The next team in the 2023 Fantasy Hockey Sleepers series is the Philadelphia Flyers. This team surprised many last season as the players really bought into John Tortorella’s way of playing. With all of the injuries and inexperienced players, they should have been a lottery team for sure. They have traded away some key pieces, so that will alter the outlook this season.
With Kevin Hayes, Ivan Provorov, and Tony DeAngelo gone and the Flyers committed to a rebuild, it does open up opportunities for younger players that can be fantasy hockey sleepers. I have the belief that this team already has a lot of the pieces they will need to get out of the rebuild, it is just too early. We will continue to see signs. So, let’s look at three fantasy hockey sleepers for the 2023-24 season on the Flyers.
Philadelphia Flyers Sleepers for 2023-24 Fantasy Hockey
Cam York
Over the past two seasons, we’ve seen the progression of Cam York. It was his first two cracks at time in the NHL. He started out in the AHL in his first full season pro and just got into enough games to qualify him for rookie status in 2021-22. He didn’t get a huge opportunity anyway as he got into 30 games and averaged 19 minutes per game. The talent was clearly there, but once again in 2022-23, he didn’t spend the full season in the NHL. Now that Provorov and Tony DeAngelo have been traded, there is room in the top four and on the power play.
York has spent some time on the power play in his young career, but never to the full extent he should. In 84 games over the past two seasons, his offensive numbers are strong considering the team and opportunity he had. The 22-year-old has five goals and 30 points over the past two seasons and has only gotten 170 minutes on the power play. Now that he is the go-to option, those minutes should rise to well over 200. Not only will he be playing with the top players on the power play, but he’ll be in the top four at five-on-five and get to feed the puck to the top six. York will play somewhat physically and block a good deal of shots. He has a high chance of breaking out and being a great fantasy hockey sleeper on the Flyers this season.
Morgan Frost
At age 23, the former first-round pick of the Flyers finally broke out. Health played a big part in that as he was healthy for the entire season and logged top-six minutes. Another reason for the breakout offensively was a chance. Hayes was still around, but Sean Couturier was out the entire season. One of them remains and I’m not sold on the health of Couturier just yet after all the time he’s missed.
Frost will be a top-six centerman, but some seem to think that he could even take over the top center spot. That might be premature, but if there’s an injury, he’s the team’s best option. Regardless of if Frost plays on the first or second line, there are skilled wingers to help produce offensively for fantasy. Travis Konecny and Joel Farabee are two of them and will be playing on separate lines. Frost will get one of them beside him. He scored 19 goals and 46 points last season and will likely get better this season. Expect 20 goals and 50 points at the least, more effectiveness on the power play, and even more ice time overall.
Travis Sanheim
We already discussed York as the go-to sleeper on the Flyers because of the role he’s taking on. But Travis Sanheim can’t be overlooked. In terms of the number one defenseman on the team, it’s Sanheim. He’ll log top penalty-killing minutes, get some time on the second power-play unit, and log the most ice time in total on the team.
Sanheim is very strong defensively and has also shown the ability to chip in offensively. He won’t be getting 50 points as a defenseman anytime soon, but 30 points is easily in the cards. In six seasons in the NHL, he has scored at least seven goals four times and 30-plus points twice. With Provorov gone, Sanheim is the one good option on the left side and should come close to logging 25 minutes a night. This will only increase all of his chances to get other stats as well like blocked shots, hits, shots, and points. If Sanheim is there near the end of your draft when you need a defenseman or two, he’s your man.
The Flyers could easily surprise again this season and will have relevant players for fantasy hockey. Not many will be taken early in the draft, so the sneaky options could be grabbed very late and benefit your team. Look for these players later in your draft this season or even on the waiver wire in leagues that aren’t that deep. Next up is the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Make sure to check out all of the sleepers and breakouts of the 2023 fantasy hockey season!