The 2023-24 edition of the Philadelphia Flyers was fun for most of the season until the wheels fell off in the final weeks and they missed the playoffs by a narrow margin. Buoyed by their new front office of Keith Jones and Danny Briere, the Orange and Black brought some pride back and gained the attention of some fans who had strayed in recent years. It was ok that they didn't make the playoffs, because they weren't expected to, and we were told to strap in for more of the same in 2024-25.
But now, with about 40 percent of the season gone and the Flyers once again hanging right in the thick of the playoff race, it begs the question: Will the Flyers pass up a shot at the playoffs to stockpile assets and plan for the future?
Can Flyers really compromise another playoff run for 'the future'?
Last year, the big piece traded away by the Flyers in advance of the deadline was defenseman Sean Walker. A reclamation project that had come to the Flyers in the three-team Ivan Provorov trade, turning Walker into a valuable commodity was a nifty bit of business for the Flyers, who got the Avalance to bite at the price of a first-round draft pick. (We'll ignore the whole Ryan Johansen subplot.)
The point is that Walker was in the final year of his deal and it didn't make much sense for the Flyers to extend him, so they did quite well to recoup such a return. This year, the Flyers can't offer such a player on an expiring contract, but there will be no shortage of teams who will again come calling on Briere and company regarding other roster pieces.
We've heard the rumors and rumblings for a while on players like Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, and Rasmus Ristolainen. Anyone who's not nailed down, which may only be guys named Travis or Matvei. The Flyers will be listening on everyone, as confirmed by Keith Jones recently. Jones has gone on record saying "We're not going to be adding. We'll be subtracting. We've been clear about that."
Jones went on to say "We're not losing sight of where we need to get in order to be a team that can consistently compete for the Stanley Cup." You have to appreciate the frank nature of the comments, but it also makes you wonder when exactly they plan to make the playoffs. Because while Flyers fans are more enthused about the team than they were a few years ago, you can only make your supporters wait for so long.
Horrible decisions by the Chuck Fletcher regime in particular set this franchise back years, and they've only partially dug themselves out of that hole at this point. Still, the fans need something to cling onto, and a playoff appearance to get the Wells Fargo Center rocking in the spring would be a great tonic to buy some time and goodwill. Having most recently made the postseason during the bubble playoffs in 2020, the Flyers haven't played an actual home playoff game since 2018.
That first-round loss to the Capitals in 2018 remains the only legitimate playoff action of both Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny's careers. And players like Farabee, Frost, and Cam York have never played a playoff game in front of the home crowd. It just seems like a punch in the gut to have Jones come out and admit that they'll be dealing guys for draft picks because they're not ready to spend any of the assets they've accumulated to add someone to help them this season.
This is all magnified by the presence of Matvei Michkov on the club. As we all know, we fully expected him to still be in Russia at this point while the team prepared for his arrival. But he's here, and the Flyers have to adapt. They've done it decently well so far, so how about getting him some help now? Is it a crime for a rookie to help carry his team into the playoffs? Who or what do the Flyers currently possess that we'll be kicking ourselves five years from now about them trading away just so they could sneak into the playoffs in 2025?
Jones and the front office rightly have their sights set on being consistent Stanley Cup contenders. That's what we all want. But what's wrong with having a fun season and making the playoffs for once? Seems like it would be a valuable experience for some of the players, and the fans might like it, too. And lest we think it would be a pointless exercise, look at the Capitals. They won the 'turtle derby' in the East to claim the final playoff spot last spring, and then they weren't long for this world once they got there. But a strong offseason bolstered their roster, and they're having a fantastic year. Aside from the whole Ovechkin scenario, why can't the Flyers be the next version of this?
Those were a lot of questions about the direction of the club. But they have to be asked. Because if you're waiting, waiting, waiting for things to perfectly align so you can become some prospective elite club for multiple years, you may find that things don't go the way you planned. The Flyers have been looking to the future for a while. Maybe it's here. And if it is, I hope the Flyers realize it. Otherwise you become the Red Wings or the Sabres, and you don't want to be stuck in that loop. Depending on how the club plays over the coming months, it could very well be time for action.