Predictions and "Grade-ictions" Series

Matt Carle

2009/2010 Regular season stats: 6G 29A +19
2010 Playoff stats: 1G 12A +6
Grade: A

The winner of this season's Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy, Matt Carle was without a doubt 2010's most improved Flyer (although having Chris Pronger as your defensive partner improves just about anyone).

A force on the power play and penalty kill, Carle was a very versatile defenseman for the Flyers. He was rarely out of position on a play (which once again can be attributed to having Pronger as a D partner), and scored one of the biggest goals of the season for the Flyers.

With the Flyers down 1-0 to the Rangers with a little over 12 minutes left in the season's final game, Carle scored on a rebound to knot the game at one and send it into overtime and eventually a shootout. And after that, you can probably remember what happened.

We can only assume that Pronger and Carle will be the Flyers' No.1 defensive pair again in 2010/11. And because of that, I expect another stellar season from Carle.


2010/2011 Predictions: 9G 31A +18