Flyers Weekly Mailbag: Who takes the fall when Nolan Patrick returns?

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The Flyers are on the prowl, and what a hot start they have gotten off to this season. They currently sit with a record of 2-0 (One of 4 undefeated teams left), and the orange and black look continue their winning ways on this upcoming Western Canadian road swing. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.

Scott Laughton would definitely become the 4th line Center, unless Carsen Twarynski is playing bad before Nolan Patrick returns. In that case the Flyers could move up Connor Bunnaman, or leave Laughton as the 3RW. I believe Twarynski beat out Bunnaman for the position of 3RW, so the Flyers would have to send Bunnaman back to Lehigh.

Fletcher will be faced with some big decisions when Patrick returns. He will have a good idea of how both Bunnaman, and Twarynski are playing at that time. This affords Fletcher some time to properly evaluate both players. Moreover, if both of these young prospects are not playing good hockey by the time Patrick returns, could Fletcher be inclined to call-up Joel Farabee or German Rubtsov? This remains to be seen, but Fletcher will indeed be faced with some big decisions.

Michel Therrien has worked hard in training camp, and the pre-season looking for the right fits on both power-play units. I’m not a fan of Claude Giroux being on the right side, as he’s more successful on the left side. However, the PP went 2 for 4 on Wednesday night in their home opener.

Therrien stressed that he would continue to shift the players into different spots on both power-play units, as he’s trying to make them less predictable. This continues to be a work-in-progress, but Wednesday was a great night for the PP. It appears the experienced coaching staff is getting the best out of these players early on, which is great to see. Let’s give this more time, and then we could properly evaluate this further.

If you would like to see your questions submitted in our weekly mailbag. Just submit your question on our Facebook page or on Twitter using #Flyersmail. Thanks to all the fans for another great mailbag, and Let’s go Flyers. Without your support, we wouldn’t be here today.

Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports