The 2025-2026 season has finally crowned a champion, and the Carolina Hurricanes got to celebratre for the 2nd time in franchise history as champions.
Part of their Stanley Cup journey saw them sweep the Flyers in the 2nd round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Despite the Flyers' efforts and several close games, it was clear that the Hurricanes were a step beyond the Flyers. The teams matched up for an incredibly entertaining but short series, but now that it is over and that the Hurricanes have gone on to become champions, the question on fans minds is what can the Flyers do to become the next version of the Hurricanes?
We'll talk about some of the things the Flyers already have that match them, and what they need to improve.
The Captain is the Captain
The last three Sean Couturier seasons haven't been what you would want from a team captain and from a player of his caliber. He knows that, and after some trials and tribulations, he really looked like his old self the last month of the season and through the playoffs.
Throughout the playoffs, Jordan Staal found himself a key figure in the Stanley Cup run for the Hurricanes, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy for it. We know that Couturier is capable, but he'll need to be the player he was during the last portion of the season, all year.
The good news is, he doesn't have too far to go. They both had 36-point seasons last year, and Couturier is 4 years younger.
Two Capable Goaltenders
This was something that the Flyers just directly addressed with their most recent trade. Out is Sam Ersson and in is Joseph Woll.
Woll doesn't have great 2025-2026 numbers. None of the Toronto Maple Leafs do. However, on a good team, he's shown he's a very capable goaltender and one who doesn't mind sharing the net. While Dan Vladar will enter the season as the entrenched starter for the first time in his career, Woll will be much closer to being able to create a 1A 1B type of scenario.
If Woll can take on a larger role than Ersson last year, that helps Vladar stay at his best the entire season. And it also means that when needed, he can play in the playoffs. We saw Carolina use both goalies when needed, and how much having them both available meant for their success.
A Balanced Attack
If there is a scenario where the Flyers need to catch up to the Hurricanes, it's scoring.
The Canes had 1 80-point scorer, 2 70-point scorers, a 6-point scorer, and so on and so forth. The Flyers had Travis Konecny and Trevor Zegras just miss the 70-point mark, three players just touch the 50s, and Noah Cates in the 40s.
The season will not just be about taking the next steps in development, but also about players becoming the best versions of themselves. How far can Trevor Zegras push his talent? What else can we get from Owen Tippett? The Michkov questions. What is Porter Martone's potential with a full season? Where will Bump, Barkey, and Grebenkin get to?
Where the Flyers end up will be dictated by what the forward group can do.
There are plenty of ways to compare the Hurricanes and Flyers, but in these 3 ways, the Flyers should be looking to emulate the Canes if they want a shot at the Cup.
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