The leaves are changing colors. The morning air has shifted from balmy to slightly chilly. That coffee shop down the street has officially begun serving pumpkin spice lattes.
That can all mean one thing and one thing only — hockey season is so absolutely back.
With the Philadelphia Flyers just one day away from playing in their season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins, it’s time to get sick in the head and start making some irrational (or perhaps quite rational!) season predictions.
Here are some bold ones that will absolutely, positively end up being correct eight months from now.
Matvei Michkov rebounds, logs point-per-game season
When fans look back at the Flyers’ 2025-26 season, they’ll certainly recall a number of positive developments — the Flyers’ first playoff series victory in a decade and the emergence of goaltender Dan Vladar among them.
But they’ll also remember the soap opera that was Matvei Michkov’s sophomore campaign.
After logging 63 points as a rookie, Michkov was expected to take another step toward stardom in his second season as an NHLer. Instead, he infamously came to training camp overweight, failed to gain the trust of head coach Rick Tocchet, and struggled to replicate the production that made him an immediate sensation as a rookie. He logged just 20 goals and 51 points during the regular season, and in the playoffs, he logged a grand total of one point in eight games. And for good measure, he was scratched twice during the postseason after looking completely lost on the ice.
It was a rough campaign for Michkov. This season, though, he’ll make up for lost ground.
Michkov came to training camp looking like a new person — literally. He lost nearly 30 pounds during the offseason and even began doing press conferences in English for the first time since relocating to the United States from Russia.
He only saw two games of action in the preseason, but was far and away one of the Flyers’ most dangerous players in his opportunities. Fittingly, he opened the scoring for the Flyers four minutes into his first preseason appearance, slamming a puck past Boston Bruins goaltender Michael DiPietro.
The Michkov revenge tour is real, and he is going to lead the team in points this season.
Flyers will have a top-20 power play
A top-20 power play? That’s not that bold a prediction, is it?
Actually, yeah. It is.
The last time the Flyers iced a power play that ranked in the top 20 in the NHL was in the 2020-21 season, when they ranked 18th in the league. Since then? The Flyers’ power play has ranked dead last in four of the last five seasons.
It’s been brutal to watch, but the power play’s nauseating run of mediocrity is about to end.
The Flyers power play now boasts serious depth. Based on reports from training camp, the Flyers’ top power-play unit is stacked with talent, featuring the likes of Tyson Foerster, Porter Martone, Trevor Zegras, and Matvei Michkov at forward, and Jamie Drysdale at the point. And on the second unit, it appears Travis Konecny and Owen Tippett will take charge alongside Alex Bump, Noah Cates, and David Jiricek.
They may not have a true power-play wizard on the roster, but they have good, young talent that has the potential to be lethal with the extra attacker.
And speaking of young talent…
Porter Martone wins the Calder
Martone has generated a lot of buzz at Flyers training camp, and for good reason. The 19-year-old winger, in his first games as an NHLer, was the spark plug that helped propel the Flyers to a playoff berth in the homestretch of the regular season.
Without Martone, the Flyers probably don’t punch their ticket to the postseason.
Still over a year away from legally being able to purchase an alcoholic beverage in the United States, Martone already appears to be one of the best talents on the Flyers’ roster. And despite appearing in 19 games last season (including postseason), he is eligible to compete for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie.
Martone is one of the early favorites to take home the hardware at the end of the season. Expected to line up as a top-six winger and earn time on the Flyers’ top power-play unit, Martone will see his fair share of opportunities to rack up points. He may not be a point-per-game-level player at this stage, but he will certainly be within reach of becoming the first Flyer ever to win the Calder.
He’ll do so handily with 30 goals and 60-plus points on the season.
Flyers will acquire a star player by the end of the season
It’s no secret that Flyers general manager Daniel Briere has his sights set on acquiring a star player. He made that very clear with his attempt at landing Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson with a historic, league-changing offer sheet in July. Of course, the Ducks ultimately ended up matching Carlsson’s offer sheet, but that won’t dissuade Briere from continuing to take swings.
By the end of the season, Briere is finally going to hit that home run.
Who will the player be? It’s impossible to tell now. But there are several star players across the league who could be on the move within the next calendar year. An obvious candidate could be Columbus Blue Jackets superstar defenseman Zach Werenski. The Flyers were reportedly “all in” on Werenski after he made his desire for a change of scenery known in the offseason. Granted, the Flyers would need to relinquish a king’s ransom to acquire the 2026 Norris Trophy winner, but that may just be a risk worth taking.
The Flyers would also like to add a bona fide first-line center — easier said than done. Top-line centers are at a premium in today’s NHL and are rarely moved. But strange things can happen. Look no further than Detroit Red Wings former captain Dylan Larkin. After another year of the Red Wings missing out on the playoffs, Larkin demanded a trade to a new team in the offseason. Granted, that trade has yet to actually occur, but it’s a near certainty that he will be wearing a different team’s logo on his sweater by the end of the season.
That time probably won’t be the Flyers — Larkin has famously been very particular about the teams he’d be willing to accept a trade to. But the Larkin situation exemplifies that if star players are unhappy enough, they will go to great lengths to play elsewhere.
Perhaps this is the year Briere takes advantage of such a circumstance.
Flyers win another playoff series
Remember when the Flyers beat the Penguins in the playoffs last season? That was fun. So fun, in fact, that they’re going to return to the playoffs and beat another team in a best-of-seven series.
Realistically, the Flyers are a long shot to compete for the Stanley Cup. They lack the high-end talent needed to keep up with the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, or Colorado Avalanche — three of the true Stanley Cup contenders. But what they do have is depth, and that will go a long way as they not only return to the postseason, but actually make a considerable run in it.
The Flyers are one of the youngest teams in the NHL, and the experience of playing playoff hockey last spring will likely go a long way for the young core of Martone, Michkov, and Zegras, among others. So long as Dan Vladar continues to hold down the fort in net and injuries are not a major factor, the Flyers will absolutely have a chance to compete with the foes in the Metropolitan Division. And once they playoffs begin, anything can happen.
The Flyers will win a series handily, and this time around, they will not get swept in Round 2.
