Entering his fourth season in the NHL for the Philadelphia Flyers forward Michael Raffl he has become a top forward finding key roles in helping the Flyers win games. The 6′ left winger finds ways to make the best of the opportunities given to him.

Michael Raffl: Playing at the Top

Michael Raffl has found plenty of opportunities spending time with players Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek. For the 2016-17 season, he will have a similar role with the team being on the second line with Sean Couturier and Voracek. Raffl has seen his time on ice go up in as he grows as an NHL forward. In his rookie campaign, Raffl had a total of 883 minutes with his average time on the ice being 12:59. In 67 games he had totaled 951 minutes and averaged 14:12 of ice time. Last season in 82 games he totaled 1173 minutes of ice time, averaging 14:18.

Raffl’s positive possession

In Raffl’s three seasons the Flyers have had control of the puck 50 percent when he was on the ice. In Raffl’s rookie season the Flyers’ possessed the puck 52.1 percent, in his second season the team possessed the puck 55.9 percent. Last season the time of possession when he was on the ice went down slightly to 54 percent. When averaging out the three seasons with him on the ice the Flyers had the puck 54.1 percent of the time.

Raffl in his three seasons has shown he can contribute for the team with his points increasing each year.

Raffl’s points in three seasons for the Flyers has increased as he becomes more familiar with his role. He had 22 points his rookie season, in the following year his points went up scoring 21 goals and seven assists. In the 2015-16 season, his points went up slightly scoring 31 points. But while Raffl’s goals went down slightly to 13 goals, his assists went significantly up with 18 assists. Raffl has proven he can provide for the team and can play in this league scoring 81 points.

Raffl has proven he deserves to be on one of the top two lines for the team, providing for the team, whether it is from his time on the ice increasing, the team is also more likely to possess the puck when he is on the ice, also while on the ice has provided the offense to go with it.

With Michael Raffl’s progression as an NHL player has increased, the Flyers should see more of the same success for the 2016-17 season putting up similar numbers to his seasons prior. Raffl is in for another good year for Philadelphia as they fight for a playoff spot.

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