Thursday Morning Fly By: We’re back, baby!

*After a few days off for the holiday madness, the Flyers are back tonight in Florida to play the Tampa Bay Lightning. If you missed it last time, check out our pregame Q&A about the team to learn a little about this year’s Bolts. [BSH]

*Have you been wondering what John Boruk thinks of Chuck Fletcher’s decision to call up Phil Varone? No? Well here it is anyway. [NBC Sports Philly]

*We hinted at it yesterday, but there really are a ton of Flyers prospects for you to watch in the WJC this year. Seven, to be exact. Which is technically not a ton, but it’s a lot so calm down with the maths. [Flyers]

*And if you’re interested, which you should be, here’s a full schedule of the Canada and USA games and where to watch them. [Pension Plan Puppets]

*Does anyone else think that we might all get a little too hype about #1 overall picks every year? They’re not all Auston Matthews. They’re certainly not all Connor McDavid. Some of them are just Alexander Daigle. Anyhoo, here’s a story on Jack Hughes, the consensus #1 in this year’s draft. [Sporting News]

*Speaking of Matthews. Might be time for Ovie to move over, because Auston can really score some goals. [Yahoo Sports]

*And finally, for the subscribers, DGB on how he’d fix the NHL’s stupid playoff format. [The Athletic]