The '25-'26 Philadelphia Flyers thread

[phillychuck]

If Michkov were not slumping the news would be even more positive. They need to repair his relationship with Tocchet or trade him. Makes me sad to see all that talent wasted.

[zambonir]

I'd say that's old news. He's back on the RW, he has three points in the last two nights, ice time has been mostly up compared to some of those earlier game. Seems like the break did him some good conditioning-wise but everybody also agrees he needs a full off-season. The relationship is a two-way street. He's not getting traded unless it's for Auston Matthews or someone like that). And he's still a kid (yeah some of the either kids are doing better, but not everyone does).

Of course, he also needs a center. But Cates is hot lately, and MIchkov's riding that with him.

[phillychuck]

I like that line. But I sill think it was Tocchet’s job to work things out and not pour gasoline on the fire. I like Tocchet, but I think there is simply a personality issue between those two that may not get resolved easily...at least the writers are implying that in the podcasts.

[zambonir]

They can barely speak words to each other! Which I think is something the team needs to address more aggressively. Maybe a full-time interpreter is too much to expect (versus the Phillies where the two Diegos served/serve as many as a dozen players) but there should be more infrastructure, and off the ice too. Zemula was also his primary interpreter previously (though they do have Grebenkin now). And the existing interpreter wasn't even around when all that blew up, because he was coaching an Olympic figure skater.

That was just a blunder by Tocchet (unlike, for instance, when Couturier said some perfectly harmless stuff that the internet blew out of proportion). He's no Torts but sometimes he just says what's on his mind, and a lot of players don't mind hearing it. But some do (in Vancouver as well clearly). But I don't really understand why the fan base thinks the guy is a golden child who doesn't need to be coached or play defense. It may stifle his creativity in the short run but you get a better player - and a post-season player - in the long run.

It's crazy how it's also the same old story as other years - better goaltending and better PP and they're a playoff team. When Ersson has been at his best, including when Vladar was out on the previous WC road trip, they're in the mix. A better team doesn't always rely on their goalies of course, and that's where the PP would come in. But fewer mistakes by the skill players is also often the difference between a win or loss. If TK and Zegras and York can do it so can Matvei.

[phillychuck]

There is a difference between coaching a talented player and simply punishing that player. Flyers were going nowhere this season and any minutes Michkov was not getting set him back. Put him on the ice, review his mistakes with him, and let him learn. And hire a full-time interpreter. It’s not expensive with respect to their other expenses.

[zambonir]

It's not like he ever got benched or scratched, unlike with the last coach. The low ice time in the first half was a direct product of his poor conditioning and short shifts (which were not dictated by the bench). He also doesn't kill penalties and the Flyers took a lot of them. Should he have seen more PP time? Maybe. Have less deserving/talented players gotten it ahead of him? I don't think so. Either way it has not been punishment.

Agree on the interpreter, not just for Tocc but for the leadership group. There should also be a live-in person. Not sure the team is actually expected or allowed to pay for that but if not his agent should. He could also be living with other players. Giroux and Couts both lived in Briere's basement. Tocchet took in Berube back in the day. And now Zegras has taken in Barkey. That's a taller order but would go a long way to helping him adjust to the NHL.

[Austinfan]

Michkov's interpreter is the skating coach. He was absent for the Olympics b/c he also coaches figure skaters - skate coaching isn't full-time, probably because in season players just don't have time.

Flyers on a weird role, 8-3-1 but driven by goalies (where the slump was driven by Vladar's injury and Ersson sucking). Until the last two games they were putting up some bad metrics and winning in spite of themselves.
I think coming out of the break, Toccheet had them cleaning up their defensive breakdowns, as they've become more confident in their assignments, I think they've been able to be more aggressive on offense.

Still a work in progress, and next year will be no different, Foerster will be a good veteran addition, but Martone, Bonk, Jiricek, Marchison/McDonald is a lot of inexperience, and Jett will probably be up at some point. Growing pains.

[VoteForKalas]

I've seen some progress this year for the team. They have more points as of today than they did all last season and are still in the running for a wild card spot. It will be hard to get it due to the stacked Eastern conference, but they are pushing hard which is good. For context, if we played in the Pacific division, we would be tied with the Ducks for the division lead right now.

The big difference is Vladar in goal. Ersson has continued to be highly inconsistent unfortuntately, but since the Olympic break he has been better too. Vladar is signed for next season, but does not have a track record beyond this season. I would be hesitant to extend him until I see him more next season. Flyers have some goalies in the pipeline, but I do not see anyone ready to jump into a 1A or 1B spot on the NHL level.

Players that have been as advertised include Konecny, Sanheim & Dvorak

Players that have taken strides include Drysdale, Zegras, Vladar, York & Cates

Players to watch for next season include Barkey, Bump, Andrae & Grebenkin

The huge bummer was the loss of Foerster for the season. He would have helped the team a lot based on his growth and 13 pts in the 21 games before he was injured.

