Flyers Enter Camp With Two Roster Holes They Haven't Filled

The goaltending situation is the simplest to describe: Dan Vladar, and then nobody. The organization carried only one netminder with meaningful playing time last season, and that hasn't changed. Florida locked up Akira Schmid on a two-year deal last week — the kind of quiet, unglamorous move that keeps a team from getting hurt in February — and Philadelphia hasn't made a comparable addition. My read is that this is the most fixable problem on the roster, and also the one the front office has been most willing to ignore.

Center is messier. Sean Couturier is the nominal starter, but his offensive output last season was a fraction of what you'd expect from a first-line center. The Flyers went hard after Leo Carlsson in July — a five-year, $90 million offer sheet — and Anaheim matched it. So that avenue is closed. Zegras and Christian Dvorak are both capable of sliding up in a pinch, but neither is a true top-line pivot by trade, and leaning on that depth every night is a different proposition than using it as a bridge.

The forward injuries compound everything. Ty Murchison is the only player officially listed as out right now, but as I've noted in the last few pieces, Cates and Tippett have been absent from the availability picture all summer. Cates was one of the team's better two-way players last season — 27 points, plus-13 — and his camp status still isn't clear. Tippett and Michkov both underwhelmed offensively last year, which makes Konecny the only right wing you can count on with confidence heading into October.

The extensions for Zegras, Vladar, and Drysdale signal genuine organizational belief in this group. That belief may be warranted. But belief doesn't fill a backup goaltender spot, and it doesn't replace what Couturier used to be at center. Camp opens soon, and both gaps are still open.