Philadelphia Flyers fans have to like the fact that oddsmakers think they're among the top five or so favorites to win the 2013 Stanley Cup. The Odds for the Flyers to win the 2013 Stanley Cup are 12/1 as stated by sportsbook Bovada.
Despite a couple years of success, including an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Philadelphia Flyers decided to really shake things up last offseason. Gone were Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. In came a bunch of young players. Also, they brought in Ilya Bryzgalov to, presumably, and finally, give them some security in net. Then, the opposite thing happened. However, led by their impressive offense, and emerging star Claude Giroux, the Flyers still managed to finish with 103 points, get the five seed, and have a plus-32 goal differential.
Jagr still had a little something left in the tank, and even though his production declined as the season went on he helped form a pretty dominant top line alongside Claude Giroux. The Flyers came out of nowhere and signed Jagr but the one-year run between the two ended when he inked a contract with the Dallas Stars this summer. James vanRiemsdyk was the latest Flyers player signed to a long-term contract to be shipped out of town going to Toronto for Luke Schenn in a deal that had been rumored for some time.
That being said, and even without van Riemsdyk or Jaromir Jagr, this is a formidable offense. Giroux is great and only entering his prime, and good veterans like Daniel Briere and Scott Hartnell are still around. Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds, who both came over in trades last offseason, had good years, and could be better. Matt Read was an impressive rookie, and Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn are only scratching the surface of their potential. The Flyers are going to score goals.
They're also going to give up a ton of goals. Nobody knows for sure what to expect from Bryzgalov at this point and the less said about the defense the better. Chris Pronger may never play again in the NHL, Kimmo Timonen is closer to the end of his career than he is to the prime of his career, Matt Carle is gone, and a lot is going to be asked of Schenn.
Considering they made the playoffs last season with their goaltending issues, I see no reason they won't make it again this year. They have one of the best offenses in the league, and their defense is still fairly good on paper. The Flyers may be in a lot of high scoring games, but they'll come out on top most of the time.
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