This progress is despite some huge lingering weaknesses that need to be addressed:

Special teams are horrible. PP continues to be last (32nd) in the league despite better talent and the PK which was strong a couple of seasons ago has fallen off as well (22nd in the league).

Goal scoring is poor. We've scored 193 goals in 69 games - an average of 2.7 goals per game. Even with an improvement in our goals against (avg of 3 per game), the team still sits at -14 in goal differential. There is a reason we go to OT and shootouts so often - we are better at hanging in games with our better defense & goaltending, but we cannot put teams away and thus have to scrap & battle for every point.

Player anchors are still here. Couturier, making $7.75M, has 29 pts this season in 66 games. The contract is unmovable, but he really should be the 3rd or 4th line C based on his production. Risto, who again missed significant time this season with injury, is decent defensively, but overpaid and needs to be moved out hopefully in the offseason to help the cap.

[VoteForKalas]

The UFA situation for the Flyers is a nothing burger:

Abols
Wilson
Glendening
Juulsen

Grundstrom would be the only one I would even consider trying to keep, but only for the 4th line role at a cheap cost.

The RFA situation is a lot more complicated and will test Briere as GM:

Zegras
Andrae
Grebenkin
Ersson
Drysdale

Zegras is obviously up for a pretty major extension and I would work to extend Drysdale as well. Ersson is a wild card; he is still 26. if you can get him on the QO, I'd likely do it for goalie depth and to buy more time for the farm hands to develop. Not sure how they feel about Andrae or Grebenkin.

In addition to the above, Foerster & Michkov are RFA after next season. Both will likely require pretty good deals to stay long term.

[zambonir]

I think Vladar is still a pretty easy call, the risk of him not staying at this level is there but so is the risk of him getting incredibly expensive. If you get him cheaper/shorter early he is either tradeable can be eased into a tandem/back-up role if one of the three youngsters is ready, and/or you can trade one of those youngsters in your deal for C.

If Ersson could have played like he did on the two West road trips all year (this one and the one where Vladar was hurt) they'd still be cruising to the playoffs. They might still want him, versus Kolosov or a veteran back-up next year.

Risto is still worth his contract and doesn't really hurt the cap given how much room they still have (with no UFA market externally whatsoever) but ideally they get something for him and Jiricek steps in.

Couts is already the fourth line center! Sometimes third. He stuck on the PP because of face-offs but even that's probably over with Dvorak and Cates ahead of him now. And he's currently hurt. He's not going anywhere and is still a leader but it would not be crazy to have TK and him swap letters next year (and they just gave Dvorak a letter in Couts' absence).

Obviously they need a 1C still, or at least a 2. Not convinced Zegras stays in the middle. They probably can still trade from the wing with Foerster coming back and Martone presumably playing in the NHL next year. I think they like Grebenkin.

[zambonir]

Some interesting stuff in here. Overall actually more positive than I would have expected. Gift link.

Flyers fan survey results: Is the rebuild headed in the right direction?

[bigegypt0417]

A pretty interesting poll...it seems like most peope are fairly neutral on the performance of management and should be since the history of this team has pointed to poor leadership for a very long time.

This team is taking some positive steps and Briere has done a good job of clearing dead wight of the roster.

[Pat_Burrell]

Mich St lost a tough regional game today to Wisconsin, blowing a 3-1 lead and losing in OT. Martone could now be signed any day to get a few games in with the flyers if both sides decide to.

[zambonir]

Undoubtedly. Certainly not tomorrow but there's plenty of games left.

[rkeden]

Sorry, my bad! .

[zambonir]

Well I'm looking at him in the penalty box as usual now

[Pat_Burrell]

Flyers win a tough road game against Detroit 5-3. There was a time the flyers could never win on the road in Detroit and while they dominated for 50+ min tonight, Detroit decided late to ramp up some pressure and made it 4-3 before Couts got a late empty netter. Detroit’s first goal was a little flukey but their 2nd and 3rd were pure intense pressure and flyers were helpless to clear on both goals. Tippett was the star tonight with a hat trick, with several of his goals coming on blazing speed to combine with his cannon of a shot. He’s really coming into his own. It used to be that he got 1 really good scoring chance by virtue of his blazing speed every other game, then once a game, and tonight he had about 3-4 scoring chances because of his speed. If this guy is here to stay then he will be a 40 goal scorer next season.

[zambonir]

It was intense pressure but the third goal was also 6-on-5. They pulled their goalie with 4:36 left. Definitely made it a little scary, the EN was a relief.

[Austinfan]

They'll probably sign Martone today and he may play Thursday (want to get a couple practices in).
But don't get too excited, he's a RW, so Tippett, TK, Michkov ahead of him.
Might move Michkov back or Tippett to LW to find a spot for him, and Grundstrom to the bench.

However, I don't see him playing more than 10-12 minutes a night, maybe PP2.
He's a 19 year old rookie in a PO run.

[zambonir]

They probably won't have but one practice between tomorrow and Thursday (not counting game day skates), but agreed they might still wait. Sounds like signing will be official today.