The Philadelphia Flyers will miss the playoffs again, but that's beside the point. Nobody expected them to get there this season, even though they narrowly missed out last spring. The lack of a postseason berth, in and of itself, isn't the reason for fan expectation and interest to fall off a cliff. But a deeper glimpse into how the Flyers arrived at their current 28-32-8 record provides some very strong indicators that the team is unfortunately not even close to getting back to relevancy.
The Flyers are always going to be well back of the other teams in the city, given hockey's general spot in the power rankings and Philadelphia's specific long-standing tradition of support for the other teams. And that's fine, because at least the Flyers have always been one of the bigger market clubs in the NHL, and the "small but fiercely loyal" fanbase we've been hearing about for decades is always there.
Now, however, you have to wonder. For only the second time in their history, the Flyers will be in a five-year playoff drought. The previous time it happened, in 1994, they had a guy named Eric Lindros on the club. The Big E was about to enter his third season and start a stretch of league-wide domination, lifting the Flyers to the top of the league for years. With all due respect to Matvei Michkov, we are worlds away from this scenario playing out for the current iteration of the Flyers.
Fan interest in the 2025-26 Philadelphia Flyers will be lower than ever
This season, the Flyers were able to promote their shiny new toy Mickhov and put him front and center for the fans to get excited about. Michkov largely delivered for a few months before hitting a skid that cooled his chances of capturing the Calder Trophy. He's been much better lately but, even so, there is such a lack of skill around him that many of his abilities are going to waste.
Throw in the high level of accountability that he's being held to by the head coach, and the Flyers are walking a fine line between teaching him "the right way to play" and having their most valuable asset becoming disgruntled already. Credit to all involved for seemingly keeping things from getting untenable, but the training wheels will need to be taken off soon so that we can see Michkov's full offensive capability on a team that desperately needs it from him.
Next season, however, the Flyers won't be able to drum up fresh excitement for Michkov. They'll need a new "hook", and it can't be Gritty. Will Danny Briere and Keith Jones be able to use some of their accumulated assets to bring in a player or multiple players who can both help the team win right now AND play a valuable role when the club deems itself ready to compete for a Stanley Cup?
Let's put it this way — if you can't find some good players who fit your "system" or "culture" that will help you win hockey games, maybe you're the problem. The team did well to rid itself of dead weight such as Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost, and it will soon be time to use those dollars on difference makers.
The Flyers were going to lose lots of games even with Michkov on the roster this year, but the lack of real growth by anyone is truly the most disappointing part and what makes the immediate future outlook so bleak.
Several Flyers showing lack of growth
Travis Konency will set a career high in points, which is nice, but his recent ice-cold stretch will keep him from even hitting 30 goals this season. That doesn't happen to star players.
After seasons of 27 and 28 goals where it looked like he could explode for 35 or 40 in a given season, Owen Tippett will be finishing this year with probably 23 or 24 goals. He's 26 years old, folks. This is what he is.
Bobby Brink (10 goals) and Tyson Foerster (16 goals) have shown flashes and are fine overall, but the club might have the next Farabee and Frost on their hands. In other words, don't overspend to keep them long-term when you can probably get the same production at a lower cost elsewhere.
After a promising 2023-24, Cam York has taken a step back this season. His offense has dried up, and the Flyers have to weigh his future with the team as he becomes arbitration-eligible. With Jamie Drysdale and Emil Andrae already here, will York's cap hit be too much to pay for a potentially redundant skill set?
All told, the goaltending has been atrocious, easily the worst in the league. This season was essentially an experiment in net to determine what the organization had at the position moving forward. The only logical conclusion is that the club has to spend money to bring in a proven veteran option for next season, because this same group cannot return.
When you have a team like the Flyers who are already operating at a talent deficit against virtually every opponent, the fact that your goalies can be relied upon to give up at least one softie every game makes it impossible to build any momentum during a season or have any sustained success.
Noah Cates (14 goals, 14 assists in 64 games) is probably the only player exceeding any reasonable expectations this season but, even so, is anyone all that excited about this development? On a good team, he's a nice 3C, but it's not much to write home about. The hope is for Jett Luchanko to be a regular part of the center group next year, because Sean Couturier has been borderline painful to watch this season and the team needs all the help it can get down the middle.
Even with all this said, the club might still be in the middle of the pack if not for their special teams. Last year's fantastic penalty killing has dropped to the middle of the pack in efficiency this season, in addition to seeing the team's shorthanded goal total almost completely evaporate. It looks like a stagnant group, and leaky goaltending isn't helping matters.
Of course, the real nightmare is the power play, which is once again flirting with the bottom of the league. There's not much to say aside from Rocky Thompson needs to be fired as soon as possible. You can still have a decent unit even when you don't have the best players, but the system is a terrible one. No need to analyze it further.
It's a delicate balancing act to keep fan interest when you are not a very good team. Then, when you do begin your ascension, you can capitalize on new eyeballs and the wishy-washy folks showing renewed interest. But when you start losing your core base because of years of failing performance, it becomes a difficult proposition. Unfortunately, that's where the Flyers seem to be presently, with long-time season ticket holders jumping ship and the team's already small footprint in the local sports media now non-existent.
Simply put, the Flyers need a lot to go right between now and this point next season if they are hoping to generate any fresh excitement. Maybe their incoming lottery pick in the 2025 Draft will help with that. And, as mentioned, perhaps other assets can be dealt to bring in a star-level player who will inject some life. Or maybe we're still "two years away from being two years away" or whatever the twisted expression dating back to the Ron Hextall era has become.
Regardless, the Flyers need to show some results, not just "play the right, tough style of hockey", before they arrive back on the radars of all but the most diehard fans. It would be nice to have meaningful hockey in Philadelphia at some point this decade.