How Philadelphia is flying high and exceeding expectations this season

One team we haven't devoted nearly enough attention to this season is the Philadelphia Flyers. I suspect that much of the reason why people have been slow to come around to the way they're playing is a residual of the bleak preseason expectations we had for the club heading into the year.

The betting market had them listed at just 75.5 points, a team total that was only ahead of the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Montréal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Chicago Blackhawks for worst in the league. In our annual Watchability Rankings, we had them ranked 31st from an entertainment perspective. At the time, those both seemed like perfectly reasonable projections. They finished with 75 points last season and were coming off of a summer in which they seemed to be embarking on the initial s