PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Flyers are set to enter a season like none other.
The 2021 NHL campaign will feature 56 games for every team. All games will be against division opponents and many will be on back-to-back nights.
For Flyers coach Alain Vigneault, it means making more changes on the fly during the season.
"We are going to play eight times against these seven teams," said Vigneault. "I think there’s going to be a fine line there between playing to your strengths, playing to your identity, and sometimes adding a little wrinkle in there that might throw the opposition off.”
The Flyers got off to a slow start last season, and they’ll need a faster start this year with less time to grab points in the standings.
A slow start in 2021 could leave the Flyers on the outside looking in when it comes to the postseason, a message Vigneault is getting across to his players.
"There’s so little separating teams and so little separating teams from a win and a loss," Vigneault said. "Our division, as you all know, is so competitive and so strong. I think it’s going to be a matter of finding our rhythm and our game real quickly."
The Flyers have been getting in extra work at training camp with shootouts. With every point more valuable than ever, success in shootouts could provide the extra points in the standings which make the difference.
Vigneault wants everyone on the roster to be ready for the extra session.
"There might be that opportunity to get more shootouts," said Vigneault. "I want our guys to be on top. I want our guys to be confident."
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This will be a sprint instead of a marathon, and the grind will be accompanied by a host of condensed weeks of hockey.
There is at least the luxury of less travel with the temporary realignment of the divisions along with all division contests.
Vigneault expects everyone on the roster to contribute.
"Eight times this year we’re playing four games in six nights," Vigneault said. "That’s more than half our schedule, so there’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to need players. We’re going to need our depth."