The Philadelphia Flyers were soaring high early on in the season, looking destined to make the playoffs. But, before the Winter Olympics break, the Flyers has fallen back down to Earth, losing seven of their last 10 games and having just 61 points over 56 games. They are by no means out of the playoff picture, but they have an uphill battle ahead of them.
The Flyers front office notably said before the season that they didn't have a playoff mandate for the season. They wanted to see improvement from their young roster. It's definitely been a mixed bag, and it doesn't help that their top scorer, Tyson Foerster, suffered an arm injury that knocked him out for the remainder of the season. They are still waiting on some of their younger stars to develop, such as Matvei Michkov.
Regardless of how the young players develop, the Flyers do need to bring in some legitimate star power. The 2026 free agency class isn't that deep, but the Flyers can wait until 2027 to bring in a superstar — defenseman Quinn Hughes.
Quinn Hughes is the player Flyers must prioritize signing in 2027 free agency
Hughes was the top player on the trade block earlier this season, and is expected to be just as popular when he hits free agency in 2027. Granted, if he hits free agency in 2027.
With the Canucks deciding to move forward with a rebuild, plenty of teams were making calls to them to try and pry Hughes away from them, regardless of where they were in the standings. That's simply how great of a player he is. Ultimately, the Minnesota Wild won the sweepstakes, trading Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Zeev Buium, and a 2026 first-round pick to Vancouver for Hughes.
Hughes played in 26 games with Minnesota before the Olympic break, where he has three goals and 31 assists to his credit. An immediate difference maker on a team that is pushing to make a run for their first Stanley Cup.
Hughes also showed what he's capable of in the Winter Olympics, notably scoring a game-winning goal in a 2-1 overtime win over Sweden. Through four Olympic games, Hughes has one goal and five assists to his credit.
For Hughes, he hasn't committed to signing a contract extension with the Wild just yet. After all, he wasn't eligible to do so until the end of the season. There was a deadline before the start of the season, which is why there was a run of contract extension signings, such as Kirill Kaprizov with the Wild, Connor McDavid with the Edmonton Oilers, and Jack Eichel with the Vegas Golden Knights. Hughes said that while he appreciated how the Wild went all out to acquire him, he was more focused on the short-term rather than a contract extension. That, of course, can change in the offseason. But as of now, he's slated to hit free agency two summers from now.
The Flyers need to be one of the more aggressive teams if Hughes were to hit the market. He is a former Norris Trophy winner for best defenseman, and is a true point man on offense, as evidenced by his assists total with the Wild and Team USA. Adding Hughes to Philadelphia's defense would provide an instant boost to the Flyers. Oh, and it certainly helps that Hughes has a strong relationship with head coach Rick Tocchet, and is friends with Trevor Zegras. So, that would be positive checkmarks for the Flyers, especially if Zegras does re-sign after this season.
There are plenty of factors into what could happen with Hughes. He could feasibly re-sign with the Wild and remain their for the foreseeable future. He could test the open market and become one of the highest-paid defenseman in the game. If the latter does happen, the Flyers need to be aggressive in their pursuit, because there are going to be a bunch of other teams looking to bring Hughes in too.