After ending their five-year playoff drought last season, the Philadelphia Flyers would love nothing more than to make the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2011-12.
What stands in their way is a much improved Eastern Conference and an unpredictable Metropolitan Division that surprises on a year-to-year basis.
Atlantic Division
The Atlantic Division is loaded from top-to-bottom and will present the biggest hurdle in the Flyers playoff hopes because they have a good chance at taking 5 of the 8 playoff spots again.
The biggest change comes in the form of the Florida Panthers, who will be a much healthier team, led by the return of Aleksander Barkov – among so many other regulars – and the blockbuster acquisition of Brady Tkachuk from the Ottawa Senators.
Goaltending will be their biggest question mark with Jacob Markström replacing Sergei Bobrovsky, but it shouldn’t be the be-all-end-all for the two-time Stanley Cup champions.
After they missed the playoffs last year, the Panthers should contend for a top-3 spot in the division, which then means that one of the three teams that occupied a spot last year will drop to the wild card between Buffalo, Montreal, and Tampa Bay; essentially a massive domino effect.
Another team that missed the playoffs that should contend for a playoff spot are the Toronto Maple Leafs. They’re truly a wild card team because they went from nearly rebuilding on the fly to nabbing the first overall pick, then went through a myriad of changes in the front office and behind the bench, and then completely redesigned the bottom half of their forward lines on July 1st.
What will help is getting back a healthy Auston Matthews and Chris Tanev, their power play should be much improved with the acquisition of Darren Raddysh, and then being able to plug a cost-controlled Gavin McKenna into the top-6 should be a boon.
Goaltending will once again be under the microscope as they replaced Joseph Woll with Bobrovsky. Anthony Stolarz’s health will also be something to keep an eye on as he has missed a good chunk of time over the last few seasons, but they look a lot better on paper and should provide another wrinkle in what is the most potent division in hockey. While a top-3 finish in the Atlantic might not be in the cards, their destiny could lie in the form of a Wild Card spot.
The domino effect is going to hurt someone and that team could be the Sabres. They were perhaps the most surprising team in the Eastern Conference last year but they will be returning to the ice without Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch. They have been listed as one of the top suitors for Connor Hellebuyck, which should shore up their biggest weakness, however someone from last year’s top-3 has to make way for Florida, and it will likely be the Sabres.
If both Florida and Toronto make waves and re-enter the playoff scene, a team like Buffalo or Tampa Bay could be positioned to take a step back, albeit in the form of a wild card spot. However, it’s not going to be easy, considering last year’s placeholders were Boston and Ottawa. They weren’t overly busy this summer but the Bruins added JJ Peterka and the Senators replaced Tkachuk with William Eklund. The additions from last year’s roster stops there but they both carry solid pieces at important positions like Jeremy Swayman, David Pastrňák, and Charlie McAvoy for the Bruins and Tim Stützle, Jake Sanderson, and Thomas Chabot for the Senators.
The Atlantic Division is going to be a tough one to predict with at least 7 teams expecting to gear up for playoff hockey, and while positioning doesn’t specifically matter to the Flyers, it all but likely takes away the likelihood of either wild card spots being available to them. Anything is possible, some of these teams might go through another injury-riddled season, but at full strength, it’s hard to see the Atlantic Division not carrying 5 playoff teams.
Metropolitan Division
With that being said, the Flyers likeliest path to the post-season would be trying to claim one of the three divisional spots. However, that will be a lot easier said than done, considering the Carolina Hurricanes are the defending Stanley Cup champions and the Washington Capitals vastly improved during the offseason.
Not only did the Hurricanes win the Cup, but they didn’t have to pay a tax in the form of losing key players like other champions have in the past. In fact, they are one of the current rumored suitors for Hellebuyck, and they have the requisite pieces to make it happen without affecting their every day roster.
Alexander Nikishin would be the focal point of any deal as he remains unsigned, but with how deep the Hurricanes are, improving their goaltending situation should be their focal point as they try to defend their championship.
