With the NHL regular season right around the corner, TSN.ca profiles each team leading up to puck drop. Next up are the Philadelphia Flyers, hoping they have enough to at least maintain last years playoff position. Catch up on their summer moves and the issues they face this season, as well as Craig Buttons analysis of their top prospect and an analytical breakdown by TSNs Scott Cullen. Division: Metropolitan GM: Ron Hextall Head Coach: Craig Berube 2013-14: 42-30-10 (3rd in Metropolitan) Playoffs: Lost in conference quarter-finals Goals For: 233 (8th) Goals Against: 227 (20th) Powerplay: 19.7% (8th) Penalty Kill: 84.8% (7th) That Was Then: Losing seven of your first eight games is never a desirable way to begin a season, but thata€?s the reality the Flyers made for themselves in 2013-14. The losing streak, which extended to nine of the teama€?s first 12 games, set off a trend that unfolded for the entirety of the campaign. The start cost Peter Laviolette his coaching job (after just three games!), with Philly handing Craig Berube the reins on an interim basis on Oct. 7. The former grinder was eventually able to turn the team around, but the shift was not instantaneous. It took until after Christmas for the Flyers to get their first handle on playoff position and that turnaround was largely thanks to two factors. The first was that the Metropolitan Division was not very competitive in the early-going, with the third spot in the division taking fewer points to get hold of than the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The second was Claude Giroux playing out of his mind in December and continuing his hot play throughout the second half. The Flyers captaina€?s nine-game point streak began in Chicago and wasna€?t snapped until New Yeara€?s Eve, including six multi-point games over the span. The Olympic break provided an opportunity for a lot of the Flyersa€? top talent to get a breather with its Canadian core a€“ including Giroux a€“ left out of the nationa€?s Sochi plans. Philly finished strong, securing points in 16 of its final 22 that amazingly includes a stretch that saw them lose six of seven. Finishing third in the Metropolitan, the Flyers earned a first-round date with the team theya€?d battled in the standings for much of the spring: the New York Rangers. The team suffered an untimely injury, though, in their final meeting of the season with their intrastate rivals from Pittsburgh as netminder Steve Mason sustained an upper body injury on Apr. 12. The injury a€“ which Mason later revealed was a concussion a€“ kept him off the ice for the first three games of the first round. He came back with the team in a 1-2 hole but despite holding the Rangers to two goals or less in three of the four games he played, the Flyers were sent packing in seven. Scott Cullens Analytics Predators 2013-14 Stats by Quarter Games GPG GAA SH% SV% SAF% PTS% 1-20 2.00 2.45 6.1% .940 49.3% .450 21-41 3.00 2.90 8.3% .915 50.0% .619 42-62 3.24 3.10 9.3% .909 47.0% .619 63-82 3.10 2.60 8.2% .927 51.6% .600 NHL AVG 2.67 2.67 7.8 .922 50.0% .562 Key: GPG= goals per game, GAA= goals-against per game, SH%= even-strength shooting percentage, SV%= even-strength save percentage, SAF%= score-adjusted Fenwick percentage (differential of shot attempts faced vs. shot attempts, excluding blocked shots, adjusted for game score), PTS%= percentage of available points. Analysis: Games 1-20: Couldnt score early, with Giroux starting slow, and great goaltending wasnt enough. Games 21-41: Goaltending regressed, but shooting was on the mark, improving record. Games 42-62: Poor possession and goaltending were both offset by high-percentage shooting, . Games 63-82: Best goaltending and possession stretch of the year. Key 2014 Additions: D Michael del Zotto, F Andrew Gordon, C Blair Jones, D Nick Schultz, F Zack Stortini, F R.J. Umberger, F Ryan White Key 2014 Subtractions: F Scott Hartnell, F Steve Downie, F Tyle McGinn This Is Now: The Flyers brought in a familiar face to take charge of the roster, bringing in their last great netminder and one of the gamea€?s most sought-after executives in Ron Hextall as general manager. Luckily for Hextall, there was not a lot of heavy lifting to be done in terms of shaping the roster. The forwards were a balanced group, with seven scoring 20 or more in 2013-14, including first-timer Brayden Schenn and nearly-old-timer Vincent Lecavalier. Hextall moved one of those seven out in his biggest off-season move, trading popular vet and one of the gamea€?s best combinations of grit and skill in Scott Hartnell to Columbus to reacquire R.J. Umberger, who broke into the NHL with Philly in 2005. The Flyers now have a couple years to work with the existing roster, since the majority of the current club has at least two years contract remaining, highlighted by the eight-year extension Giroux signed in the middle of last season. Six years may have been a long term to give Andrew MacDonald, but the team got an up-close look at him down the stretch and seems to have liked what it saw. With Kimmo Timonen out indefinitely, there will be some pressure on MacDonald, along with veterans Braydon Coburn and Mark Streit, to handle big minutes on the Flyers blue line. Hextall also rolled the dice on a low-risk addition, signing Michael del Zotto to a $1.3 million free agent deal in hopes that the 24-year-old can regain the form that had many projecting him as an elite offensive blue liner earlier in his career. DEPTH CHART Forwards Left Wing Centre Right Wing Brayden Schenn Claude Giroux Jakub Voracek Matt Read Sean Couturier Wayne Simmonds Michael Raffl Vincent Lecavalier R.J. Umberger Jason Akeson Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Zac Rinaldo Jay Rosehill Blair Jones Petr Straka Taylor Leier Scott Laughton Ryan White Defence Left Right Andrew MacDonald Braydon Coburn Mark Streit Nicklas Grossman Michael Del Zotto Luke Schenn Nick Schultz Samuel Morin Kimmo Timonen Shayne Gostisbehere Goaltenders Steve Mason Ray Emery Anthony Stolarz Craigs List TSN