Like most people have said, I don't think they are significantly better than expected. I think Torts has done a good job getting the most out of this team, but this forward roster is significantly better than last season.
Last season, they played guys like Willman, Desnoyers, J. Cates, Lemiuex, Bellows, McEwan, Hodgson, Allison, Laczynski (who I thought played decently but I don't mind he's not with the Flyers) -- hell Deslauriers played 80 games last season. They replaced those guys with Hathaway, Poehling, Atkinson, and Couts. All of those guys were legit NHL players prior to the start of last season. They also included Brink and Foerster who have performed like legit NHL players, which BTW they both rank rather highly in rookie statistics. I'll probably make an extended post about it at the end of the season.
I think the defensive group is better than I personally expected, in that it didn't regress into shambles. I thought Seeler's season last year was more likely to be a flash in the pan (based on previous seasons), and Risto and Staal were going to be tank commanders. I didn't know what to expect from Walker. Staal has been crappy, but Risto has been very good in his injury-plagued season, and Seeler has played well for a second season in a row...who could have guessed Walker would have been as good as he was.