There were plenty of dismal aspects of the last half-decade of Philadelphia Flyers hockey, starting with the 2020-21 season and finally, mercifully, coming to an end when the 2025-26 club broke the franchise’s five-season playoff drought.
Obviously, the lack of postseason hockey headlines the list, of course. The absence of signature, memorable moments. Poor front office and coaching decisions. Frustrating injuries. The dearth of flashy, exciting players at the top of the lineup.
But underlying all of those issues was perhaps the worst part of all: the stakes on a nightly basis were ridiculously, painfully low.
If the Flyers lost a random game in December, who cares? They’re not making the playoffs anyway. A brutal early-season injury? Whatever, the team barely has a first line, let alone a chance to make it to the first round of the playoffs. The front office makes a questionable draft pick in Round 2? What does that matter without the kind of roster foundation for even successful second-round selections to join?
Diehard fandom became more about debating team-building strategy and overarching philosophies than really caring about individual wins and losses. After all, one win, one prospect, one move wasn’t going to change things for the Flyers. They were first in the midst of a clearly-doomed Chuck Fletcher retool, and then an early-stages Daniel Briere rebuild. They were still years away from any of the day-to-day news mattering much in terms of whether the Flyers would ever return to full-fledged, long-term prominence.
It was hockey fandom absent emotional reward, stripped of the possibility that every game, every pick, every prospect, every decision mattered.
Now, at long last, things matter again.
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10 Comments (9 conversations)
Mark M Engelhart
Great analysis as usual Charlie. Is there a particular risk you see that could impede progress this year?
MarioD
I agree and hope this is true. But I’m not aware of any evidence that Hilferty feels this way? Briere and Jones talking about “taking a step back next [this] year” makes me think they’re just kicking the can for yet another season.
jonas
It’s called “underpromise and overdeliver.”
mbtoole
Great state of the team writeup.
Derrick Stagliano
Wonderfully stated and summarized: “After all, the Flyers just made the playoffs last season with Michkov having a sophomore slump, Porter Martone appearing in just nine regular season games, Foerster dressing for just 29, and the team receiving a league-worst 0.870 save percentage from its backup netminder (now dramatically upgraded on paper with Joseph Woll). The plausible upside isn’t hard to spot.”
This one paragraph is better than the content I am reading on other sites. Keep ’em coming, Charlie.
Chris
You just made me go through a wild up-and-down roller coaster with loops and all kind of shit, Charlie! Loved this write-up, thanks for the ride!
And I expect that will be the exact thing we can expect from this upcoming season. I am so f’ing looking forward to this!
Bradford Boston
I’d love to see you do an analysis of the Flyers vs the Hurricanes. I think they are a lot closer to becoming a team like that as opposed to a team like Tampa, Florida or Colorado.
David LaVeck
Great piece on the state of the Flyers and how much of the success of this rebuild and their chances to attract better players hinges on how well they perform this season. I foresee some players such as Michkov taking a step forward while others might regress. This goalie tandem should help with any regression but other items such as the power play must be better as well if there is any hope for a 100 pt season.
John Causey
Nailed it!
Bob MCH
Where does the Toronto 1st round draft pick stand? Do Flyers get it next year? That could be the key to getting a 1-C, either through a top 5 draft pick, potentially, or as part of a mega trade package to acquire a 1-C in a trade. Is it a 2027 pick or a 2028 pick?