Director of Scouting Craig Buttons Top Prospect: Scott Laughton If there is a prototypical Flyer center, surely Scott would meet all the criteria. Flyer great Bob Clarke to current star Claude Giroux, embody requisite qualities of skill, fire and an indomitable will to win. Scott has no less of these qualities. Hes an excellent playmaker and his vision and anticipation allows him to be dangerous with the puck. He plays in the guts of the action, is not deterred in any way and he will do whatever is necessary to help the team win regardless if it may stretch the boundaries of the rules. A player Flyers fans will come to love. Fantasy - Cullens Player to Watch - Vincent Lecavalier This may qualify as wishful thinking, considering that Lecavalier is a 34-year-old coming off a season that was his least productive, on a points-per-game basis, since he was an 18-year-old rookie. Its not typical to get bounce-back years in a players mid-thirties, and Lecavaliers underlying numbers have been headed in the wrong direction for a while, but there is room in the Philadelphia lineup for Lecavalier to play a supporting offensive role. Given his contract, that may not be the ideal, but better to find a way to get 20-plus goals out of Lecavalier while using him in favourable matchups, in the hopes of trying to recapture some value. Spencer Kieboom Jersey . The Flames announced Monday that Treliving, a former assistant general manager with the Coyotes, will take over the vacant GM spot in Calgary. "Im ready for this,"Treliving said. Trea Turner Jersey . He made another correct read. The Browns, who have been shuttling quarterbacks on and off the field all season, finally got some good news on that front: Campbells ribs are only bruised. https://www.cheapnationals.com/897r-yan-...-nationals.html. Seth Smith hit a towering drive for a tying homer leading off the eighth and Chris Denorfia singled home two runs to give the Padres a 3-1 victory against the rival Dodgers in baseballs North American opener Sunday night. Tanner Rainey Jersey . The victory strengthened Liverpools position in the top four after Tottenham lost 1-0 at Norwich in the days late kickoff, cutting the north London club six points adrift of fourth place and the final Champions League slot for next season. Austen Williams Nationals Jersey . -- Stanley Johnson scored all 18 of his points in the second half, T. CHICAGO -- This time, the Chicago Cubs were shut down by Mat Latos. Starlin Castro had an RBI single for Chicagos only run in a 4-1 loss to Latos and the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night. The Cubs began the day with a .232 team batting average, which was next to last in the National League. They managed just six hits in the series finale against Cincinnati. "The story for us has been that were not scoring enough runs for the starting pitchers and for this bullpen," catcher John Baker said. "Its frustrating for us position players." Its also frustrating for first-year manager Rick Renteria. "Theyre all chipping away at their approaches, but were facing some pretty good chuckers too," he said. "We just obviously werent able to generate a whole lot of runs." Edwin Jackson (5-8) allowed four runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings for Chicago, which has dropped four of five. Starlin Castro had two hits and drove in a run. "Its a tough lineup. Theyre going to make you work," Jackson said. "I thought for the most part I was able to contain them until the sixth inning. They kind of busted it open a little bit." With the wind blowing in on a cold summer night, Devin Mesoracos five-game homer streak came to an end. The Reds catcher was tied with Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr., Johnny Bench, George Crowe and Ted Kluszewski for the franchise record. Latos (1-0) allowed one run and five hits in seven innings in his third start after beginning the season on the disabled list. It was his first win since Sept. 2 against St. Louis. Latos was coming off a frustrating no-decision against Toronto, when he was staked to an 8-0 lead and was unable to hold on. He gave up five runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings as the Blue Jays rallied for a 14-9 victory Friday night. Thee Cubs fell to 12-31 against Cincinnati over the last three seasons.dddddddddddd Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect eighth and Aroldis Chapman finished for his 14th save in 15 chances. Pinch-hitter Justin Ruggiano doubled off the front of the basket in right field with two outs in the ninth. The call was upheld after Renteria called for a review, and Chapman struck out pinch-hitter Mike Olt to end the game. Cincinnati went ahead to stay with three runs in the sixth. Todd Frazier scored from first on Joey Vottos opposite-field double to left. After Mesoracos single, Jay Bruce lined a double off third baseman Luis Valbuenas glove to drive in Votto. Jackson struck out Chris Heisey before James Russell came in, and Skip Schumaker executed a perfect suicide squeeze to give the Reds a 4-1 lead. "It was the first one in my life. College, big leagues, you name it," said Schumaker, who also had two doubles in the game. "I saw the sign. It worked out." Bruce put the Reds in front with a two-out double down the right-field line in the first, scoring Frazier from second. Votto tried to hustle home from first but was cut down at the plate on Darwin Barneys relay throw. The Cubs tied it in the fourth. Ryan Sweeney reached on a leadoff double, advanced on Anthony Rizzos groundout and scored on Castros base hit. NOTES: Reds 2B Brandon Phillips was out of the lineup for the third straight game with a bruised right heel. ... RHP Dallas Beeler will make his major league debut in Game 1 of Chicagos day-night doubleheader Saturday against Washington. The 25-year-old Beeler is 5-3 with Triple-A Iowa. ... Mesoraco was picked off first base after originally called safe by umpire Trip Gibson in the fourth inning. The call was overturned by replay review. ' ' '