Flyers officially deepest team in NHL

RALEIGH, N.C. -- One thousand, seven hundred.

It's a big number.

Last night, the Flyers picked up the 1,700th win in franchise history, giving them an overall record of 1700-1167-457-75 since they began playing at an empty Spectrum in October, 1967.

That's a win percentage of .578, which puts them behind only the Montreal Canadiens (24 Stanley Cups, .590 win percentage) for the best record of any franchise in NHL history.

Last night was also the Flyers' 38th win of the season (38-14-5), which puts them just two points off the pace that was set for a franchise record (118 points) back in 1975-76. Here's where they stack up:

Year                 Record             Pts

1          1979-1980       39-5-13           91 (finished with 116 pts)

2          1975-1976       36-10-11         83 (finished with 118 pts, franchise record)

3          2010-2011       38-14-5           81

4          1985-1986       38-15-4           80

5          1976-1977       34-11-12         80

6          1982-1983       36-14-7           79

7          1973-1974       35-13-9           79

8          1974-1975       35-14-8           78

9          1977-1978       33-14-10         76

10        1984-1985       34-16-7           75

The way the Flyers have done it this year, though, has been with depth and balanced scoring. Andreas Nodl's goal last night officially made them the deepest offense in the NHL - with 10 double digit goal scorers, if you include newly acquired Kris Versteeg.

(Versteeg, by the way, picked up his first point as a Flyer when he assisted on Mike Richards' goal last night.)

"We were already deep up front with all four of our lines," Danny Briere said. "Now we are even deeper with the addition of Versteeg. [Last night] we were missing Ville Leino and it seems as though we aren't missing a beat, which is a great thing. Our defense and goaltending is strong. Nothing good will happen unless we put forth the effort, though."

The Flyers also have 8 players with at least 20 assists.

Detroit, with 9 goal scorers in double digits, are a close second behind the Flyers. But they have been riddled with injuries this season, missing players like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg for stretches at a time.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: While it's a little early to be looking at the playoff picture, the seemingly set Eastern Conference as of two weeks ago - with just Carolina and Atlanta looking like contenders for the 8th and final spot - has become a lot more jumbled.

New Jersey is doing it's best to make a run, but sitting in 13th place and a full 12 points back of a playoff spot, would force the Devils to go on something like a 19-6 run over their final 25 games to have a legitimate shot.

Buffalo is suddenly just two points back of Carolina and already tied with Atlanta. The Sabres are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.

Despite their two trades over the last two weeks, the Maple Leafs are also 6-3-1 in their last 10 and have won two games in a row, putting them just 6 points back of the Hurricanes.

And with the putrid play of the Rangers of the last few weeks, the once Atlantic division stalkers, it may be that the 7th and 8th spots will be up for grab in late March. New York is 3-6-1 in their last 10 games and they are only 4 points away from being on the outside, looking in. The Flyers play at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon as part of Hockey Day in America.

Here's a look at the latest playoff chances, according to PlayoffStatus.com:

The Flyers have an 84% chance of grabbing the top seed with their 5 point lead on the Conference. They have a 91% chance of winning the Atlantic division, which would be their first since 2004. They have a less than 1 percent chance of missing the playoffs.

Buffalo, believe it or not, based on past performances has the best chance to pick up the 8th seed (49 percent), which would make them the Flyers' first round opponent.

If the playoffs started today, though, Carolina (48 percent) would be the Flyers' opponent. The Flyers are 15-0-3 against Carolina since 2006. The Rangers are a 76 percent shot of making the dance and Atlanta, meanwhile, has a 78 percent chance of missing the playoffs for the 11th time in 12 years.

What does all of this mean on Feb. 17? Well, admittedly, not much. There's still a lot of hockey to be played.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers.