The '25-'26 Philadelphia Flyers thread

[phillychuck]

Maybe this reverses the Philly losing streak! Nice 5-2 win vs Florida (2 EN goals after a 3-2 lead).

[Austinfan]

This is not a good team, but it's no longer a bad team.
Vladar/Ersson should be a substantial improvement over the previous two seasons.
Much deeper at forward, and defense should be solid when they get York and Risto back.

Still a lot of growiong pains, Zegras relearning how to play center, he's got the talent but has to master the other parts of the position, defense, FOs, etc.

Michkov looks bad right now, he's out of shape (Tocchet says an ankle injury over the summer hurt his conditioning, maybe true, maybe the HC covering for him).

Dvorak is basically Poehling, ideally an above average 4C who can play up in the lineup but not top 6 caliber.

Couts has picked up where he left off the second half of last season, 21 points in his last 29 games. Basically took almost 2 years to recover from his back surgeries. When Michkov gets into game shape, Couts should step it up a notch, he was best with Giroux b/c he's really not a playmaker and needs one to drive his line.

Jett had some beautiful passes in limited PT, he and Grebenkin are being brought along slowly, but if they continue improving, their PT should gradually increase. Hathaway is a solid 4RW, but not a good fit with a pass first center, might try Tippett on Jett's right side.

[bigegypt0417]

If the Flyers are able to get anywhere near average to slightly above average goaltending, they are a playoff team.

It would be nice to see them take a step forward this season and look to add vs. shed more players.

[Austinfan]

Ideally, they shed players b/c young players like Barkey, Bonk, Gendron, Kaplan, McDonald, etc. show they're too good for the AHL. And in April, if MIchigan State is an early exit, Martone?

[bigegypt0417]

There is no possible way all of those players will be ready for roster spots.

You may end up being right that they aren't buying but at the same time they won't sell because they have 6 plus players ready for roster spots.

It's more likely some of those guys will be traded if they are in the hunt.

[Austinfan]

Not all, just one or two this spring.
If Bonk is ready, maybe you move Risto.
If Barkey or Gendron, Hathaway?
Gaucher or Dowart, Dvorak?
McDonald, Seeler?

Players will dictate moves this year, Briere isn't going to sell just to dump players unless they totally collapse, and he's not going shopping for veteran additions, either. But if someone is tearing up the AHL, at some point you have to promote him and find out if he's for real.

[zambonir]

Tickets for the Penn State-Michigan State oudoor hockey game now on sale.

[Docs]

Carter Hart to join the Las Vegas Golden Knights when his suspension is over.

[LegoDoom]

I agree with AF that this is not a good team.

I kind of agree with BE that this team will make the playoffs.

Personally, I'd like it if the team picked in the top 10. Michkov and Martone were lucky picks, but I'd like to have one more.

[phillychuck]

Right now Mitchkov is one of the guys who is playing below his standard (SSS warning). It will all. come down to how the goaltending holds up. If they can stay around .900 save percentage or a bit over their record will be OK. Tonight is such a tough game coming off FLA/CAR/FLA... And the Jets are no joke.

[Austinfan]

This team is still leaning Tocchet's system.
Biggest change is shift from blocking shots to steering opponents outside and giving goalies clear looks at weak shots.
On offense, a bigger emphasis on attacking the O-zone and especially high danger areas.

Tocchet still emphasizes defense, but I think they'll gradually become a more aggressive forechecking team as the talent level increases the next couple seasons. And they'll have the depth to roll four "real" lines, you can already see that with Jett on the 4th line - next season you could have Jett, Nesbitt, Martone, Barkey, Bump all in the lineup.

One thing holding them back so far is the decimated defense, I think getting Risto back (hopefully in November) will make a big difference b/c they can roll three balanced pairs and reduce Sanheim's workload.

[phillychuck]

Winnipeg looks better than either Carolina or Florida. They did win the President’s trophy last year...

[Austinfan]

It was similar to the Carolina game, smothering forecheck and very small windows.
Flyers actually won the xGF% game, but struggled to get the puck out of the D-zone.
No surprise that the 3rd defensive pair and 4th line were overwhelmed.

Winnipeg is oldest team in the league, I suspect they look better in October than April when we seem them again.
Flyers are 4th youngest team.

For Tocchett, playing Carolina and Winnipeg early are teaching moments, showing young players a taste of what playoff hockey will look like, small windows, less time to make decisions.

For Briere, a gauge to start the season, and also makes adding speed/quickness a priority, a LHD who can carry the puck out of the D-zone and players to balance the big bois he drafted last summer.

I'm ready to give up on Ersson, I think his ceiling is backup goalie now. Just doesn't make the big play on a regular basis (the 2nd goal, the 3rd was a fluke). Zavragin off to a good start at 20 years old in the KHL, .930 Sv% first 6 games.

[LegoDoom]

Imo, and I know it's not shared by many on here, but you need to give Michkov a lot of rope. He's too talented and too good of a hockey player to hold back.

I also think Tippett could be great if he realized how to play the game.

[phillychuck]

Tippett should just shoot whenever he has a sliver of room. Luchanko should shoot a lot more, too, but he just doesn’t seem to want to do that.

[LegoDoom]

I'd appreciate it if he understood spacing, but you're not wrong.

[Austinfan]

Tippett did something I've been waiting for, instead of firing from 20 feet, he kept skating and sniped from 10' away, giving the goalie no time to react. I think Tippett is one of the guys that Tocchet wants driving the net, get to the high danger area then shoot instead of just shooting blindly from a distance without a screen.

Jett only played two seasons in top 6 in OHL.Last year 21 goals in 46 games at Guelph, so he can shoot.
I think he's still intimidated playing with NHL players, a more confident player would keep it and shoot rather than pass to Hathaway. He just turned 19 in late August.
Experience matters, look at Grebenkin v Bump, Grebenkin has 200 pro games under his belt, his game needs work, but he's not shy about trying to make plays.