The Philadelphia Flyers look like a team on the cusp of contention. They have promising young pieces to build around. GM Daniel Briere believes enough in his core to avoid jettisoning promising players in exchange for Quinn Hughes.
That being said, the Flyers do have some holes to plug. One hole is the blueline spot currently occupied by Egor Zamula.
Zamula has gotten an opportunity to show that he belongs in the NHL. But inconsistency has been the biggest issue holding him back from becoming a bona fide NHL blueliner.
That being said, the Flyers won’t have to turn over stones to find a viable replacement for Zamula. The club could already have a viable alternative in Ty Murchison.
Murchison earned a recent call-up amid injuries and inconsistency. That situation earned Murchison a nod from The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz.
In a December 15 piece, Kurz described Murchison as the Flyers’ hottest rising prospect. While, as Kurz noted, it may be easy to anoint Porter Martone as the team’s best prospect, it’s Murchison who has the best chance of impacting the team right away.
Kurz wrote:
"The easy answer would be Porter Martone, whose stock has already risen at Michigan State after the Flyers picked him No. 6 in the 2025 draft. But let’s instead go with Murchison, who was a surprise call-up a week ago. A fifth-round pick in 2021, Murchison has not only leapfrogged other defensemen in the organization, but he was also given a chance over ineffective veteran Egor Zamula, too. He won’t ever be a star, but could still develop into a solid NHL depth guy."
So, two things to unpack here. First, Murchison isn’t going to be the next Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar. As my colleague Ariel Melendez pointed out, Murchison still has a long way to go to become a solid NHL blueliner.
But that’s par for the course with young players. As long as the work ethic and willingness to learn are there, Murchison could become a mainstay on the Flyers’ blueline.
Second, even if the Flyers held on to Zamula, Murchison could emerge as a depth option to stabilize the club’s blueline.
That’s not a bad place to be in the NHL. Murchison may not command an astronomical payday, but he could have a job for the remainder of his playing days. We’ve seen other seemingly unspectacular defensemen go on to play 1,000 games while contributing to their teams’ success.
That’s why Kurz is right to praise Murchison. The Flyers could have an unexpected blueline gem in Murchison.