As for the Capitals, they went out and acquired Tuch, Jordan Kyrou, and Boone Jenner. On paper they have one of the better forward groups in the league, which still includes Alexander Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and Tom Wilson, and have a legitimate opportunity of claiming the top spot in the division.
After those two, the rest remains a mystery with question marks surrounding all of the Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Health permitting, the Devils boast a solid forward group, and it’s one that will be aided by the recent acquisition of Luke Evangelista. However, health remains a massive question mark for the team with both Jack and Luke Hughes having missed time last year, and their goaltending remains in flux with Jake Allen, Nico Daws, and David Rittich representing the position.
With the Rangers, they swung for the fences and acquired Pavel Dorofeyev at the draft before signing him to a mega-contract worth $11 million per season. They should be in the hunt after one of their worst seasons in recent memory, but a lot of it will hinge on the health and performances of Adam Fox, Igor Shesterkin, and Mika Zibanejad.
You’re then left with the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Islanders, and Pittsburgh Penguins. Columbus still needs to re-sign Adam Fantilli, but they were basically locked into a spot last year before they collapsed at the end. The Islanders will have a full year under head coach Peter DeBoer, and while they don’t possess a lot of exciting names, they always seem to be in the hunt every single year – and a thorn in the Flyers’ side.
As for the Penguins, it’s probably status quo for them as well, as their success will hinge on the availability and health on veterans like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. They’ve entrusted their goaltending to an inexperienced pair in Artūrs Šilovs and Sergei Murashov, but as long as Crosby, Malkin, and Erik Karlsson remain productive, you can never count them out.
Unlike the Atlantic Division, the Metropolitan is unpredictable, and last year was the prime example of that. Nearly every pundit had the Flyers and the Penguins at the bottom of the of the division, while pinning a lot of success to the likes of the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, and Washington Capitals. In the end, not only did the Pennsylvanian duo make the postseason, but they took both remaining divisional spots behind Carolina while leaving their foes in the dust.
To be fair to all those that doubted the Flyers, they looked dead in the water in January, and were on the path to setting the franchise record for longest playoff drought at six years before they pulled off an amazing heist after the Olympics.
It’s possible they can ride that momentum into the new season, especially with most of the players from last year’s playoff run returning.
They addressed their defensive depth with the acquisition of Simon Benoit and improved the goaltending with Woll. However, the major improvements will have to come from the returnees like Matvei Michkov after his up-and-down sophomore season, Trevor Zegras who just inked a 4-year deal, Travis Konecny who had a rough playoffs, and Porter Martone who many have tabbed as the favourite for the Calder Trophy.
Owen Tippett missed the entire second round against Carolina due to an injury suffered against the Penguins, but GM Daniel Brière was optimistic he’d be ready by training camp, Tyson Foerster will be entering camp healthy, the trio of centres in Noah Cates, Sean Couturier, and Christian Dvorak will need to cover for the Flyers’ biggest weakness, and players like Travis Sanheim, Jamie Drysdale, and Cam York will have to hold the fort defensively.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that they can clinch a divisional playoff spot or be toe-to-toe with some of the more vaunted Atlantic Division teams, but they’re going to need a lot of things to work in their favour – fast and early.
Brière made a comment earlier in the offseason about how they might take a step back. He’s not wrong as a majority of the teams improved, whereas the Flyers put all their eggs in the Leo Carlsson basket. It didn’t come to fruition, which sets the course for same team to return to the ice in 2026-27. There weren’t many options out there that could have helped them out in the present and future, so standing pat made the most sense.
We’ve seen what they look like when they’re working as a team and playing by the head coach’s system. They didn’t make the playoffs last year on a fluke, but they got hot at the right time, and rode the Dan Vladař wave in goal. With Woll added to the mix, the Flyers’ goaltending situation is one of the more underrated part to their game, and one that should net them a few more wins than last season.
If their goaltending tandem can stay healthy, players like Michkov improve from last year, and their god awful power play goes from the basement to average, we could be seeing playoff hockey for the second straight season for the first time since 2011-12.
