The Flyers should be 2-1 right now, but had to settle for only a very respectable win over the defending champ Panthers. It’s a fun time to be a Flyers fan. There is competence all over the place, but the team is still lacking in high end talent. This season might see a playoff spot, but probably not much more than that. That’s fine! That’s welcome. That’s good. BUT…how do we level up?
ESPN just released a Top-100 (plus 10 more) players of the 2025-26 season. I’ll save you the trouble. Matvei Michkov was the only Flyer on the list, way down at 87. The Flyers situation seems a lot like the Post-Iverson/Pre-Process Sixers that had nothing but role players but no star. They traded a huge chunk of those role players for a chance to move the needle (Andrew Bynum) and it failed miserably. How do the Flyers avoid both the Purgatory1 of mediocrity and the Hell of mortgaging the future?
In House
Michkov is almost 21. Despite being an elite draft talent and a legit possibility to go #1 or 2 under normal circumstances, he fell to the Flyers at #7 in 2023 because there was no guarantee that he would ever come over from Russia. In a rare bit of good draft luck, we only had to wait a year. Even after a pretty great rookie season, the Flyers desperately need him to continue with his upward trajectory. After a 60-point rookie year, he needs to be the guy pushing 85-100 every season. It can’t be a relief that he scores, it has to be expected. We haven’t had the kind of player with inevitable offense since…the 90s? I’m talking Giroux at his best every year. That’s a lot of pressure for a kid, but he is our biggest and best hope in a long time. He is off to a slow start, but that’s nothing to worry about in the first week.
Unfortunately, after Michkov, that’s the end of the star power currently on the roster. We are all excited for Trevor Zegras, but even if he makes good on his talent, he’s probably not a savior. Travis Konecny, Bobby Brink, Noah Cates…none are top liners for a champ. Porter Martone is our only other hope. The forward was taken #6 overall this past season and has the skill and smarts to be a star. The idea is for him to play at Michigan State this season before joining the Flyers next year. Not that we don’t have a burgeoning farm system, we do, but that’s it as far as star upside.
This is where that Cutter Gauthier trade really hurts. Imagine pairing him with Michkov and Martone? Maybe we even take James Hagens instead last year for that reason. Jamie Drysdale is fine, but we lost an elite talent. For a team starved for that kind of talent, it was a devastating development.
Free Agency
This past offseason there was a true game changer on the board in Mitch Marner. He had been threatening the 100 point plateau for several years (usually missing due to injury) but finally broke through and signed an 8/$96m deal with Las Vegas. Obviously, he would have been nice to have, but we weren’t on his radar. The key is being ready when another superstar is ready to leave. If the Flyers can show they are a playoff team with upside, the next Mitch Marner might decide the Flyers are where he can win and be a star. Who might that be?
- Martin Necas – C – Avalanche: Necas has been the subject of significant trade interest the last 2 seasons after basically refusing a trade to Buffalo, then getting dealt in the Taylor Hall – Mikko Rantanen deal in January. He’s now in Colorado along with the big contracts of Nathan McKinnon, Cale Makar, and others. Necas was a point per game guy in a bad situation last year and is flying to start this season. At 27 and in his final year under contract, he could finally break out as an elite player. The Flyers need to keep an eye out as he fits the team and matches the timeline.
- Alex Tuch – RW – Sabres: Tuch will be 30 when he hits free agency. Despite being stuck in Buffalo for the last 4 years, he has been a solid goal scorer netting 36 last year and another 36 in 22-23. A strong platform year could see him escape hockey hell and have a second half career renaissance.
- Artemi Panarin – C – Rangers: Panarin is 34 but almost no one gets points like him. After an incredible 2023-24 that saw the Rangers have the league’s best record and Panarin put up 120, they fell hard last season and missed the playoffs. He is the kind of leader and talent that could really help the Flyers level up by simply being a steady high-end presence with the Flyers younger players.
Yes, I know, there’s no Mitch Marner here. All of the top possible free agents like Jack Eichel and Kirill Kaprisov just signed huge deals to stay with their current clubs. Where does that leave us?
Trade
As we saw last year with Mikko Rantanen, stars can get traded. Hell, Rantanen was traded twice last year! Who might be available if their teams begin the year underwhelming?
- Alex DeBrincat – RW – Red Wings: The very small forward has two 40-goal years under his belt and had 39 last year and he’s only (almost) 28. He has another season left on his contract in Detroit, but would carry a lot of value if his individual efforts exceed the team as a whole.
- Nico Hischier – C – Devils: For those who don’t remember, there were a few weeks when we all thought Nico would be a Flyer. In the 2017 draft, the #1 pick had long been predestined to be Nolan Patrick leaving Hischier to go #2 to the Flyers. Come draft night though, the Devils scrapped the plan, took Hischier, and the Flyers got stuck holding nothing at #2…again. Hischier has been solidly in the 80 point range the last 3 seasons and would be the top line center for a Flyers team that could really use his creativity. The Devils are supposed to be good this year, but that’s no guarantee. Who we could really use is Jack Hughes, but that’s probably not happening. (Also, WTF! How do the Devils get two #1 picks in 3 years? (I know there’s been worse, but still))
- Elias Pettersson – C – Canucks: Pettersson looked like a star after nearly 200 points between 22-23 and 23-24 but tanked last season with only 45 points. The problem for Vancouver is that they just signed him to a huge 8/$93m contract. He’s only (almost 27), did he just forget how to play? If they want to move on from the huge contract, this is the kind of chance the Flyers might be willing to take, especially if they can get Vancouver to eat some of the deal.
What Do We Have?
After a bunch of extra draft picks over the years, the Flyers are finally basically back to normal. They have an extra top-10 protected pick in 2027, but that’s it. Getting lucky in the lottery, which isn’t really our thing, is our best hope and we have to do it with our own picks.
As for cash, despite a few free agents like Trevor Zegras, Bobby Brink, and Jamie Drysdale for the first time in years the Flyers should have cap room. Kevin Hayes and Ryan Ellis will both be off the cap sheet leaving around $47m to spend. Again, we need to lock up our guys, but no one should break the bank. If they do, that’s a good thing. There are a few long term deals on the books, but with an expanding salary cap, they are now much less onerous than they used to be.
We are knocking on the door of Stage 2 of the rebuild, but we need to make the move for a star to get us there.
- I’m sorry. This is like the 3rd time I’ve used the term Purgatory this week. Unfortunately, I am only about halfway done a rewatch of the show Supernatural, so expect a lot more of this type of analogy ↩︎
All contract values courtesy of spotrac.com. All statistics courtesy of Hockey-Reference.com
Philly Front Office 
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