Philadelphia Flyers: 5 biggest questions for the 2020-21 season
Will the Philadelphia Flyers veterans take a step back?
Claude Giroux wants to remind everyone that he’s not old. He’s only turning 33-years-old this month.
Maybe it just feels like Giroux has been around forever because, for many Flyers fans, he has. Giroux is entering his 14th season with the team after joining as a 20-year-old in the 2007-08 season. He’s played through the Stanley Cup runs of the early 2010s, the Haksol regime, the rebuilding era, and this newfound era of competitiveness and youth.
Giroux has also been relatively healthy, playing in at least 80 regular season games eight times, plus the two shortened seasons he’s had with the pandemic and lockout.
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While his numbers last year were still solid (21 goals and 32 assists in 69 games), he was on pace for his fewest points scored since 2016-17 when he had 58.
The other veteran you think of is Jake Voracek, who turns 32 this summer and is entering his 13th season.
Voracek averaged just over 17 minutes played per game last year, the lowest since his first season in Philadelphia back in 2011-12. He was still able to 56 points in 69 games, though he benefitted from having 44 assists.
This season is going to be a grind with eight back-to-backs and no more than two off days in a row. They’re saved by not having to travel out west this year, minus the Lake Tahoe game early in the season, but it’s not going to be the easiest run for the veterans.
Philadelphia needs their top-line guys to get through the season healthy, and with no full training camp to warm up for the season, the risk of injury is even more heightened this year.