Flyers Player Power Rankings: Schenn, Gudas, Giroux & more

The two-faced nature of the Flyers was alive this week, as the club beat up on the Calgary Flames, shut out by the Edmonton Oilers, then destroyed the Columbus Blue Jackets by six goals.

It was an offensively crazy week in which Brayden Schenn played the star with a hat trick, shooting him to No. 1 on the ranking, while Radko Gudas of all people jumped 14 spots with an out-of-body experience against the Blue Jackets. Claude Giroux was also ridiculous, but that’s standard.

The Rankings:

(last week: 2) Brayden Schenn - It was a crazy week for Schenn. He went from having old lady bras and shoes thrown at him after scoring a hat trick against the Flames on Monday, to being dropped on his lidless melon on Thursday. He finished with four points in three games to put him seven assists and four total points from his career highs across the board.

(last week: 11) Claude Giroux - If you were to ask people who had the best week, you’d hear Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, maybe even Steve Mason. Giroux has been good for so long, five points in three games has become the standard. He scored four assists alone on Monday and it was barely mentioned. That’s greatness.

(last week: 8) Wayne Simmonds - It was another workman week for Simmonds, who grabbed two goals, three points and nine shots in three games. He needs 16 points in his final 18 games to tie his career high of 60 points set in 2013-14. Can he do it?

(last week: 1) Shayne Gostisbehere - Ghost grabbed an assist on Monday but had a rough time on Thursday, making multiple defensive mistakes and showing frustration in a loss to the Oilers. Because of his heroics this season, it’s easy to forget he’s a 22-year-old kid with 55 professional hockey games under his belt.

(last week: 19) Radko Gudas - The Grizzly One showed off his skill set in full on Saturday, making a monster hit in the defensive zone then firing off an amazing pass to Michael Raffl for an assist on the Flyers’ first goal. He then added two more goals and an assist for the four-point night. He had five points coming into the game. The most amazing part of Gudas’ week? He finished with 26 shot attempts in his last two games. That’s insane.

(last week: 17) Steve Mason - The Flyers should have marathon-started Neuvirth earlier. After practically losing his starting job, Mason responded with a 19-save shutout on Saturday to win some faith back. The downfall of Mason has been greatly exaggerated.

(last week: 6) Sam Gagner - How many goals will it take Gagner to remain in the lineup? He has four in his last seven games, including a beauty off the rush on Saturday against the Blue Jackets. He certainly deserves to play, but being deserving hasn’t meant much when it comes to coach Dave Hakstol’s decisions.

(last week: 13) Michael Raffl - A new contract did wonders for Raffl’s offensive game. He only registered five shots but managed three points (one goal, two assists) for six points in his last eight games.

(last week: 9) Sean Couturier - He has yet to regain his pre-injury scoring touch, but Couturier was far from unnoticeable this week. He had an assist and seven shots in three games. If Couturier can get hot relatively soon, the Flyers might have a real shot at the post-season.

(last week: 3) Michal Neuvirth - What a difference one week makes. After being named unofficial starter and running off eight straight starts, Neuvirth picked up one win and a loss this week but looked less than specular, giving up seven goals on 63 shots -- for an average save percentage of .888.

(last week: 12) Nick Cousins - The young gun scored a goal so greasy on Saturday, the ref didn’t want to call it a goal. The ruling was overturned upon review and Cousins got his fourth in 19 games. He’s been a big reason the Flyers have played better of late even though he averaged a team-low 10:38 TOI, which seems criminally low.

(last week: 5) Mark Streit - As a gift for not being traded, Streit delivered an assist to accompany his team-leading 23:29 average TOI. That’s No. 1 defender territory. He’ll be a hot commodity on the market this offseason or next season’s deadline with one year left on his pricey deal.

(last week: 14) Matt Read - He has two shots in his last five games, but typical for Read, he also has two assists over the same span. He manages to be mildly productive considering indicators suggest he shouldn’t be.

(last week: 15) Andrew MacDonald - He looked bad on Monday against the speed of the Flames but made a nice point pass to Schenn for the first of two assists in the week. Talk about his defensive gaffes all you want, but that’s not a terrible week production-wise.

(last week: 21) Brandon Manning - He made the lineup over Evgeny Medvedev on Saturday and had every player you thought retired already chasing him around. First it was Jared Boll, then David Clarkson. He was annoying everyone and still managed two assists.

(last week: 20) Nick Schultz - Four shots on goal, an assist and six PIMs. It was an active week for Schultz -- a guy that is allergic to active weeks.

(last week: 16) Ryan White - Here a Ryan White weekly fast fact -- He averaged more TOI this week (14:32) than Read, Raffl, Scott Laughton and Cousins.

(last week: 4) Scott Laughton - Somehow, Laughton finished the week with no shots on goal in three games. No SOG and four shot attempts in a week in which the Flyers as a team scored 11 goals in three games. That's hard to do.

(last week: 7) Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Coming off a two-goal week, Bellemare regressed back to his typical fourth-line self with one shot and no points. Maybe if he had better linemates, that two-goal Bellemare would show his face more often.

(last week: 18) Chris VandeVelde - He made a move on Saturday that made mind’s melt. VandeVelde, who may be the least dangerous player in the NHL, danced around Seth Jones and busted in alone on goal. The shot attempt was saved, but if VandeVelde scored, the Blue Jackets organization would have folded.

(last week: 22) Evgeny Medvedev - The Russian made a pair of starts this week, but was scratched almost instantly after he was turnstiled by Connor McDavid on Thursday. That’s nothing to be ashamed of, really, but it did look pretty bad.

(last week: 23) R.J. Umberger - Three more scratches for Umberger, who is the new-age Vinny Lecavalier. Think the Los Angeles Kings have any interest this offseason?

Injury Report: Michael Del Zotto (Upper-Body Injury)