As the 2021-22 NHL season is under a month away from commencing, the New York Islanders will look to go all the way and win the Stanley Cup after back-to-back NHL semifinal losses. However, the Metropolitan Division has been retooled this offseason. Various teams have added to their depth chart and fixed weaknesses. The team that will be the Islanders’ biggest problem during the upcoming regular season is the Philadelphia Flyers.

This past offseason, the Flyers made numerous changes.

They improved their blue-line, which was a significant issue the previous year. The Flyers acquired veteran blue-liner Ryan Ellis and signed Keith Yandle.

Moreover, the team also added Rasmus Ristolainen, along with Adam Clendening on the backend. These additions will be tremendous for the Flyers. They had the second-lowest penalty-killing percentage in NHL last season.

A big reason for their inability to kill penalties last season was their depleted blue-line and goaltending. Flyers’ goaltender Carter Hart struggled massively throughout the season.

Hart had his confidence shook during the season and never seemed to regain it. Hart looked like a shell of his former reliable self. It looks as if one of Hart’s worst seasons of his career is behind him, and he will look to put up stellar numbers this upcoming season.

The Flyers also traded long-time forward Jakub Voracek in exchange for Columbus Blue Jackets’ forward Cam Atkinson. Atkinson will bring much needed new energy to the Flyers’ organization and help rejuvenate a stagnant offence.

In his 10 seasons played in the NHL, Atkinson has recorded six 20-goal seasons, including one 41-goal season. Atkinson has put up solid numbers playing in the dark ages of the Blue Jackets’ organization, and putting him among forwards like Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux and Travis Konecny will undoubtedly help his game.

However, the Flyers’ acquisitions this season are not the entire reason they will present such an enormous challenge to the Islanders this season.

Last season, the Islanders played a 56-game schedule, and the Islanders finished fourth in their division, securing the last playoff spot available. During these 56 games, the Islanders played the Flyers eight times. These eight games represented 14 percent of the Islanders’ overall schedule. The Flyers played the Islanders really well. If it was not for Ilya Sorokin, the Flyers would have likely won the season series.

Therefore, with a revamped roster, the Flyers will give the Islanders problems this year.

Ethan Halle

Ethan is an Economics Major at the University of Florida looking to pursue a double major in Sports Management with a minor in political science.