The '25-'26 Philadelphia Flyers thread

[zambonir]

Flyers19's point is that Brent Flahr has run the draft since 2018, he was retained when they fired Fletcher. But he's also been pretty decent at his job at the top of the drafts I think. York, Brink (2019) and Foerster, Andrae (2020). Then no first-rounder in 2021 (Risto) which is unforgivable but not his fault. Then Cutter, which, who knows what that was really about (but it also kept them from taking Buium). Briere came in after that, and yeah it is too soon to really judge the last three classes. You gotta give them some credit for getting Michkov, some thought he might go higher and some thought it was still too risky to take him even at 7.

What's still killing them is the Hextall years, other than TK and Sanheim. Even with the bigger misses and the guys they actively decided to move on from, imagine if Patrick had worked out (never mind the other players from that draft who would have been better choices in hindsight), Provorov hadn't been a homophobe and Hart hadn't been accused of a crime.

[LegoDoom]

Briere is a terrible example. Likely from old school thinking that size is everything.

Cates is a very good player. His upside was just never that high.

[flyers19rw]

Berglund has that "it" factor when it comes to hockey. He gets to the right place at the right time and knows what to do when he gets there. Is he a #1C? Probably not but definitely a 2. The question with him will be when does he come over?
If he comes over next season and Zegras spends the rest of this season mastering the center position, things in the middle get cleared up real fast. Z/Berglund/Dvorak/Coutourier.

[Docs]

Then Cutter, which, who knows what that was really about (but it also kept them from taking Buium)

I think you mean jurisec (sp?)? They passed on Buium to take Jett. Unless you mean that they felt compelled to take Jett because they lost out on cutter?

I don’t think cutter was a bad pick unless they knew for sure he wouldn’t sign when they drafted him, i thought that fell out after the draft. In fact the Flyers had Hart, Cutter and Michkov as their top three young players at one point which was an exciting nucleus.

[LegoDoom]

Passing on Zeev was likely a huge mistake.

I will be the first person to say you should build around strength positions (not just in hockey), but still think Schaeffer should have been the first pick and passing on Zeev was a mistake.

If everyone sorted by position and stats, then good GMs wouldn't be a thing.

[zambonir]

No, the story - more of a rumor I suppose, FWIW - is that Buium had the same agent as Gauthier, so the Flyers did not want to deal with him (or perhaps even worried they would end up with another unsigned player). He was also Ryan Johansen's agent.

Cutter was a good pick, whatever went wrong there is separate from the decision to take him. At least as far as it applies to the guy who runs the draft.

[Docs]

Ah thanks for the clarification i know it was mentioned before and i blanked

[LegoDoom]

No, the story - more of a rumor I suppose, FWIW - is that Buium had the same agent as Gauthier, so the Flyers did not want to deal with him (or perhaps even worried they would end up with another unsigned player). He was also Ryan Johansen's agent.

Cutter was a good pick, whatever went wrong there is separate from the decision to take him. At least as far as it applies to the guy who runs the draft.

Passing on players for this reason is probably not correct.

[zambonir]

Well, that's what makes the whole thing so mysterious and frustrating. But calling their bluff and losing wouldn't have been great either (we already know what that is like as Phillies fans). At least they won the Johansen dispute

[Austinfan]

Buium hasn't exactly been a star so far 51g 2-6 8 -14, only 15 hits.
3-9 12 on the PP, even there, he was demoted in Minn to PP2.
He's soft, bad on defense and not generating a lot of offense at even strength.
He should be better with experience, but not the star he was hyped to be, compare to Hutson.

Heck, Flyers have gotten better production out of Andrae.

Don't know if it's Flahr or the scouts but good track record after 2nd rd:
2021: #158 Murchison
2022: #133 Bump, #144 McDonald
2023: #87 Zavragin, #95 Barkey
2024: #107 Ruohonen
2025: #132 Westergard, #164 Quinn

[LegoDoom]

Buium hasn't exactly been a star so far 51g 2-6 8 -14, only 15 hits.

He's 20 years old and was brought on for the playoffs while Jett has barely sniffed the roster.

But please, go on to whatever argument that is going to fail.

He was also traded to Vancouver for Quinn Hughes. Do you think Jett makes that happen?

[Docs]

I'm patient with prospects

Buium hasn't exactly been a star so far

Same poster, same day. Sorry for pointing this out AF i feel like you need to apply the same patience with other franchises prospects. I think being in NHL at 19 especially for a defender is impressive.

