In a different scenario, like maybe the legitimate possibility of playoff contention, the Flyers’ immediate future might not be cloaked in such doubt.
Everyone involved with the team, from fans to coaches to players to media, would be caught up in the chase to end a postseason drought which has been going on almost since the beginning of the decade.
Right now, with the Flyers buried in the Metropolitan Division basement, that’s hardly the case.
So all anyone can do is watch to see if progress is being made toward a turnaround.
There’s an understanding that everybody has to be patient with this rebuild. It’s going to take time to move players who didn’t seem to fit into the team’s long-term plans and it might require just as long to watch players such as junior prospects Jett Luchanko and Oliver Bonk develop into NHL regulars.
Those who have faith in the plan of general manager Daniel Briere and president Keith Jones know there can’t be any short cuts. Even last season, when the team held onto a playoff spot for 124 days (before faltering at the end), there was an understanding that this was just a bit of fool’s gold – that a number of players putting this minor miracle together didn’t fit into management’s long-range vision of the roster down the road.
All that said, the Flyers have to be somewhat disappointed with the on-ice product so far this season.
While players such as Matvei Michkov, Bobby Brink, Ryan Poehling and Noah Cates have made significant strides, the play of others has been spotty.
Do the Flyers really believe their three top goaltenders – Samuel Ersson, Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov – are true building blocks for the years ahead? A national media giant recently took a poll of hockey experts to evaluate the goaltending of each NHL team. Guess which club finished last?
Up front, Travis Konecny got off to a respectable start and leads the team in points by a large margin. Right now though he’s going through the worst scoring slump of his career. Going into Saturday’s game at Dallas, he had scored just one goal since January.
Tyson Foerster and Owen Tippett are having respectable seasons. Hopefully, they will continue to improve down the road.
That still leaves a lot of spots to fill. And there are plenty of those on defense as well.
The Flyers were rumored to be moving Rasmus Ristolainen at the trade deadline. Jamie Drysdale has been a minus-20 or worse player nearly the entire season. Egor Zamula is on some nights, off on others.
Whether the Flyers can continue to build around Travis Sanheim, Cam York and possibly Nick Seeler remains to be seen.
Perhaps the most formidable question here is the future of head coach John Tortorella. Management has endorsed the 66-year-old mentor and said he should be trusted for his development skills.
Tortorella’s contract runs out at the end of next season. Will the Flyers wait that long before bringing in a new, younger bench boss or will they start to look around for candidates during the offseason? That’s something to keep an eye on.
Maybe it will all come down to whether ownership wants to enter the 2025-26 season knowing a possible sixth straight season without postseason play could very well start to wear on its fan base.
To date, CEO Dan Hilferty has let the triumvirate of Briere, Jones and Tortorella go about its business. Briere has stockpiled an impressive cadre of draft picks, including three number ones and two number twos this season. That bodes well for the future.
Let’s face it: Trading away popular players such as Scott Laughton, Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee (all former first-round draft picks) shows the Flyers are in this rebuild thing for keeps.
Whether Philadelphia fans will continue to embrace such a patient approach remains to be seen. There are only so many failures they can be expected to tolerate before the boo-birds go from isolated catcalls to a full-throated chorus.
That’s the way it goes when you have a proud franchise which has been to the Stanley Cup Final eight times and won two of them.
Everyone involved with the team, from fans to coaches to players to media, would be caught up in the chase to end a postseason drought which has been going on almost since the beginning of the decade.
Right now, with the Flyers buried in the Metropolitan Division basement, that’s hardly the case.
So all anyone can do is watch to see if progress is being made toward a turnaround.
There’s an understanding that everybody has to be patient with this rebuild. It’s going to take time to move players who didn’t seem to fit into the team’s long-term plans and it might require just as long to watch players such as junior prospects Jett Luchanko and Oliver Bonk develop into NHL regulars.
Those who have faith in the plan of general manager Daniel Briere and president Keith Jones know there can’t be any short cuts. Even last season, when the team held onto a playoff spot for 124 days (before faltering at the end), there was an understanding that this was just a bit of fool’s gold – that a number of players putting this minor miracle together didn’t fit into management’s long-range vision of the roster down the road.
All that said, the Flyers have to be somewhat disappointed with the on-ice product so far this season.
While players such as Matvei Michkov, Bobby Brink, Ryan Poehling and Noah Cates have made significant strides, the play of others has been spotty.
Do the Flyers really believe their three top goaltenders – Samuel Ersson, Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov – are true building blocks for the years ahead? A national media giant recently took a poll of hockey experts to evaluate the goaltending of each NHL team. Guess which club finished last?
Up front, Travis Konecny got off to a respectable start and leads the team in points by a large margin. Right now though he’s going through the worst scoring slump of his career. Going into Saturday’s game at Dallas, he had scored just one goal since January.
Tyson Foerster and Owen Tippett are having respectable seasons. Hopefully, they will continue to improve down the road.
That still leaves a lot of spots to fill. And there are plenty of those on defense as well.
The Flyers were rumored to be moving Rasmus Ristolainen at the trade deadline. Jamie Drysdale has been a minus-20 or worse player nearly the entire season. Egor Zamula is on some nights, off on others.
Whether the Flyers can continue to build around Travis Sanheim, Cam York and possibly Nick Seeler remains to be seen.
Perhaps the most formidable question here is the future of head coach John Tortorella. Management has endorsed the 66-year-old mentor and said he should be trusted for his development skills.
Tortorella’s contract runs out at the end of next season. Will the Flyers wait that long before bringing in a new, younger bench boss or will they start to look around for candidates during the offseason? That’s something to keep an eye on.
Maybe it will all come down to whether ownership wants to enter the 2025-26 season knowing a possible sixth straight season without postseason play could very well start to wear on its fan base.
To date, CEO Dan Hilferty has let the triumvirate of Briere, Jones and Tortorella go about its business. Briere has stockpiled an impressive cadre of draft picks, including three number ones and two number twos this season. That bodes well for the future.
Let’s face it: Trading away popular players such as Scott Laughton, Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee (all former first-round draft picks) shows the Flyers are in this rebuild thing for keeps.
Whether Philadelphia fans will continue to embrace such a patient approach remains to be seen. There are only so many failures they can be expected to tolerate before the boo-birds go from isolated catcalls to a full-throated chorus.
That’s the way it goes when you have a proud franchise which has been to the Stanley Cup Final eight times and won two of them.
