It feels like every week we heard that some team or executive was interested in Owen Tippett. It makes sense– he’s one of the fastest skaters in the league, one of the hardest shots, and was the team leader in goals with 28. He’s got all the ingredients to make an elite player on a team-friendly contract for years to come. The speedy winger doesn’t turn 28 until February of next season, so he’s squarely in his prime with what feels like another level to reach. All of this comes together to make him one of the most interesting players and trade candidates on a team desperate to add talent down the middle.
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | Shots on Goal | Shooting % | Average TOI |
| 81 | 28 | 23 | 51 | 32 | 221 | 12.7 | 16:50 |
This was probably Tippett’s most successful and well-rounded season as a player. Goal scorers are streaky, and he had to learn how to better impact the game during stretches where he wasn’t able to score. There was some concern when his shots on goal decreased from a career-best 289 in 2023-24 to 188 the next year– a sharp decline that saw him struggle to clear 20 goals and not a single power play tally– but he rebounded nicely by matching his 28 goal high water mark and getting back to 50 points.
Most importantly, we saw Tippett set a career-high in shooting percentage. He’s missing fewer shots, but he’s also taking more high percentage ones from closer to the net. At 210 pounds with his speed, there’s not many players that could prevent him from driving the net, and he really figured that out this season. It’s so realistic to think he should be a 35 goal scorer in this league, and yet the best version of him we’ve seen has not been able to crack 30 yet. It just seems like a matter of confidence and mentality for Tippett, who upped his physicality in a big way with over 150 hits.
| (5v5) Goals For % | Expected Goals For % | Corsi For % | High-Danger Attempts For % | PDO |
| 48.4% | 54% | 49.5% | 55.9% | 98.9 |
These are good 5v5 numbers, though the results could be a little better. The process is there: high Expected Goals For and High-Danger Attempts are great. Impossibly, he was on the ice for a worse 5v5 save percentage than last season, despite the addition of Dan Vladar and controlling the majority of High Danger chances, which seems like the answer for the Goals For percentage not matching up. This should bounce back a little in his favor next season.
As far as deployment goes, Tippett at 5v5 received the fewest offensive zone starts of his Flyers career as well as a coinciding jump in defensive zone starts. This actually plays well to his strengths, allowing him space to get his legs moving the other way to outrun the defenders before they’re set in.
The line combos is where it gets interesting. Tippett, per MoneyPuck’s lines feature, spent the majority of his time with Christian Dvorak and Trevor Zegras: 210 minutes together with a 50.6 percent Expected Goals share. The best line of the bunch was the Denver Barkey and Sean Couturier trio: a near 65 percent share in 165 minutes– far and away the most effective of lines with 100 minutes together. Reducing that cutoff more and more, Tippett’s lines shoot up to the top of the list, until you’re all the way down to 20 minutes. Out of 37 combinations of forwards to play 20 minutes with the Flyers together, Tippett is on each of the six best performing lines on either wing by Expected Goals share, and five of them with Zegras as his center.
| (5v5) Points per 60 | Primary points per 60 | Shots on goal per 60 | Shot attempts per 60 | Expected Goals per 60 |
| 2.09 | 1.76 | 9.72 | 19.13 | 1.21 |
Losing Tippett to injury in the second round was devastating to their already unfavorable chances to beat Carolina. The initial diagnosis was a sports hernia— a tear of tendons attached to the pelvis– with internal bleeding suffered late in the series against Pittsburgh. It’s unclear when exactly the sports hernia occurred, as we knew Tippett wasn’t following the regular practice structure. The recovery is not so simple either; we experienced a long down-period for Claude Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere years ago coming off similar core surgeries in the past. Despite the surgery, Tippett has said he’ll be ready for training camp. Giroux wasn’t himself for about a year, but medicine can come a long way in a decade.
Did Owen Tippett live up to expectations?
Tippett needed to prove that last year was an aberration. He wasn’t shooting enough, physical enough, or confident enough. He did so this season. As far as expectations, he should probably be a regular 30 goal guy, but it’s not like he’s ever done that before to set the bar. Eight more goals than last year and getting back over 220 shots is about where he needs to be anyway, but it’s good to have a bounce-back season. Overall, it was a big success for Tippett to realize what he’s capable of in other facets, but we’re still waiting for that next jump in production.
What can we expect from Owen Tippett next season?
Had he not needed core muscle surgery, the expectation would certainly be 30 to 35 goals. He’s squarely in his prime, and on a team good enough for 98 standings points without Tyson Foerster and Porter Martone for most of the year should be a decent enough supporting cast. The power play may continue to artificially cap his numbers– we’ll see if the Flyers are able to land a John Carlson in free agency to solve some of the issues– but he’s a purely rush-oriented player anyway.
It’s difficult to set the expectations for Tippett without knowing how explosive he can be after the surgery. Another 20 goal season would certainly feel like a disappointment regardless of the circumstances around it. If he looks like himself from the beginning, he could take his numbers to new heights. With more time killing penalties this past year, he’s become an all-situations guy for the Flyers. Hopefully, the center situation becomes a little more stable team-wide, and we see a lot more time with Trevor Zegras.
