings

Seattle currently sits 13th in the NHL standings through 3 games while they’re at #26 in our Power Rankings.

Philadelphia is currently 25th as they’ve only played a single game and managed 1 point.
They’re currently #16 in our Power Rankings.

X-FACTORS

Philip Grubauer (Seattle)

Grubauer is the unquestioned number 1 net minder in Seattle and he’ll have to play like one tonight as the Flyers will be charged up at home and looking for their first victory of the season.

Mark Giordano (Seattle)

Giordano’s veteran presence will come into play tonight as Seattle will attempt to weather Philadelphia’s initial onslaught.

Seattle’s Defense

Seattle is a brand new team with all new players and haven’t been very effective in terms of exiting their own zone. They’ll need to clean this up tonight if they stand any chance of a win in Philadelphia.

Sean Couturier (Philadelphia)

Once again Sean Couturier is an X-factor and that’s because Seattle doesn’t have anyone close to Couturier’s skill pedigree down the center of the ice. I’d like to see “Coots” get players like Travis Konecny more involved offensively.

Ivan Provorov (Philadelphia)

Seattle is a tough team to play against and Provorov, along with defensive partner Ryan Ellis will need to be up to the physical challenge tonight.

James Van Riemsdyk (Philadelphia)

With all the big bodies Seattle has on defense, it could be tough to find a net front presence throughout this game. If the Flyers find themselves on the power play, JVR will need to play strong around the crease and look for one of his patented deflections.

Injuries

Seattle Kraken: Marcus Johansson

Philadelphia Flyers: Kevin Hayes, Rasmus Ristolainen, Wade Allison, Tanner Laczynski, Sam Morin, Egor Zamula, Patrick Brown (COVID-19 Protocol), Zach MacEwan (Work Visa)

Enjoy the game tonight and remember Flyers fans, it’s only game 2 of 82! LETS GO FLYERS!

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