For Emil Andrae, the 2024-25 season was up and down. Not like a toilet seat, at least, though his play throughout the season did show some of the inconsistencies that young players are prone to while adjusting to the NHL.
No, Andrae’s season was up and down because of how many times he was shuttled between the NHL and the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms: he joined the Flyers in late October, was sent down to the Phantoms in December, recalled for a week in February, sent back down, and then called up one last time at the trade deadline to finish the year with the big club. Not ideal for the development of a 22-year-old defenseman.
| Games played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIMs | Shots on goal | Sh% | Average TOI |
| 42 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 52 | 1.9 | 17:21 |
The biggest issue with Andrae’s play this year wasn’t the lack of points or even his defense–it was how often he put himself in dangerous positions. The most glaring occurrence came in a match against the Columbus Blue Jackets, where Mathieu Olivier barreled into Andrae along the boards, setting off sparks and an eventual fight between Olivier and Nick Seeler.
Emil Andrae was scratched the following game, and sent back to Lehigh Valley not long after. We don’t know what the exact message was, but clearly the coaching staff wanted Andrae to understand that he can’t let opposing players get shots like this in. Andrae may yet be a good NHL defenseman, but you’re not much use to the team if you get yourself injured by putting yourself in risky positions. Staying healthy is a big part of being an everyday NHLer, and making plays that often lead to injury is not a way to endear yourself to an organization.
| (5v5) Goals For% | Expected Goals For% | Corsi For% | High-Danger Attempts For% | PDO |
| 47.27 | 54.96 | 51.85 | 53.62 | 97.8 |
The good news is that, despite the multiple changes of scenery, Andrae put together a decent rookie season by the fancy stats. John Tortorella may’ve chastised the media for calling Andrae a “top-four defenseman,” but he certainly used Andrae like one! Justifiably so, too, even if the points didn’t materialize.
| (5v5) Points per 60 | Primary points per 60 | Shots on goal per 60 | Shot attempts per 60 | Expected goals per 60 |
| 0.37 | 0.37 | 4.4 | 10.46 | 0.21 |
Andrae’s ice time dropped considerably down the stretch. From March through the end of the season, Andrae cracked 20 minutes only once: 20:40 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 25. Why so many minutes? Because Tortorella benched Cam York for most of the game, and someone had to play those minutes. In Andrae’s first prolonged stint with the Flyers, he played over 20 minutes seven times; part of that was availability (York and Jamie Drysdale both missed time in the fall), but he played well enough to earn those minutes, too.
Three Questions
Did he live up to expectations?
More or less, yes: Emil Andrae lived up to expectations. He showed that he can hang at the NHL level, even though there are some rough edges to polish in the future. As a smaller player, elements of his game need adjusting–particularly keeping his head up–but the 2024-25 season was a good start and should leave everyone feeling pretty good about his future.
What can we expect from him next season?
Hopefully, a permanent spot on the main roster. Ristolainen’s injury should keep a spot open for a younger player to fill early on but, if we’re looking strictly at handedness, that doesn’t help Andrae much: Ristolainen’s a righty and Andrae plays the left. Depending what the roster looks like–and what coaches end up being hired–it would be nice to see Andrae get some minutes on the second power play unit; his 5-on-5 play is solid enough, and he deserves more points than the box scores show. A 25 to 30 point season in 60 or so games–with strong underlying play–would be a great sophomore year, and there’s a path for Andrae to get there.
How do we grade his 2024-25 season?
It wasn’t an all-star rookie season like Matvei Michkov’s was, but Andrae laid a solid foundation for what is hopefully a decent NHL career. Given how the organization moved him between levels so frequently, we’re taking that kind of whiplash into account. We’ll never know the extent that Tortorella had on Andrae, between comments in the media, the demotions/recalls, and what was said in private, so here’s hoping Andrae can push all that noise aside and come back ready to prove a point next year.
