The '25-'26 Philadelphia Flyers thread

[Austinfan]

Flyers finally faced a team that doesn't have a smothering forecheck.
Just a rough way to start a season with a young team (4th youngest even with Couts (33) and Hathaway (34)) learning a new system.

Zamula - Juulsen looked much better, but that may reflect an opponent that wasn't breathing down their necks.
Zamula was more decisive, and Juulsen is a solid veteran who has zero offensive skill.

I saw Grebenkin doing his thing in the AHL POs and thought then he was better than Bump, he's taking it a step up, has a mean streak, goes to the net but also has the puck handling skills and hands of a small forward. A work in progress, but great move by Danny to use a 4th and 6th to get Toronto to throw him in the Laughton trade.

Zegras is working hard, playing well off the puck, forcing too many passes in traffic, but I think he'll settle down as he feels at home and develops chemistry with his linemates. Looks like he's having fun and is glad to be out of Anaheim.

Once nice thing, with some extra days on this homestand, Tocchet can get some practices in.

[phillychuck]

AF, do you think they are sending Jett back? Do you think they will try to get London to trade for him if he’s in juniors?

[VoteForKalas]

The guys we need to develop, outside of Michkov, Jett & Drysdale, are off to good starts.

Tippett: 5 goals in 6 games

Foerster: 5 pts in 6 games

Brink: 4 pts in 6 games

Zegras, 5 pts in 6 games

York: 3 pts in 3 games

+++++++

Cagey vet award: Couts: 7 pts in 6 games

++++++++

Need more from:

Michkov: 2 pts in 6 games

Konecny: 3 pts in 6 games

Drysdale: 2 pts in 6 games

+++++++++
Longer shots:

Jett: 0 pts

Grebenkin: 1 pt in 4 games

Zamula: 1 pt in 4 games

[Austinfan]

They obviously don't like Guelph for his development.
I'm sure they'd like Guelph to trade him to London or Windsor or another top OHL program, but they can't force that.
So keeping him in Philly for a month allows them to give him a lot of hands on coaching before sending him down.

He'd play a couple months, then the WJC-20, then a couple more months, assuming Guelph misses the POs, then either the Flyers or Phantoms - Guelph's last game is March 21.

I think they'll give him his 9 games or so, there have been flashes, and if Grebenkin and Jett show some chemistry they might keep him up, figuring limited minutes this year would prepare him for a top 9 role next season. But if Grebenkin moves up to play with Zegras and Michkov, I think they send Jett down b/c Dvorak - Jett - Hathaway is not ideal for developing his offensive game.

Either way, I don't think they're as concerned as the fans with his development. They knew he was a season behind his peers when they drafted him, from their perspective, playing NHL, OHL, WJC-20 and AHL (including POs) again will probably be about as much experience (with 20+ games against NHL/AHL players) as he'd get in college.

[phillychuck]

Flyers are tight with the London brass, maybe they can encourage them to get him...

[Austinfan]

Thinking about college v CHL, I think for a player like Jett, it's more of a wash, if you're on a team that goes deep into the playoffs, you're matched against top skill players who are 18-19. Barkey and Bonk got great experience going all the way to the Memorial Cup, the last few series they were playing teams with multiple 1st and 2nd rd picks.

For a player like Martone, CHL is a waste of time b/c as a true PF he's going to overwhelm CHL players with his size and strength, in college, he'll face bigger, older players that will be better preparation for his role in the NHL.

[LegoDoom]

I'm not exactly sure what happened in OT, but nice save.

[Austinfan]

Weird game, Flyers started strong but faded, yet came back from a 2-0 deficit. Go figure.
Ersson started slow, but made some spectacular saves in the 3rd period and OT.
This is a team in progress, I think by the end of the home stand, with time to practice (on the road, travel cuts into practice time) they should look more cohesive in a couple of weeks.

[phillychuck]

Hopefully the first three lines all start showing some chemistry together, especially the Couts line. The Zegras line was humming today.

[VoteForKalas]

Great to see Zegras bust out and Dvorak pitch in too.

Also great to see Ersson step up and get a win. Huge for his confidence.

Need more from Konecny & Michkov, they should be our points leaders.

[Dirk41]

(Question that probably indicates looking too deep into things)

If Michkov was an American or Canadian born player (or just one that spoke English fluently) would there be this much direct criticism to his face on a nightly basis??

They have somehow found a way to alienate and ridicule the most offensively gifted prospect they have had in half a century.

[phillychuck]

I don’t know. The criticism is mostly on fan sites, not from the inside. The commentary inside is quite restrained. My only issue is that they are not giving him enough ice time to play himself into shape.

[Dirk41]

Just thinking about the benchings and this latest quote

NBC Sports Philadelphia on Instagram: ""There's just some stuff he's got to...

[Austinfan]

People are reading way too much into things.
Michkov is 21, far from a finished product.
Scorers tend to be streaky, TK is struggling right now, but we've seen him on hot streaks.
Same with Michkov, odds are he'll get his legs under him and put together a string of mutli-point games.

[VoteForKalas]

All That is true, but this team has and should have ambitions to develop this talent and get them to step up their responsibilities and leadership.

Konecny is no rookie nor is he 21. He needs to get going and be a better more consistent player and leader for this team. He is being paid very well and needs to step up.

Michkov is a different story, but expectations and the standard of performance should be the same. You are one of if not the most talented player on the team and with that comes responsibility. Other players look to you and will follow you if you can walk the walk. He needs to be given the tools and opportunity to succeed, but he also needs to motivate himself and become a leader on and off the ice.

[bigegypt0417]

This is a whole lot of nothing...the flyers have played 8 games.

[zambonir]

Flyers send prospect Jett Luchanko back to OHL

[phillychuck]

I hope they told him to shoot the puck! Sort of a wasted year for him if he doesn’t get traded in the OHL.

Lines (first three lines are not in any particular order):

?) TK-Couts-Tippett
?) Foerster--Cates--Brink
?) Dvorak-Zegras-Michkov
4) Hathaway-Abols-Grebenkin (Deslaueriers)

I’m probably overly optimistic but I think our skaters are pretty solid as long as we don’t get lots of injuries. Grebenkin can move to a top 9 role, but the other three skaters on that line are clearly 4th line types. Once Risto gets back we should have two solid defense pairs...maybe 3 if they bring Andrea back up.