The Flyers would be in bad shape without Matvei Michkov and it's their own fault

The Philadelphia Flyers were, despite not being a playoff team last year, a surprise team in a good way. They came into the year with expectations that they would be one of the worst in the league.

They were far from that. They held a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Divison for a long time but let it slip away in the final weeks of the season. Still, they had a lot to be proud of.

All of that success was coming and they didn't even have Matvei Michkov over yet. Things were looking good there for a minute.

However, some things have happened since the calendar flipped to 2024 that make things feel a little more bleak than they did at the end of 2023.

The Flyers are going through a rough patch right now but they can fix it

The Flyers were forced to trade one of their top prospects in Cutter Gauthier. He didn't want to be a member of the Flyers organization anymore so they sent him away.

Gauthier was sent to the Anaheim Ducks in a deal that brought Jamie Drysdale to Philly. Drysdale is a nice young offensive defenseman but losing Gauthier is tough. He was incredible for Boston College in 2023-24 and has a bright NHL future.

In addition to that, the Flyers made a big mistake at the 2024 NHL Draft. They traded down one spot and the Minnesota Wild selected Zeev Buium out of Denver. He is an incredible young defenseman who is going to be a star once he comes to the NHL.

One pick later, the Flyers took Jett Luchanko who isn't seen as a high-end prospect like Buium. There were even a couple of other good players there who would be more exciting to have than Luchanko.

Over the summer, instead of trading Travis Konecny, they signed him to a long-term deal. They gave him a lot of money too which is a risky move. At the end of the deal, it may look terrible on their books.

The Carter Hart situation was out of their control. They need to now figure out what they are going to do in response to get themselves a goaltender of the future as they thought Hart would be.

Trading for Ryan Johansen was a mistake. The situation there is going to get messy before it gets resolved. Their mind was in the right spot but he didn't want to go there and has issues with the way they do business.

Let's not forget about how Nolan Patrick never turned into a player for them after being the second overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. These bad luck/bad decision moves are starting to stack up.

The Flyers have the base of something nice but it may be a while to take the next step as a result of these mistakes/unlucky moments. If Matvei Michkov didn't fall to them at seventh overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, they would be in even worse shape.

They need to take their future back into their own hands and earn something good for themselves. It will take good development and attitude around the organization. It won't be easy but it can be done.