Flyers Rebuild Provides 5 Reasons For Optimism

It’s difficult to have a successful rebuild in the NHL. Few teams do. It’s why a handful have been in the cellar for years despite years of top picks in the draft. It’s why the Philadelphia Flyers haven’t made the playoffs since the 2019-20 season.

The Flyers don’t have the best rebuild in the works. Yet, for the first time in a while, there’s plenty of optimism with what they are building and the team they have heading into the 2025-26 season. The Flyers will make strides this season and can be a sleeper team to sneak into the playoffs.

1. Michkov is The Building Block, Konecny & Sanheim Are Good Core Pieces

Every successful rebuild has the star power leading the way. Usually, it’s a handful of players at key positions that the team builds around, the top-line center or starting goaltender. The Flyers, at least at the moment, have one young star to build around, yet Matvei Michkov is one of the best young players in the game.

He’s a winger and not impacting the game the same way a center does. However, Michkov is a game-changer, someone who can take over a game on any shift. His 26 goals and 37 assists in his rookie season proved his upside in the NHL, and this season, he’ll only make a bigger impact. His stats are impressive, and they only look better considering he averaged only 16:41 ice time, which, for those keeping track, was fourth among forwards. The bottom line is that the Flyers will lean on him more and put him in more situations to make an impact this season.

The Flyers don’t have a great core like other teams, even the rebuilding ones. However, they still have veterans to build around. Travis Konecny is a staple for the top line and will be a key part of the top six in a few years. Likewise, Travis Sanheim is a reliable defenseman and will remain such even as his play declines in his 30s.

This team also has a few X-factors capable of becoming core players. Trevor Zegras, whom the Flyers acquired in the offseason, is one, a skater who has the skill to be a top-line center. So are Jamie Drysdale and Cam York on the defense, two skaters who have shown flashes and need to put it all together. For a team that’s struggled to find players to build around, the Flyers finally have a few.

2. Flyers Youth Movement

The Flyers don’t have a great farm system; it’s far from the best by most rankings. It’s still much-improved and an exciting group with a handful of players capable of making the NHL roster this season and being high-impact players shortly thereafter.

Alex Bump, Denver Barkey, and Nikita Grebenkin come to mind. All three are great wingers with varying skillsets to help the Flyers, notably on the offensive end. Bump has speed and a good shot, while Barkey finds the open ice to make a difference. Grebenkin is built like a power forward and still manages to make plays and generate offense, making him a strong candidate for a third or fourth-line spot this season. Between the three, one of them is sure to make the NHL roster out of camp and not look back.

There’s a good chance all three make a significant impact down the road, even if they leave the Flyers with a surplus of wingers. Speaking of which, the Flyers still have issues up the middle. They won’t have them for long with Jett Luchanko and Jack Nesbitt on the way.

Then, there are the prospects further down the road, players who won’t be contributors this season but can be star players in a few years. Nesbitt is one, and so is Porter Martone, the prospect everyone is eyeing. The power forward who was taken with the 6th overall pick in the latest draft is committed to Michigan State and will take time to develop. That said, Martone is the winger who can put this group over the top.

3. The Right People Are Finally Steering The Ship

At the Rookie Series in Allentown, one of the long-time Flyers columnists bumped into Rick Tocchet during an intermission (the NHL coaches are in the press boxes for these games). This writer noted afterwards, “I learned more in three minutes about hockey talking to Rick than I did in three years with John Tortorella.” Whether joking or not, or simply exaggerating, the point was that Tocchet is a hockey mind. He knows the game better than most coaches in the NHL.

Since 2019-20, the Flyers endured three years of Alain Vigneault, a half-season of Mike Yeo, three years of Tortorella, and a few weeks of Brad Shaw. They finally have the right coach to take this team to the next level with Tocchet behind the bench.

There’s plenty of concern about the hire. Tocchet, it’s well documented, doesn’t have a long shelf life with NHL teams, or at least he hasn’t in the past. Speaking of the past, he’s a retread coach and not someone who adds anything special behind the bench. That said, Tocchet gets the most out of his teams and will pivot the system or style of play to have the Flyers playing winning hockey.

It’s not just at the NHL level. The Flyers have the right coach for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, their American Hockey League (AHL) team, as well. John Snowden, unlike the 61-year-old Tocchet, is a young and unproven coach, moving into the head coaching role at 42 years old after spending years as an assistant at the AHL level.