[Austinfan]

I've said he's going to improve, but the hype around him was that of an instant star, I had my doubts after seeing him against WMU in the college playoffs, struggled with pressure. Compare to Hutson who is an instant star playing the same style (fast skilled offense first D-man) at the same age. By the way, Buium was benched in the POs, then this season demoted to 3rd pair and 2PP in Minn, then traded as part of a package for Hughes.

Jett is almost a year younger than Buium and a season behind in development. So we'll see. Buium turned 20 in Dec, and has two NCAA seasons under his belt.

In the same fashion, Berglund and Ruohonen looked great in WJC-20, but they're 19, we'll see how they develop the next 3 years against better competition.

The guys to watch are the late B-days, not just Jett but Westergard and Quinn. Westergard played for Sweden at 18, Quinn after a slow start is taking off in the Q, had he been born a month later probably gets taken much higher this summer.

[xogfog]

The Flyers are in a real funk right now. I really think they have to make a trade, my best targets are Shane Wright from the Kracken and Robert Thomas from the Blues. I think a trade for either would require a haul, but both are good fits, Wright with potential and Thomas more of a sure bet. You would probably need a package of Tippet or Brink, Luchenko and a 1st rd. pick next year.

Also, as the team has really looked lackluster these past few weeks, save the Avalanche game, I think the Flyers need to consider taking the C from Couturier. Couts is just is out of gas, untradeable, and does not really factor into the future of this team. If you can get Wright or Thomas, Couts is the 4th line center and does not deserve the C. IMHO the C should go to Konecny, he still has fire in his belly.

[flyers19rw]

Don’t like saying this but it might be time to move out Konecny. By the time that this team is good, he’ll be on the downside of his career. If another club would give the Flyers some good young talent in exchange for him it would be wise to do it.

[Austinfan]

Briere won't rush into anything, his target is still 2027-28, a PO run this season would be a nice sign, but not a priority.
They're actually not a bad team, their metrics are better than their record:

xGF% 50.31 (15)
HDCF% 52.97% (8)
PP xGF/60: 9.99 (8), GF/60: 5.58(30)
PK xGA/60: 8.34 (10), GA/60 7.73 (19)
GA - xGA = +0.18
Playing solid hockey, aren't overmatched, but make too many mistakes and need to finish better.

Some of this is lack of depth, especially 4th line, 3rd pair, some is team wearing down (lack of depth means you can't rest dinged up players), some of this is growing pains (4th youngest roster in NHL).

And a lot I think is the transition from Torts to Tocchet. Tocchet has had little practice time to clean up the mistakes and focus on fundamentals.

The one thing this slump has done is free Briere to make moves without worrying about the Clubhouse, he gave his players a chance to make a PO run, they've fallen short, so they won't resent a future oriented move.

[Squire]

Flyers lost in OT. 3-2. 2 wins in their last 13 games.

[zambonir]

on the other hand, first point in four games

It's too bad they came back from 2-0 and TK also hit a post in OT, but so it all seems to go.

TK has a full no-trade.

[Austinfan]

Crazy thing is they're actually playing better in those last 13 games.

5x5: xGF 51.83% (11), HDCF 54.79% (7), HDCF/60: (6), HDCA/60: (11),
but (GA - xGA)/60): 1.31

PP: xGF/60: 12.99 (1), GF/60: 6.63 (22), HDCF/60: (3)
PK: xGA/60: 8.94 (16), GA/60: 9.26 (25)

Overall, a team that should be a borderline PO team if the goalies held up. Just like last season.
Vladar GF/GA 87-74, -10 less than xG
Ersson/Kolosov GF/GA 66-89, +14

They need to finish better on the PP, but that will come with experience. Next year adding Foerster and Martone should help as well.
If they're going to take bad penalties, they need to be better on the PK.
They are creating more high danger chances at 5x5, I think with experience they'll finish more, learning how to get open and provide passing lanes and get shots off quicker.

But the real problem is goalies and the season, even if Vladar can stay healthy (never started 40 NHL games) and they were to get to 90+ points, that's not going to be enough to make the POs in the East this season.

[zambonir]

There's no question that Vladar's most recent injury is the biggest reason why it all went as bad as it did this month. When Ersson was able to play at his best they took some tough points, and the PK was also better with Vladar healthy and at his best. But other teams weather those things because they have more talent and depth and less mistake-prone young players. Just as they also weather injuries (even the loss of Abols has mattered) more easily. But there have been good things this year. I'm not sure which part of the fan base is more disgruntled right now, the part that expected a playoff berth this year or the part what wants them to have a better lottery pick.