#6: Philadelphia Flyers
Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
The Philadelphia Flyers are a team that could be a dark horse candidate to make a playoff run. The biggest rival of the Washington Capitals finished sixth in the Metropolitan Division last season with a 33-31-18 record. They have three I’d say the top 75 forwards in the league in Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds. Brayden Schenn is a potential breakout candidate. They did a fantastic job in trading Zac Rinaldo, Nicklas Grossman and Chris Pronger. Sam Gagner, who they got for Grossman and Pronger, is a talented player who could have a breakout season.
Sadly for Flyers fans (but good for Washington Capitals fans), the Flyers are still very limited because of the salary cap. That said, they are definitely improving in that regard. So far this off-season they have re-signed Ryan White and signed Michal Neuvirth to be their backup goaltender.
The Flyers still have to get rid of more of their awful contracts, but this has been a pretty good start of free agency for them, relatively speaking.
Next: #5: The Aqua Coats